Product Details

• Actors: Peter Ferdinando, Ricky Glover, Neil Maskell, Lorenzo Camporese, Lucy Flack
• Directors: Gerard Johnson
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Revolver Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 6, 2010
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00354VXT0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,132 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Tony, Gerard Johnson s relentlessly gritty depiction of a solitary serial killer (Peter Ferdinando) whose attempts to socialize in various capacities always lead his would-be acquaintances to their grisly ends. With a quiet, utterly haunting pace, Johnson focuses on the unsettling nuances of the titular killer s isolated universe. A kind of Frownland for the torture porn set, it features beautiful imagery of Tony s urban surroundings, cleverly juxtaposed with the drab interiors of the grim apartment where he lives. Despite its basic plot, Tony feels less like a horror movie than a highly nuanced study of extreme social alienation, but the grim aura is nevertheless quite palpable. --Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE.com

Review

Gerard Johnson's first feature, 'Tony', is quite excellent! A week in the life of a lonely psycho-killer with severe social problems and an unfashionable moustache, Tony is a darkly comic take on the horror/killer genre. Peter Ferdinando plays our eponymous anti-hero as a nervous and misunderstood loser, unemployable and on state funded job-seeker allowance for 20 years, but prone to sudden acts of extreme violence against anyone who might torment him. The film is shot extremely well (props to DP David Higgs) with contrasting scenes of Tony's claustrophobic, spartan council flat and oddly lush views of a very grim looking London, complete with drug addicts, street walkers, homeless people and a generally disenfranchised looking populace. Tony wanders the streets, really just looking for anyone to talk to or connect with. He visits a pub and is accused by a vicious thug of looking like a 'nonce' (paedophile to any non-Brits) and gets into a long running feud with the guy (played by TV's hardman Ricky Grover) which ends with a surprisingly touching redemption. He invites two crack addicts to his flat after following them to buy some drugs from their connection, a black pimp who quotes poetry in a posh English accent and then snaps back to a London wide-boy guise in a split second. Back at the flat the guys hurriedly take their toke and try to ignore Tony as they fall into a drug induced stupor, only for our man to have some fun in brutally attacking them as they enjoy their trip. Tony's violent ways aren't explained, there are no flashbacks or insinuations of an unhappy childhood, he's simply insane enough to have convinced himself that he's different, and it works perfectly. My favourite scene and one of the most chilling has Tony staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. He says, 'You're not a criminal, you're a soldier, you're gonna die like a soldier.' A brief pause indicates a shift in tone and he looks back at himself,'You're no soldier, you're a fly on a pile of sh*t.' He then lets out a guttural roar that even had the gigglers in the back row quieten down and sit-up. In short, Ferdinando is terrific in the role. Throughout the film a beautiful piano melody plays during exterior shots as Tony walks the streets and observes the filth that surrounds him, these parts of 'Tony' feel like a nightmare adapted for the screen by Johnson, as do the scenes where Tony painstakingly separates limbs from torsos to dispatch them in blue plastic bags in the Thames at night. The film is also hilariously funny though. It reminded me of the insane humour of American Psycho, when Tony wakes-up in bed next to a decaying corpse and offers it a good morning and a cup of tea. He quotes Rambo in 'First Blood' before a murder, shrugs his way through the world s most awkward job interview and picks-up a copy of Héctor Olivera's 'Cocaine Wars' at a charity shop (I am guilty of this too, which freaked me out no end!). He visits a gay bar a few times and seems to enjoy the attention he receives at first, but on taking a guy home he changes his mind and...well you know. For such an unpleasant and brutal journey in voyeurism and perversity, 'Tony' has a twisted sense of humour and a beating human heart at it's core that helps to seriously lift it above other recent films in the genre. For anyone who was left cold by Steven Sheil's Mum & Dad or is tired of the same old torture horror that's offered so liberally by the industry, Tony is something special and absolutely the real deal. --Quiet Earth

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TONY, March 2, 2010

By 

Jasmine T. Boerner "crimsoncloverzs" (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tony (DVD)

This film is worth seeing. It's not so much about gore, though there are moments that are truly horrific. What's most horrifying about this film, however, is the Tony's thought process. His actions are seriously misguided and the film is overtly creepy. Peter Ferdinando is plays the role well and this film will leave you with chills.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TONY, January 28, 2011

By 

Bowlofcerealkiller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tony (DVD)

It was a great movie if you appreciate the subtle dark humor and the heavy Brittish accent. It wasn't what I expected, but it was still an interesting movie. In all honesty, part of what sold me on it was The The doing the soundtrack! Tony reminds me of my ex-boyfriend so that made it strange for me!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a genre film..., March 18, 2010

By 

Jerrod Lemaster (Redon, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tony (DVD)

During the summer of 2009, I worked for a British film festival in France. TONY was one of the films selected to be screened as part of the sneak preview film selection, and was definitely my favorite shown. While this film is sure to appeal to horror fans--the main character is an introverted serial killer that preys on junkies and men he meets at gay bars--it has strong undertones of black comedy, and shouldn't be tossed aside as a genre film. During the festival, people of all ages went to see this film, which was ecstatically praised by younger and older audiences alike.

Tony is seriously demented, but what is genuinely horrifying is how Gerard Johnson has directed a film whose main character can brutally kill but also come off as quite endearing. Will you dare let Tony into your life?