Tony (2010)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Tony is a great British indie horror flick in the same vein as Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer. This film is similar in that this is also the day to day life of a serial killer. However, this film has much more black comedy and is not quite as dark or as hard hitting as its predecessor. This centers around Tony, an unemployed, extremely socially awkward and totally antisocial man who has an obsession with action movies and is desperate for any kind of social connection. This film is an interesting character study of the types of people that society shuns and ignores. This was handled fairly realistically and is at times really funny. There are nods to Taxi Driver here and there, but this film takes urban alienation and loneliness much further. There is nothing that glorifies or makes Tony look cool, actually quite the opposite as Tony is the lone creeper with a bad mustache that people go out of their way to avoid. It was a brave performance by actor Peter Ferinando and this film is very well done and effective as a whole. The film is very gritty and the underbelly of London is its backdrop. This is a glimpse into that world(and its inhabitants) from socially inept Tony's point of view. Even though the film does not have much to offer in gore, this is very disturbing and well made horror movie that is very interesting and holds up well after multiple viewings. Very original and effective film. Thumbs up.

Tony is set in London where socially incompetent loner Tony Benson (Peter Ferdinando) lives alone in his grimy little high rise flat, Tony has never had a job & spends most of his time walking around London or watching action films on video, he doesn't have a DVD player you see. Occasionally Tony decides to kill someone & cut their bodies up before disposing of the parts, when a young boy named Davey goes missing on Tony's estate Tony is suspected. Will the truth come out & will Tony be exposed as the ruthless serial killer that he is?This British production was written & directed by Gerard Johnson & is a film that many seem to like which does baffle me a little, I thought Tony was a rather bland & pointless serial killer thriller with virtually no plot. While what's here is very well made & written & acted there's nothing beyond watching this awkward guy named Tony walk around London & randomly kill a couple of people along the way, the only other plot angle about the missing kid amounts to nothing & instead of being a film with a proper story Tony comes across more like a slice of life, a minimalist, stark, short & empty documentary that follows one guy around for a few days & nothing more. Tony isn't given any real background, there's no reason for what he does or the way he acts or the way he is, Tony is a complete loner & acts very strangely around other people taking long pauses while talking or just saying some really bizarre random things that come across as rather strange. I suspect that Tony was meant as some sort of modern London set character study of a serial killer like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) with it's gritty realist approach but with an almost complete lack of any story to hang on to or anything or anyone to really relate to I was left watching Tony but not really getting involved in it. Even though Tony lasts for 72 minutes the end credits run for a good five of those so in reality it only lasts for just over an hour & even then not that much happens, one also has to question how Davey's dad knew where Tony lived or why Tony never gets any blood on himself despite killing several people & cutting them up.Tony is set in London but not the glamorous London usually seen in films, no this is the rundown horrible London where people live in poverty. None of the actors are beautiful model types & along with the decayed urban settings Tony has a very bleak & depressing look & atmosphere that works really well. It's just a shame there's no story to go with the visuals. Tony kills a few people, a severed foot is seen & some guts as well but there's not much gore otherwise.Apparently shot in just twelve days on a budget of about £60,000 in locations around London it's very well made with great photography & use of background imagery & locations to create mood but as I said there's not much else here besides the gritty look. The acting is very good, I can't say Tony was scary but he did come across as weird & a bit creepy at times & I am surprised he managed to pick up so many people & lure them back to his flat.Tony is a minimalist serial killer thriller that follows the title character around for a bit & then just finishes. The film has a really gritty look & feel with good acting as well but I just found myself failing to get involved in the character's or the situations, ultimately the lack of any story is more of a killer than Tony himself.

Tony is a dark character study focusing on a week in the life of Tony, a British serial killer living in a London tower block. A socially awkward individual, Tony kills because it seems to be his only way to resolve difficult social situations. It is easier for him to commit murder than to relate to other people.To a certain extent, the film's examination of Tony resembles the 1980s film, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Peter Ferdinando's performance rivals that of Michael Rooker in the latter film, giving Tony depth and sympathy. However, the film has a class context that sets it apart from the earlier work.Paralleling Tony's bleak existence is the blighted section of London he lives in. Walking aimlessly through poor neighborhoods and interacting with their inhabitants, Tony's behavior comes to seem an understandable reaction to his social environment. Indeed, many of the people he encounters come across as even more savage in their own ways, whether through overt aggression or bureaucratic indifference.The film does have some flaws that prevent it from being a true classic. There are a number of scenes dedicated to establishing Tony's lack of social skills, which at times come across as overkill. Given that the film originated as a short film, these scenes seem like filler meant to bring it to feature length. Nevertheless, this British film is definitely worth a rent.

MOVIE GRADE: A-I LIKED IT:1. Genuinely CREEPY2. Acting was Superb - Top Notch for an Indie Flick!3. Cinematography was beautiful4. Story was interesting and very different.IMPROVE ON:1. Music - didn't hate, nor did I like it.HATED:1. NOTHINGRECOMMEND TO:I recommend this movie to MOVIE FANS! This movie has creepiness written all over it, the lead actors portrayal of the fictional TONY was marvelous and brilliant. It creeped me out. Even the sub actors were great, the story was fascinating as it was particularly a piece in the KILLERS life. You may be boggled as to is there an ending? Remember this is just a part in a persons life and to have it that way makes it interesting and complete. Very detailed!If you like our stuff please bookmark us at http://themystified.com