Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Executscan Expected more

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

billcr12 The Honeymoon Killers is a classic black and white crime drama. Tony Lo Bianco is awesome as Raymond Fernandez, a man who with his partner, Martha Beck, lured lonely women to their deaths through magazine ads. He would have loved the internet. Tony mugs for the camera as he uses a Ricky Ricardo accent and delivers some really funny and twisted lines. Shirley Stoler is Beck, and the rotund woman is accurately cast as the real life 280 pound killer. A more recent telling of the story used Salma Hayek as Beck, a radically bad casting choice. Hayek is a knockout and the Beck was not a femme fatale. The true crime story is a compelling tale of pure evil and this film captures it perfectly.

evanston_dad This tawdry cheapie made me feel like I had to take a shower after watching it, and I mean that in the best possible way.The film's minuscule budget and bare bones production values actually work in favor of this true story about a sexy Latin lover and his dowdy, unpleasant girlfriend who pose as brother and sister so that he can marry and then con women out of their savings. Their scams escalate in scope and violence until they're killing off the women rather than just running out on them.It's a fascinating film, the kind that the term "cult classic" was invented to describe. Both leads are well cast, though Tony Lo Bianco is the better actor of the two. He's certainly convincing as someone middle-aged ladies would have the hots for.Don't let this film's bargain basement quality prevent you from giving it a look.Grade: A

dougdoepke Chubby ex-nurse Martha Beck over-eats and gets confused as she and gigolo boyfriend Ray Fernandez murder their way across the Northeast.No doubt about it, the movie's a sleezeball masterpiece. There's maybe one likable character in the whole hundred-minutes-- a prison guard, of all people, and she has maybe all of five lines. The rest are either slimy (Ray), monstrous (Martha) or pathetic (the victims). Only an indie production would dare combine such ugly photography with such a succession of dismal characters. But, for a real shudder, imagine how a Hollywood studio would have prettified the same movie.Nonetheless, the sleeze has genuine style behind it, along with two tacky Oscars for the leads. As Ray, Lo Bianco exudes more oily charm than a BP platform, while a stretched-out Martha (Stoler) resembles nothing less than a beached whale. Just the thought of the two of them clinching is enough to sound an environmental alarm. And the fact that the kinkiest things turn them on makes the picture even worse and not even their "mad love" helps.I don't know how many movie details are based on fact, but two of the murder scenes are genuinely ugly. And the fact that it's nurse Martha, not the squeamish Ray, who handles the messes says a lot about gender equality. Most chilling to me, is the fact that these two psychos merrily bludgeon, shoot, and poison their way from one place to the next with nary a police siren in sight. It's almost like they're planning a vacation itinerary from one murder site to the next. In fact, it's a betrayed Martha who finally puts a stop to things. Anyhow, no movie I know makes crime and murder any more sordid than this one. And in my little book, that's a genuine achievement. Plus, I think the movie changed my mind about the merits of capital punishment.

Lechuguilla A young woman named Martha (Shirley Stoler) and her Latin lover, Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco) conspire to defraud lonely old ladies of their money. Ray charms the women into marrying him, on receipt of their money. And Martha tags along, posing as Ray's sister. Based on a true-life 1940s murder case, the film could have been quite significant. But a poor script, poor direction, and generally poor acting short-circuit the effort.What slays me is how Ray could be physically attracted to Martha, a big mama who bitches, whines, moans, and exudes anger at every opportunity. In real-life, Martha was indeed heavy-set, and she practically threw herself onto Ray, who then used her in his marriage scam. That motivation doesn't come across in the film.Further, the script's dialogue lacks subtext. Characters say exactly what they think, which renders sophomoric interchanges. And the story takes way too long to get going. For the first half of the film, not much happens.Though Tony Lo Bianco gives a credible performance, the rest of the performances are below average. Stoler is just annoying, as is Doris Roberts with that phony Southern accent. The actress who plays Janet Fay overacts and has a nasal voice that makes her performance campy. I could not take her seriously.You would think that the director would have placed the story within a proper 1940s context. But at no time did I get any sense of the 1940s. Indeed, with some campy performances, cheap sets, and sophomoric dialogue, the film comes across almost tongue-in-cheek, a relic from the 1950s Ed Wood school of film-making.I know this was a low-budget effort. But it takes little or no money to write a good screenplay. And a good director can do wonders with settings and performances. The only factor that saves this film for me is knowing that the events described really happened. I can, to a limited extent, thus overlook the lousy cinematic end product.