Desperate, irritable and sick of her lonely life, plus-sized nurse Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) grudgingly joins Aunt Carrie's Friendship Club at the insistence of her pushy neighbor, Bunny (Doris Roberts), in hopes of making a love connection. The letter that catches Martha's eye is from Raymond Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a balding lothario whose swivel hips and cooing charms hypnotize older women while he drains their bank accounts. Instantly smitten with the visiting "Latin from Manhattan," Martha, ample bosom heaving, pledges her undying love - even after Ray reveals his seedy scam of writing the lovelorn and milking them for cash.

So begins the sordid relationship of the doomed lovers in The Honeymoon Killers, a unique and fascinating glimpse into the dark side of romantic obsession. Closely based on the real Beck and Fernandez, the notorious "lonely hearts" killers of the 1940s, this stark, grim and sometimes amusing portrait of a criminal affair charts the course of frustrated emotions and jealousy that turn petty larceny into homicidal rage. Terse direction by Leonard Kastle, fine performances by Stoler and Lo Bianco, and memorable, documentary-style cinematography by Oliver Wood helped the film achieve cult status; it played on the midnight-movie and repertory circuits through the mid-1980s, and remains a staple in the "true crime" sub-genre of suspense films.

Long unavailable on home video, The Honeymoon Killers has been resurrected by the Criterion Collection in this excellent DVD. The 1.85:1 letterboxed picture transfer is very good, with a firm grasp of the complicated contrasts and gray scale of Wood's deft and sinister lighting scheme. Wood, whom Kastle hails as a brilliant artist in his audio commentary, made excellent choices for the low-/no-budget docudrama, and his extensive use of available light gave the film a hyper-realistic and suitably uncomfortable texture that has become one of its hallmarks.

The audio track, the result of a new 24-bit transfer, comes across as a bit muffled at times, but this seems more the fault of the source material and the original dialogue recordings. (A direct comparison to the analog track on an early Image laserdisc pressing reveals similar problems.) Viewers with 5.1 surround systems may want to try the audio track in different modes for best clarity.

Criterion offers a generous portion of supplements in a cleverly designed, tabloid-style "want ad" menu that mirrors the disc's slick packaging. In an engaging, funny and informative interview, Kastle addresses several aspects of the production's history, including the picture's first director, a little-known filmmaker named Martin Scorsese, who wasn't working fast enough to accommodate the miniscule budget.

In addition to the original theatrical trailer, cast and crew biographies and an interesting essay by film critic Gary Giddins, the DVD includes a definitive "illustrated essay" by Scott Christianson that meticulously recounts the details of the real killers' "lonely hearts" murders. This exceptional record features numerous photographs, copies of original correspondence, courthouse briefs, fingerprints, and even Certificates of Execution from 1951, when Martha and Ray both met their fates in the electric chair at Sing Sing.

Kastle reports that The Honeymoon Killers was the direct result of the dislike he and producer Warren Steibel had for the glamorous and sexy adventures depicted in Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde. The pair set out to make a gritty, uneasy portrait of crime and obsession; set to the strains of Gustav Mahler, the lurid and often unsettling images of Lo Bianco's amorous con man and Stoler's miserably obsessed nurse rank among the best screen representations of criminals. Over the years, The Honeymoon Killers has been praised not only by critics, but also by filmmakers as diverse as Francois Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni and Marguerite Duras; the latter told Kastle the picture was the greatest love story she had ever seen on film. Thanks to Criterion, The Honeymoon Killers lives on to startle and amuse viewers as it lays bare the banality of romantic angst and violent rage.

- Kenneth Sweeney