Killer Condom (1996)
Troma
Cast: Udo Samel, Peter Lohmeyer
Extras: Audio Commentary, Bonus Trailers, Studio Tour, Troma Videos, Photo Gallery
Rating:

Seeing a film entitled ’Killer Condom’, being distributed by Troma may seem like a perfect match, and this 1996 German film about prophylactics that kill people may seem right up Troma’s alley, but the execution comes across as very European.
’Killer Condom’ focuses on a series of murders at the Hotel Quickie in New York. Detective Luigi Macaroni investigates the case and is almost dismembered by the titular creature. Despite the fact that no one believes Macaroni’s reports, he decides to pursue the case anyway. He not only discovers that the killer condoms are real, but he uncovers an incredible conspiracy as well.

’Killer Condom’ works very well as a comedy, as it spoofs traditional detective films. Here, the macho detective is actually gay and the fantastic story, which everyone accuses him of creating, is more fantastic than ever. Udo Samel is great as Macaroni. The film offers some unintentional laughs as the production tries very hard to remind us that we’re in New York by stuffing American symbols into every shot. Despite this, every character, no matter their race or origin, speaks with a thick German accent, even the people from Farmville, Oklahoma. There are also some suspenseful moments involving the killer condoms, which were designed by the legendary H.R. Giger and were built by Jorg ’Nekromanic’ Buttgereit.

The drawback to the film is that at 107 minutes, it’s just too long. The premise is set up in the first ten minutes and from there we are given dozens of dialogue scenes, most dealing with Luigi’s relationships. While some of these are funny, most of them slow the film down. While I’m the first to cry out against unnecessary editing, I’m truly surprised that Troma didn’t cut this film down to help the pace.

The Troma DVD of ’Killer Condom’ offers a below average transfer of the film. It has been reported that the film’s aspect ratio is 1.66:1, but the transfer on the DVD is presented at about a 1.45:1 ratio, meaning that it’s just barely letterboxed. Still, there doesn’t seem to be any visual information missing from the frame. The transfer is dark and grainy and there are several obvious flaws in the source print. There are times when the transfer is sub-VHS quality. The film’s English subtitles are a pale white, and are often hard to read. The audio on the DVD is a Dolby Digital Mono, which is adequate as the dialogue and sound effects are all audible.