Arthouse 50: The Honeymoon Killers (35mm)

Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is sullen, overweight, and lonely. Desperate for affection, she joins Aunt Carrie’s Friendship Club and strikes up a correspondence with Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a charismatic smooth talker who could be the man of her dreams—or a degenerate con artist. Based on a shocking true story and shot in documentary-style black and white by the confident and inspired Leonard Kastle, in what would be his only foray into filmmaking, The Honeymoon Killers is a stark portrayal of the desperate lengths to which a lonely heart will go to find true love.

(Featured in Roxie printed calendar, 1981)