Killer Condom (1996) User Reviews

Killer Condom

[altheasus · 4/10 · 28 January 2000]

How much can you really say about a condom with teeth? The plot was really out there, but it was something campy to see on a Friday night. The story has a lot of unexpected twists, and it's a great way to offend all you're conservative friends!

A laugh and a half for all people

[chris_the_elite · 6/10 · 20 April 2001]

Kondom des Grauens (Killer Condom) is a unique and funny movie.In a modern world where movies are just copies of past hits, it's great to see something original.Killer Condom shows people that safe sex can still be dangerous!

Worth the rental just for curiosity's sake

[InpraiseofFolly · 6/10 · 11 August 2005]

The concept for this movie alone is worth renting it. For all of it's flaws , you cannot say that "Killer Condom" is unoriginal or unimaginative. I was actually surprised , during the first hour of the film , to see that I had actually been able to stomach a Troma film. The movies tries to have a B-movie type feel to it but numerous scenes within this actually lead me to believe that it was actually made by someone quite competent. The humour is crude and largely genitalia centered ( that's a given with a title like "Killer condom". ) which you would think could keep you entertained for close to two hours. To my dismay though , it gets old rather fast and the movie just seems to go on and on like a really funny sketch that goes on a little too long and ends up being awkwardly unfunny. Meh , Rent it anyway.

The story of the second...

[The_Baron · 17 May 2000]

A brilliant piece of tongue-in-cheek work. Played with magnificent straightness and forthrightness. This movie has so many things lacking in modern film. It has mad scientists, deranged religious maniacs, New York City, Italian detectives, hard-bitten police chiefs, loves lost, loves found, loves misplaced and never looked for. We get to see the deranged work of genius put to the evil task of eliminating the impure before the second coming of the Messiah. Major bummer that He's a regular patron of the 'Hotel Quicky." Watch it, laugh at it, enjoy it. It's worth your time.

One of the Funniest Politically Incorrect Trash Cult Movies I Have Ever Seen

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 February 2005]

In New York, four men have their penis ripped in room 308 of the cheap Hotel Quickie. The Sicilian homosexual smoker Detective Luigi Mackeroni (Ude Samel) is in charge of the investigation. While inquiring in the hotel, Mackeroni has a crush on the prostitute Billy (Marc Richter), goes with Billy to room 308 and they have intercourse in the crime scene. Luigi uses the condom supplied as compliment by the hotel and it eats his testicle. The official version for the police department is that Billy torn Mackeroni's testicle, and nobody believes in Mackeroni's version. After many other mutilations, Mackeroni finds that a fanatic religious woman intends to destroy gays, hookers, travesties and other perverts, using this weird specimen developed in the laboratory to castrate men.

"Killer Condom" is one of the funniest politically incorrect trash cult movies I have ever seen. The story is narrated in off, as if it were a film-noir. Detective Luigi Mackeroni, the hero of the story, is gay; the former detective Bob is now Babbete, a travesty who sings in a brothel. Babbete had a three minutes affair with a drunken Mackeroni in the past and has been in love with him since then. Billy is the boyfriend of Mackeroni. Most of the story takes place in mundane places, such as the hotel / brothel where the crimes happen, full of hookers, homosexuals and perverts, and satirizes mainly fanatic religious, conservative groups and politicians. The first time I saw this movie was on 01 July 2000 on VHS. Today, I have just watched it for the second time and laughed a lot again. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Camisinha Assassina" ("Killer Condom")

Note: On 08 November 2014, I saw this movie again.

Never funny, despite trying so hard

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 29 April 2016]

"Kondom des Grauens" or "Killer Condom" from 20 years ago is a German movie directed and written by Martin Walz together with Ralf König who is the author of the comic that this film is based on. It runs for 105 minutes basically, which I personally found way too long given that the film had nothing to offer. There are moments of horror, moments of drama, moments of mystery and science-fiction, but it does not deliver enough (in terms of quality and quantity) in any of these areas that I would say it is a fitting genre description. The only thing I can see it as is a comedy movie. The title character comes to life and does the unspeakable act when put where it usually belongs. No need to further elaborate on that. As a direct consequence, a police officer tries to find out what is actually going on and runs into all kinds of bizarre people and situations on the way to finding the truth, even something involving God at the very end. Oh well.. that has to happen when it is all about a carnivorous condom. How much you will like or dislike this movie has to do with and all comes down to how funny you will find the humor in here. I personally did not find it funny at all. And that is also why nothing stays apart from strange sexual (frequently disturbing and disgusting) references that make up this film. And the desperate attempt of being funny while not succeeding at all. Nothing worse than that. It says a lot that the cast includes mostly actors who usually score through charisma and not through range, such as the incredibly overrated Iris Berben. Sucks to see Leonard Lansink in here though. He is much much better than the level of this movie. As a whole, I give it a major thumbs down and ask... no beg you to watch something else other than this complete mess we have here. Watched it the second time today, many years after the first and it was just as bad. The only somewhat good thing was "Killing Me Softly", but of course no credit can go to the filmmakers for this song.

Foreign film with Troma-tic ties.

[jheisel · 6/10 · 2 July 1999]

I thought only Troma could make weird movies, but it appears that Germans can come up with movies just as insane as Troma. Killer Condom is the tale of a homosexual New York detective, Luigi Macaroni, who discovers a "killer condom" is responsible for biting the member off of numerous men in the City. Obviously, the citizens of NYC can't have this, and Macaroni goes on a quest to find and destory the condom, uncovering a huge Christian conspiracy in the process. There are a few funny jokes, and one scene evokes an eerie parallel to the AIDS virus scare ("You knew about this?" "Yeah, but it only affected queers and hookers til now..."). All too often, this movie moves too slow and with too little development. But if you don't mind reading, and like weird movies, pick up Killer Condom.

ICK

[VerhoHo · 1/10 · 3 January 1999]

Yet another "gay" film ruined by asinine politics. Luigi's final speech just about sent me running out of the theatre with its bumper-sticker epigrams. Read the comic book it was based on for a much more entertaining experience.

Trashy entertainment at its best

[LarsW-2 · 8/10 · 10 April 2001]

This trashy masterpiece is based on a cartoon by the great German cartoonist Ralf König (he is still quite unknown outside his home country and especially in the US for some reason). Your typical hardboiled, cynical, chain-smoking trench-coat wearing Italian detective stalks the street of New York. Only this one is openly gay, and is famous for his enormous..."schwanstucker". At the Hotel Quickie in his district, an alarming number of men have lost theirs. Over-eager hookers are first suspected, but our hero soon discovers the truth when he goes to the hotel and almost loses his – to a condom with teeth! Who may be behind this fiendish creature, and how is detective Macaroni going to convince others of the existence of this killer contraceptive before it strikes again? Unlike most Troma films this film actually have a rather good and coherent (but extremely absurd) plot. It is a satirical comedy that is actually played straight for the most part. For being a European film it actually had quite a big budget. It is also interesting to notice that lots of famous German actors and celebrities clamoured to get roles in this film that would have made Hollywood stars run away in terror screaming "Career killer!!!". The bearishly handsome and openly gay actor Udo Samel who stars as detective Macaroni has previously played in famous German masterpieces such as Far Away So Close and Kasper Hauser. There is a tender (but funny) love story included too. There is no frontal nudity but there are some sex scenes that might offend. But if you are easily offended, why are you here?

The DVD version includes some nice animated menus, some Troma extras and a great comment track by the director and special effects supervisor. There are lots of funny anecdotes about the directors claiming to be making a documentary so they will get permission to film in famous locations, police officers closing off New York streets for hours, stunts that went horribly wrong, and all the gruesome scenes that were cut. "For some reason they cut a close-up shot here of the condom on the floor after it had just...fed. I can't see why. I think it was a beautiful shot". At one point there is a nice fade from a flashback sequence, into a reflection in a window, and then a pan as the actor turns and walks away into the distance. The director explains how he did it, and then with a big laugh adds "But this was probably lost on the average Troma viewer!" Alien designer Giger is included in the credits as a creative consultant, but he joined the filming so late he could basically only say "yes, that looks good" about the designs already made. The film is in German with English subtitles. Unfortunately you can't turn the subtitles off, they are not on a separate track but for what its worth, it is a very good translation. American viewers might find it amusing to see German actors speaking German pretending to be New Yorkers, but as the directors point out, that is what Hollywood does to the rest of the world all the time.

The second half of the movie is unfortunately less polished (relatively speaking of course) than the first because the makers ran out of time and money. Lots of scenes were cut from the second half, which makes some subplots a little confusing, but the directors admit that the film would probably have been even better if some more stuff had been cut from the last half. However, it is still a good film and I can recommend it if you are a fan of trashy entertainment.

Strange, unexpected and fun

[Bored_Dragon · 7/10 · 13 October 2016]

A German movie in the German language, but with the plot located in New York and the main characters being a Sicilian gay inspector named Macaroni and a Russian crazy scientist named Smirnoff. By itself, this is enough for a hilarious movie. It has elements of Film Noir and, with scenes and music, it parodies "The Godfather", "Psycho", and many more legendary movies.

The plot is based on the living condoms that bite off people's genitals in the hotel "Quicky" and the inspector who is trying to solve the case. As much as it sounds retarded and ridiculous, this movie really isn't bad. Two hours flew like nothing and I think I will watch it again, because I probably missed some more concealed references.

Objectively, the movie doesn't have some special qualities, but for originality and entertainment, I would rate it ten out of ten.

7/10

I absolutely have no idea what to say about this movie...

[Maz-hell · 3/10 · 26 February 2018]

This movie is a complete "what in the hell am I looking at?" kind of movie. Not for the conservative or for the homophobic or for the religious. It is a criticism to noir films, action films, cop films, horror films... probably every film on the planet.

This movie's plot is insane: A condom that eats the genitals of every man that uses it. From republicans that look a lot like Trump (in 1996) to crazy experiments with condoms with brains I have no idea what to say.

Characters? The titular is Luigi Macarroni, a gay italian cop that speaks German in New York. He is the least insane one.

The dialogue is so abysmal it is bellygrabingly funny. The cinemathography and photography are more cheap than the effects (and these are cheap as hell), but it actually feels adequate to the insane plot. Scenography? Supremely cheap, but you feel in ambience. Seriously.

It is an enjoyable, cheap film. Would watch again.

A grand hoot!!

[smokehill · 8/10 · 23 October 2000]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked this flick. It sounds like a real waste of film, but they actually have plot, subplot, character development -- it ain't Citizen Kane, but it sure is a lot of fun. The special effects probably didn't cost more than a lunch at McDonald's, but they were entirely adequate and a real treat to watch.

I thought for a moment that Det. Mackaroni's speech was going to evolve into the Second Coming of Christ (which would have been quite wonderful), but alas they went a different direction. I'm really glad I taped this one.

If warped humour is your thing, this is for you

[Keltic-2 · 6/10 · 28 November 2000]

-Kondom des Grauens- is an odd beast. Although at times outlandish to the point of absurdity, it is always played pretty much straight. The wonderfully gruff and sleazy Detective Luigi Macaroni is a great parody of every hard-boiled detective ever portrayed. Overall it's worth at least a look, although definitely not everyone's cup of tea. It sits nicely somewhere between -Bad Taste- and -Eat and Run-.

Good plot totally wasted

[Pohjanpaju · 3/10 · 19 July 2018]

While "Der Bewegte Mann" was an excellent adaptation of König's comics, the same can't sadly be said about "Kondom des Grauens". Even to try to make a detective film of a comic that itself is a parody of a detective film is quite confusing idea and Walz has not exactly succeeded in his task. Acting is clumsy, movie characters lack the charisma comic characters have and jokes that work well in a comic are all but embarrassing on film. More action and less endless pointless dialogues might have made a difference.

Hysterical Parody

[beptep · 8 August 2000]

Expecting this to be bad cult film in the vein of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", I was pleasantly surprised to find this a delight. New Yorkers and Oklahomans speaking German started me tittering. (It was also rather creepy--as though Hitler had won the war.) A little further, however, my tittering escalated into full-throated laughter. This is a clever parody of film noir, sci-fi, and soft-core porn films rolled into one. Top-notch performances by an excellent cast, a clever script, and talented direction make this one to see. Watch it with a group of unprudish friends for its full effect. Better still, watch it with a gay audience.

HR Giger as creative consultant, hmm..

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 19 October 2006]

Killer Condom is the kind of movie that goes below the belt of B-movie (though above the Z-movies that Troma usually churns out like butter), and somehow through its German-made/set in New York ways it's actually watchable. Or, to put it another way, it's what the VH1 channel might dub as 'awesomely bad'. You know the kind of awesomely bad movie- it's when something is up on screen that is really despicable and horrid and, as others have pointed out, trashy, but at the same time it's also done unpretentiously in its quasi German art-house sect. I'd almost imagine if Wim Wenders had to fill a quota for Lloyd Kaufman by gun-point this might be it. Or maybe not. Maybe it's just an idea for a movie that gets cross-bled with a gay love-story involving a cop- Udo Samuel as Luigi Mackeroni (yeah, the only Italian-name pun that has surpassed what Nintendo did for Mario)- who in the midst of investigating multiple cases of a certain creature of the picture's title taking away genitalia, is in the cross-hairs of not only a male love-triangle with Bob (err, Bebette), but also a random guy that always calls him 'Cop'. That he stills pines for Sicily doesn't help matters, especially with something personal of his, which I dare not reveal, that he loses early on in a very inane, odd way.

Director Martin Walz is adapting from a comic book apparently, but I wondered when watching it if how much was taken from the book and how much he just threw in on his own cognizance. It's a stupid movie, when you think about it, but it's the kind of stupidity that I actually don't mind watching, at least in 80 minute doses. And at times individual scenes take on a kind of brilliant absurdism that's a combination of just seeing the condom go to town (and just move around in general), the reactions from those around it with either disbelief or malaise that no one really gets what's going on, and the Gay material that goes past making fun of itself and almost becomes endearing in its all-too-what-the-hell ways. Don't look for logic here, is what I'm saying, particularly in the last twenty minutes as the filmmakers go to lengths to explain how the killer condom phenomena occurred, even as it comes closest to justifying Giger's involvement in the project (there is an uncanny relation to this and some of the Alien movies, particularly with what's almost a 'Queen Condom').

Killer Condom is many things, but great art likely wont be one of them. But unlike some other horror movies that have terrific titles, this one wasn't as much of a disappointment as it could have been. At the least Samel is consistent with his character's tough but sort of sensitive character, and what's laughably dumb about it goes alongside the director's more lofty visual ambitions. As it says on the front cover, it's both a Troma video release AND an entry into the Berlin Film Festival.

Unusual but cute, funny and atmospheric.

[maniatis · 7/10 · 23 September 1998]

This is not the Titanic. Significantly fewer million $ were spent on this film's making. However, the result is interestingly given, in a very noiresque atmosphere, where the macho hero saves the world. The humor in it is, sometimes, raunchy. Still, the unusual topic and the fact that it was not made in good old Hollywood, make this film a very pleasant experience. (Then, again, keep early teens away, to be on the safe side...)

Any movie from Troma with a title like this HAS to be trash, right?

[capkronos · 8/10 · 12 May 2003]

No, not necessarily...as KILLER CONDOM goes on to prove, that the fine line dividing mainstream comedy and good old-fashioned tasteless exploitation, has all but vanished.

At the "Hotel Quickie," a New York City hotel/brothel, mostly male hookers and tricks are falling prey to a slew of razor-fanged prophylactics. Yes, castrating "carnivorous condoms," which, actually turn out to be man-made creatures concocted by a man-hating, ultra-conservative, religious fanatic psycho to wipe out homosexuals, hookers and other unsavory "perverts!" A grizzled, gruff and gay cop, who loses his "right nut" to one, is on the case.

Other than running the gamut of penis and testicle synonyms, this vulgar, often side-splitting, deadpan horror/comedy does an fairly decent job satirizing politics, religion and sexual taboos and serves as a focused, pointed and blunt look at the gay lifestyle (and the stereotypes it creates) from a refreshingly pro-gay agenda--a first in the world of horror. It's surprisingly well made, directed and acted, too, with big time cult movie potential. The video is subtitled and unrated. Very much recommended (if you're open-minded)!

Better than a B-movie; a B-movie with subtitles!

[AVES-2 · 7/10 · 3 June 1999]

This movie is destined to be a cult classic. It has the outrageous and almost totally unbelievable plot, the bad acting, shifty camera work, horrible special effects, a gay love story, and subtitles. In spite of all this (or maybe because of it) the movie is fun.

The action takes place mostly at a brothel called "Hotel Quickie" and is set in NYC. The hotel-provided condoms pack a bit of a bite and after four men lose their bits, the police call in Detective Macaroni; enter the well hung hero.

While investigating the scene of the crime, Macaroni catches the eye of Billy, a cute young hooker who falls deeply in love with "Cop"'s considerable... nightstick, shall we say. Unfortunately, before they are able to consummate their relationship, the condom strikes again and leaves Macaroni one nut shy of a full sack. Now the fight is personal, so Macaroni is determined to bring the condoms and whoever unleashed them on society to justice.

The movie is full of strange and quicky characters that bring to mind the early works of David Lynch. There is a transvestite ex-cop (Bob/Babette) who has a crush on Macaroni and even a Republican Candidate for President with a thing for hookers. The best thing about the characters, however, is that they all have something called "character development" throughout the film which is something even most Hollywood Blockbusters don't have anymore.

This movie is definitely not for everyone but if you enjoy cheesy horror films, can endure the subtitles, and if the gay "love" story doesn't offend you, you might really like it. I'm already planning to rent it again.

Objective-Proof that Germans Have a Sense-of-Humor

[myboigie · 8/10 · 11 March 2006]

You've heard-it, and probably said-it: "Germans aren't funny, they have no-sense-of-humor", but it's untrue. How do I know this? The existence of this film, silly. This is an absolute laugh-riot from-the-get-go, the hilarious "Killer Kondom". A lot of North American-men will feel-uneasy watching a film that revels-in gay-culture, but this is some great social-satire too. Virtually every sexual-taboo is explored here, so Killer Kondom isn't exactly a date-film, heh-heh. But, if you want to remove uptight, unwanted company, you could do worse. You have to admire something this funny, yet-annoying. Ferchrissakes, that's what a "cult-film" IS. This could never, ever be distributed in-theaters within the territorial-United States. Our culture could not-withstand this film in that medium or setting, especially for the rampant homosexual-themes.

Maybe the funniest-thing is that the film takes-place in New York City, with an all-German cast speaking their native-language. This-alone is pretty funny, but that's before you reach the plot! The story is pretty-simple: male-clients of prostitutes are being-castrated by penis-eating creatures in a seedy New York Hotel (amazingly, not the Chelsea!). The protagonist-cop has to discover what the attacks are, and who originated-them, and why. It's quite-a-trip to the ending, and often hair-raising, especially if you're male. The depiction of American Midwesterners is hilarious in the prologue with the Hayseed-father The story is a camp-noir-horror, involving a very-ugly gay-cop, lots of subplots of his past-relationships, and lots of baiting-and-chasing of the condoms.

You could say this film makes-fun of several-genres, sometimes all in one-scene! From gumshoe-detective films, to John Waters grossout-insanity, to some truly-bizarre scenarios, this film has-it-all for those who love trash-cinema. A number of the scenes and makeup were designs-by Swiss-surrealist, H. R. Geiger, though several never made-it to the final-cut. I've seen his sketches, and they were downright-Medieval. Too-bad, as his concepts were what made this film worth-a-looky! Troma's DVD is passable, with lousy-audio, but it's cheap and fun, just like a one-night-stand. A cult-classic with a "Get-the-F%*#-Outta-Here!!!" -ending. If you find religious-intolerance of-sexuality bad, this film will definitely resonate.

While the special effects aren't great, this movie is FUNNY!

[RedBear-2 · 9/10 · 9 July 1999]

I really liked the humor of this movie. The acting was very good and I didn't even mind the subtitles. Some may not like the special effects, but I thought the corniness of the movie and the cheesy effects went perfectly together.

I highly recommend this movie.

sexy and hysterical

[DAVIDCOBERLY · 8/10 · 30 January 2009]

I saw this film last night on the LOGO network. As I suppose I should have expected, the show ran longer than the time LOGO had alloted for it, so I didn't get to see the whole thing -- my DVR cut it off early. I have to say, nevertheless, that I was having a great time watching it! The notion of killer condoms terrorizing New Yorkers is just too damned funny! The effects are hokey to the point of ridiculous -- the condoms are alternately cute and muppety or terrifyingly huge and ferocious. Too silly. The performance of the lead character, a a police Inspector, is actually quite good. He plays a rough-hewn gay cop looking for love in all the wrong places. His friend Bob (Bobette) is a former cop turned drag queen. And the love of the Inspector's life is -- well, you'll just have to see for yourself. All of this, plus an international conspiracy to purify mankind...

fun for all

[chaosnbeer · 16 January 2004]

Definitly one of Troma's strangest and with a message. Killer Condom is definitly not for the homophobic or conservative as it is a pro homosexual movie that deals with society's issue's with homosexuality and morality and is an attack on the gay bashing conservative religious right community. The Killer Condoms of the title was created by the government( i think i can't remember) to murder homosexuals and sexual deviants proving a roller coaster ride of cheesy low bro humor and gags. Definitly for the open minded people out there to check out

8/10

highly entertaining and unusual movie

[abenko · 9/10 · 20 July 2001]

highly entertaining and unusual movie - helped me to get away from Hollywood-made movies and see something truly different.

Hope you like it...

Impressive

[scarlet caulfield · 8/10 · 24 June 2002]

*CONTAINS SPOILERS!!*

Killer Condom is not your typical horror film.

Luigi Macaroni is the hard, stoic detective that can't love and dreams of returning to his home in Sicily, the only place that is truly home. He's a character from right of the classic film noir period. His longing to belong is a theme throughout the film. Detective Macaroni, along with nearly every other character in this film, is gay and he finds it impossible to truly belong in the big city of New York.

Meanwhile he's got other problems: clients at the Quickie Hotel keep losing their dicks, and as strings of whores are led into the police station, charged with the heinous crimes, Luigi is the only one who learns the true terror - condoms with large, sharp teeth that attack victims right where it hurts the most. You can probably guess where that would be.

None of his fellow cops will believe his story of these killer condoms because the only witnesses are drug dealers, whores, and pimps. But Luigi stands by his beliefs, eventually saving us all.

Underneath the carnage and the sex, lies a story that is a biting (literally) attack on the religious right and also the Republican party. This film brings out the dark side of the religious right and makes the viewer question the basic foundations of morality.

When Luigi gave his speech at the end about acceptance and tolerance, tears formed in my eyes.

The only thing I can't figure out is why this film, which is German with subtitles, takes place in New York. But perhaps I'm just analyzing too much.

Oh, Killer Condom is absolutely hilarious too. I wish my name was Professor Smirnoff or Luigi Macaroni.

8/10