If you haven’t seen Killer Condom before, you should skip my paragraph of plot description because my enjoyment of the film was greatly increased by going in as cold and limp as possible.
Detective Luigi Mackeroni (Udo Samel) is known for two things on the filthy and naughty streets of New York City: his big personality and his hard stance against criminals. He is assigned to solve the unsolvable, a series of penis mutilations at Hotel Quickie with no suspects. He quickly discovers, after nearly losing an important appendage, that this orgy of sausage munching is the work of an army of carnivorous condoms that someone has unleashed upon the city. Things get complicated for Mackeroni after his suspicions are aroused when the case involves both his ex Babette (Leonard Lansink), and his new love Billy (Marc Richter).
It’s a deflatingly sad thing to admit, but I’m much more likely to cuddle with a film that Troma distributed than one that Troma produced. Whenever I would see Killer Condom (1996) on DVD with the garish Troma layout out in the wild, I would immediately be turned off by it. Little did I know that a country as turgid as Germany could pop out a film as fun and entertaining as Killer Condom. So, let’s slide right into what makes this film so great.
Writer director/co-writer Martin Walz deftly wields his large talent of mixing a bizarre horror concept, very wet gross out humor, and sultry satire in this adaptation of the comic book, Kondom der Grauens, by Ralf König (who co-wrote this film). The bulbous creative minds of director Jörg Buttgereit and artist H.R. Giger, serve as special effects designer and creative consultant respectively on this film just won’t stay down. The excellent music score by Emil Viklický is robust and sounds almost too big to handle. Over the closing credits, we are brought to an eargasm by the Killer Condom theme song by Lucilectric.
The only bad thing that I can say about this film is that it is firmly inserted in the 1990s. Now I don’t want to be suggestive and tease you with the whole “so bad it’s good” label that keeps getting slapped on this film’s taut backside. Killer Condom is engorgingly great and well worth your hot and sweaty time. With the world swinging the way it is lately, I’m quite certain that this film’s theme of “love is love” would roughly fondle the sensitive areas of viewers’ with conservative sensibilities even in 2023. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and stick Killer Condom in wherever it fits and enjoy!
Vinegar Syndrome certainly knows how to please their audience with a release that is satisfying in so many ways. The video and audio presentation of Killer Condom is so much better than the old Troma DVD that anyone viewing this version could be in for an orgasmic surprise of 4K quality. This three-disc set includes the 118-minute Director’s Cut of Killer Condom as well as its 108 minute theatrical cut. You like it cut? You like it uncut? Either way you take it, Vinegar Syndrome is right behind you.
In terms of extras, I hope you’re feeling limber, because it’s gonna be a long night. A commentary track with Martin Walz and Jörg Buttgereit is a funny and informative listen as they go through details of the production and the German underground horror scene. There is also a 35 minute “making of” documentary and interviews with Walz, Buttgereit, Udo Samel, actor Adriana Altaras, and actor Peter Lohmeyer. Theres’s an interview with prop collector Roman Güttinger, who shows off his Killer Condom props and many other goodies. There are also some archival behind-the-scenes, interviews, a documentary from previous releases, a short film by Walz, and a pair of trailers.