“Kitas Kinas” (“Other Cinema”) educational film platform presents the last cinema outing this summer: the screening of “Killer Condom” (dir. Martin Walz, 1996, 107 mins.) will take place on 29 August, 9 pm. This is the ninth instalment of this independent cinema series to take place at Kaunas Artists’ House.
Men keep losing their private parts under mysterious circumstances in a sleazy hotel in New York. Luigi Mackeroni, a chain-smoking detective of Sicilian descent, clad in a cliché trenchcoat is in charge of investigating these crimes, but, after having a romantic encounter with a young gigolo named Billy at the crime scene, he encounters the dreaded creature – the killer condom. After his colleagues disbelieve this tale, Billy is charged with harming Luigi. The detective’s battle against crime becomes personal: not only does he have to confront the monster, but he also has to face his feelings for Billy.
This film was based on a graphic novel by the same name, created by Ralf König, the well-known German artist. Its special effects were created by the genius of low-budget horror flicks Jörg Buttgereit, whereas H. R. Giger, the legendary designer behind “Alien”, worked as a creative consultant. “Killer Condom” was distributed by “Troma Entertainment”, known for their DIY philosophy, political activism and shocking content. At the Cannes Film Festival the studio publicised the film with a two-metre-long monster-condom.
Although “Killer Condom” was created with a relatively small budget and does not contain expensive special effects, it managed to mix numerous genres in a way that was both interesting and innovative: we can witness a parody of film noir cynicism, romantic dramas and B monster movies. Behind its vulgar humour lie exceedingly serious issues, such as the AIDS epidemic, sexual limitations and even extremism. R. König, who contributed to the film’s script, maintains his trademark way of talking about society’s conservativism, LGBT community issues and religion via dark humour.
The film will be shown in German with English subtitles.
This film is rated 18. “Kitas Kinas” would like to thank “Troma Entertainment” for this film. Entry is free of charge but visitors are welcome to donate. Recommended donation: 3€. Your contributions will be used to obtain screening licenses for upcoming films.
“Other Cinema” is an educational platform that introduces and overviews obscure films and their stories and personalities. The goal of this platform is to rescue unwittingly abandoned films from obscurity and review the most interesting manifestations of contemporary independent cinema, as well as to promote people’s interest in alternative cinema history and allow them to develop not only good but also bad taste.
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