Mind blowing can't even begin to describe this film. Based on a true life series of murders, THE HONEYMOON KILLERS dramatizes what I think is the ultimate bad romance. Shirley Stoler plays Nurse Martha Beck whose love life is in the toilet. Her personal life revolves around bossing candy stripers. around, gossiping with her best gal pal( Doris Roberts of all people) and wishing her live in mother was dead. It is not the most exciting life to lead. Then she gets a nibble from her lonely hearts correspondence club. The man is Raymond Fernandez and it is love at first sentence. Martha plans an exodus out of her life and plans for a future full of love, happiness and sleaze.
The minute Tony Lo Bianco steps onto the screen, you get it. His portrayal of Raymond "Ray" Fernandez left me breathless. He is so smoldering, you totally understand why all the ladies look past things that should be red flags. Once he realizes that Martha won't let go so fast and could possibly be the only woman that can truly love him, he lets her in on her racket. He meets older ladies, gets them to marry him quick and takes all their money. It is fast, cheap and easy. Posing as brother and sister, the two make a small fortune, leaving a trail of broken lonely hearts club members in their wake.
Martha is fine with the older ladies, but when a younger woman comes into the scheme, she really goes to town. In a scene that can only be described as swimsuit heaven, Ray romances said lady, while Martha promptly sets out to drown herself in the lake. Barely saving her, Ray now realizes just how deep their bad romance runs and what he can do to exploit it.
The rest of the film is a complete downward spiral. Poor Janet Fay. Did she really think she stood a chance against these two? And it just goes from bad to worse, as their love intensifies and the film becomes a non stop breath-holder. The suspense in the final act is so insane that you are almost begging for it to stop. LOVE KILLS.
The director, Leonard Kastle, made one film and this is it. And if you are going to make just one film, you better make it a doozy. He does. It makes it a double doozy. THE HONEYMOON KILLERS will become part of your life. You will never forget it. Now one of my all time favorite movies!
I think the craziest part of watching the film, was after it was over and watching one of the special features on the dvd, their trial was a sleazy sensation! There were clues that pointed to over 20 murders and they dressed to the hilt at their court dates! Man, to have a sequel with the original cast set around the trial! DREAMS!!!
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