What makes it different from others?

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Am I Missing Something?

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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

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.

I'm bewildered by the people raving about this "cult classic." It's dull, flat, awkwardly acted and ineptly directed. And those are its best qualities. Shirley Stoler as half of the homicidal title pair has two expressions, angry and unhappy. Tony LoBianco as her sociopathic paramour at least creates a character with some dimension. Other members of the cast look as if they were dragged in off the street. Okay, it was reportedly shot for a mere $150,000. But that's no excuse. Some terrific movies -- like Christopher Nolan's "Memento" and Jonathan Demme's "Caged Heat" -- had equally scanty budgets. Supposedly based on a true story, the film casts Stoler as an obese hospital nurse who's conned into joining a lonely hearts club. She winds up with LoBianco, a womanizing swindler who palms her off as his sister, marrying women for their money, then bumping them off with her eager assistance. That sounds like it could almost be entertaining. Sorry, gang, it isn't.