Kondom des Grauens (1996)

Director:

Martin Walz

Writers:

Ralf König (comic books)
Ralf König (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 August 1996 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

The rubber that rubs you out!

Plot:

The plot takes place in New York, and in the present. In a Hotel called "Quicky" a professor blackmails a student of his into having sex with him...

Plot Keywords:

Condom | Homosexual | Tromaesque | Based On Comic

Cast

Udo Samel	...	Luigi Mackeroni
Peter Lohmeyer	...	Sam Hanks
Marc Richter	...	Billy
Leonard Lansink	...	Babette / Bob Miller
Iris Berben	...	Frau Dr. Riffleson
Henning Schlüter	...	Robinson
Ron Williams	...	Chief of Police
Ralf Wolter	...	Professor Boris Smirnoff
Adriana Altaras	...	Croatian Tourist
Evelyn Künneke	...	Wilma, Leichenschauhaus
Gerd Wameling	...	Lehrer
Meret Becker	...	Phyllis Higgins
Otto Sander	...	Mr. Higgins
Monika Hansen	...	Mrs. Higgins
Hella von Sinnen	...	Detective Sally

Also Known As:

Killer Condom (USA)
Camisinha Assassina (Brazil) [pt]
El condón asesino (Spain) [es]
Killer Condom (Italy) [it]
Killer Condom (Japan: English title) [en]
Killer Condom (France) [fr]
Killer Kondom (France) [fr]
Tappajakondomi (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

France:103 min | Germany:107 min | Japan:107 min

Country:

Germany | Switzerland

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (nf) (w) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Ascot Film

Quotes:

Luigi Mackeroni: What can a man do in New York if he's lonely and hasn't a dick?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cinemaker (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Killing Me Softly

Trashy entertainment at its best

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.