The Honeymoon Killers

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 3.0

Dear Martha...I hope you will allow me the liberty of addressing you by your Christian name.

My first impression of this film, about a minute or so into it, was that this was a true B Movie. The poor picture quality, atrocious audio, [mostly] second-rate acting, and generally stilted dialogue almost had me reaching for the eject button on the remote control. I pressed-on, however, sticking with this film from 1970 that seemed like an early John Waters attempt at non-despicable cinema.
As the story went on, however, there were many elements that I began to admire (hence the inclusion of two film stills and a rather amazing quote). Tony Lo Bianco's performance as Raymond Fernandez isn't second-rate by far--he delivers some of the best lines in the film and, when it is time to bring the drama, he does so. Shirley Stoler as Martha Beck, however, falls short of her co-star which adds to the unintentional B-movie feel. I appreciated, however, that Stoler was the antithesis of the ideal lead actress stereotype; that director Leonard Kastle was consciously trying to tread the grain. At the same time, for as much of the uninspired or flawed bits of cinematography, there were just as many spectacular ones. I was also consistently in awe of how this film truely looks like it was made in the early 1950's, shortly after the actual killings took place. I'm not exactly sure how this was done, but never does it appear to be 1970.
I'm glad I stuck by this, although I do not know how many repeated viewings of it I will take in; though I would, at some point, certainly watch it again.