Really Surprised!

Disturbing yet enthralling

Best movie ever!

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Back in the late 1940s, Martha Beck was an obese, angry and lonely lady. When she met Ray Fernandez through a lonely hearts club, she became extremely dependent on him and agreed to follow him on his exploits. As for Ray, he was a con-man and made his money marrying women--after wards, he or Martha would soon murder them! They are known to have killed four people (including a 2 year-old) but estimates are this serial killing couple killed as many as 20! Not surprisingly, the story was a huge sensation when the press got involved!About 20 years later, this film version of their exploits was made. It obviously was a very low-budget project and was shot in black & white (by 1970 hardly any films were made this way) as well as had unknown actors (some of which, such as Tony Lo Bianco and Doris Roberts, became famous later). Interestingly, the only American filmmaker I can think of still making black & white films at this point was John Waters...and I can't help but think the movie was have been AMAZING had Divine starred as Martha! Playing it for camp instead of as a straight drama would have been interesting!So is this film any good? Well, a lot of it depends on the audience. If you are a serial killer junkie, then you have to see it. As for me, I don't particularly enjoy seeing dramatizations of serial killers' exploits as sometimes the films are incredibly graphic and may tend to glamorize these evil folks' exploits. "The Honeymoon Killers" generally is NOT very graphic, though when they use a hammer on one of their victims, I gotta admit that she was really, really annoying I was rooting for them to killer her...and quickly! The acting is better than you'd expect with a cheapo project and the film does hold your interest. Still, it is very yicky at times and is something I'd rather not see again!By the way, the way the couple got caught was probably fiction. I read about this hellish couple and this film's ending didn't exactly jibe with police records. Quite a few of the other incidents in the film have been altered a bit to seemingly make the film more cinematic and interesting (such as never mentioning that Marth had two children before meeting Ray). The clothes and hairstyles also make the film look like this happened about 1970...but it actually was set from 1949- 51.

This movie is a real one-off because, not only was it Leonard Kastle's only foray into directing but also its styles of storytelling and presentation were quite unique and largely responsible for it achieving its cult status. The fact-based story of a couple of ruthless con-artists who add murder to their modus operandi, is told in a remarkably detached, objective and non-judgemental style that also avoids either glamorising the criminals or providing any justification for their actions. The resulting coldness and grittiness that this creates is perfectly complemented by the movie's grainy black and white photography and together they contribute strongly to the extremely realistic look of everything that happens on-screen.Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is a lonely, overweight, nurse who works at her local hospital in Mobile, Alabama and is generally unpleasant to everyone he meets. After her best friend signs her up to a lonely hearts club, she gets involved in correspondence with Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a Spanish-American who lives in New York City and this leads to him visiting her at her home where she lives with her invalid mother. During his visit, he seduces her and borrows money but after returning to New York City, promptly writes back to end their relationship. Martha isn't prepared to accept this and so, with the help of her friend, convinces Ray that she'd been so devastated by the contents of his letter that she'd attempted suicide. In the circumstances, Ray agrees to her travelling to see him at his home and it's there that she learns that he's a con-man who makes his way in the world by romancing lonely spinsters and widows before stealing their money.Unfazed by Ray's revelation, Martha places her mother in an old people's home and then, posing as his sister, becomes his regular partner-in-crime. Their love affair continues despite the nature of Ray's work but when he marries one of the ladies as part of a scam and she becomes too amorous, Martha's jealousy becomes so intense that she kills the woman by giving her an overdose of sleeping tablets and this becomes the first of a series of murders that the couple commit before their criminal exploits are eventually brought to an end by actions that Martha takes after discovering the full extent of Ray's infidelity.The real-life crimes that provided the basis for this disturbing drama were carried out in the 1940s and a noticeable feature of this film is that the criminal couple never seem to have anyone on their tails and never get involved in any shoot-outs or chases. They simply seem to carry on what they're doing totally untroubled by the police and ultimately become the architects of their own downfalls. The loneliness, desperation and gullibility of the couple's victims add a certain poignancy to what transpires and the gruesome nature of the murders (including that of a child) is profoundly shocking.Considering the movie's incredibly low budget, it's remarkable how effective the final product was and the performances of the actors playing the main protagonists clearly played a huge part in this. Tony Lo Bianco is exceptional as the sociopathic swindler whose slimy charm is such an important part of his success and Shirley Stoler is unforgettable as his bitter, deeply unpleasant and evil partner whose jealousy ensured that she would never find happiness or peace of mind.

A young Martin Scorsese directed bits of this creepy psychological thriller about Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck, the "Lonely Hearts Killers" who murdered a shockingly large number of women in a two-year spree in the late 1940s. As the camera prowls and the framing draws deliberate attention to itself, you can sense Scorsese – before, that is, he was sacked and replaced with Leonard Kastle. This would be Kastle's only film, and it's pretty good all things considered.How true is this "true story"? Not very. For a start it's clearly set at the time it was made (1969), and yet states in the epilogue that Ray (Tony Lo Blanco) and Martha (Shirley Stoler) met their fate twenty years earlier. But how about the more general truth of fiction? Here the film succeeds, focusing on the psychology of this chunky, frumpy lady and her lithe Latino partner-in-crime; the bitter jealousy and the vile scheming, and the growing tensions between them. It works well, thanks to a smart script with a sharp edge of ironic wit.Martha is a sad-sack who is empowered at work but desperately lonely at home. Ray is a vile opportunist whose control is cracked by the juvenile love he shares with Martha. It's a story of its time. These days the couple wouldn't need to lure the lonely through newspaper ads – they could swindle all their money over the internet. But Ray and Martha are hands-on and in-your-face, and the film portrays a collection of increasingly sinister encounters as they convince a series of sad spinsters to part with their cash. Ray wields charm like a scimitar, while Martha is like a wrecking ball.With its suburban sitting room setting and its unsettling blend of the OTT and the naturalistic, the influence on Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is clear. When the killing begins, Kastle doesn't shy away. The death-by-hammer scene is genuinely shocking, even by today's standards.Mostly the movie eschews graphic violence in favour of tense episodes laced with morbid, mordant wit. You can see why it was disregarded at the time, just as you can see why it's being reconsidered today. For all its melodrama (Gustav Mahler parps over the serial killers' domestic dramatics) and its sleazy exploitation appearance, it's surprisingly subtle and has flashes of real craft. It is undoubtedly a genre-evading oddity – but an accessible one which will be enjoyed by anybody looking for something clever, nasty, and funny.

Based on the true story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, who met through a lonely-hearts correspondence club, Ray (Tony Lo Bianco) is sleazy and untrustworthy; Martha (Shirley Stoler) is obese, compulsive, and needy. Together, they play out a horrifying scheme in which he lures lonely women out on dates and proposes marriage to them, while she pretends to be his sister. After the marriage ceremonies, they take the womens savings and then murder them in cold blood.The way this film is shot, with its grainy black and white footage, murky sound, bright whites and dark shadows, only adds to its incredibly unsettling nature. Watching this is almost like watching a documentary, and occasionally, a snuff film.Though the acting from the supporting cast is a bit iffy at times, the two leads are excellent. Particularly Shirley Stoller. While Lo Bianco creates one of the most hateful slime-balls I've ever seen, Stoller dominates this film. Her Martha is a frightening, unpleasant, disgusting woman, who is as ugly on the inside as she is on the outside. Her evil nature fills the frame whenever she is on screen.If you're looking for a fast paced thriller, look elsewhere. The pacing in this movie is slow, which only adds to the disturbing documentary feel. But if you want to see a movie where character comes first, and action second, seek this classic out.