''Tony'', also known as ''Tony: London Serial Killer'', is a 2009 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by Gerard Johnson and starring

Peter Ferdinando Peter Ferdinando is a British character actor, known for his varied performances. He has collaborated extensively with director and cousin Gerard Johnson, playing the title role in the critically acclaimed ''Tony'' and the lead role in their m ...

Plot

Tony Benson lives alone in a flat on a

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

. He obsessively collects 1980s violent action movies, and he aimlessly wanders the streets of London most days in unsuccessful attempts to connect with other people. He is extremely socially anxious, has severe mental development problems and has difficulty trying to express himself or communicate naturally. He has been unemployed and living on state benefits for over 20 years. He is soon revealed to be a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, killing men he encounters by chance, including two drug addicts whom he uncomfortably tries to engage with after inviting them to his home to smoke

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

. The encounter ends with Tony suffocating one of them with a plastic bag while locking the other in a cupboard before letting him go, believing the terrified addict wouldn't go to the police. The rare visitors Tony does get usually complain of the rotting smell from his house, which he blames on clogged drains. Others he meets at

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

s before bringing them back to his flat and usually end with him rejecting their advances and killing them, similar in fashion to

Dennis Nilsen Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of ...

. He also gets dismissed and thrown out of a brothel after visiting a prostitute with only £5, asking the price of a cuddle and failing in his attempt to strike up a conversation with her. Tony disposes of the bodies of his victims by butchering their torsos and human organs in his kitchen sink before bagging them and dumping them in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and canals in London. He shares a bed with a rotting corpse, obviously one of his victims, and drags bodies which are stashed around the house out to put on the couch to sit and watch TV with him. Tony comes under strong suspicion from a violent, trigger-tempered drunk (played by

Ricky Grover Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

) when his son goes missing. Grover bullies Tony with volleys of verbal and physical abuse in every encounter they have, including grabbing, shoving and spitting on him. Grover accuses Tony of being a

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

and wrongly blames him for his son's disappearance. Tony becomes suspect number one because of his unusual appearance and his withdrawn nature towards other people. A police detective visits to question him on the missing boy's whereabouts and is very confrontational, putting Tony at risk of being discovered. However, the detective receives a call, interrupting his search of Tony's home just as Tony eyes up a sharp potato peeler and contemplates the dangerous decision to attack and kill him. The boy is soon discovered — absolving Tony — and delivered home to the applause of the relieved neighbourhood; Tony watches on from his living room window. The film ends with Tony casually walking around London, free to pursue his murderous ways.

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews and holds a 76% positive rating, with an average rating of 6.21 (out of 10) on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 17 reviews.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tony 2009 films 2000s horror drama films 2000s crime drama films 2000s serial killer films British crime drama films Crime horror films British horror drama films British LGBT-related films British serial killer films Films set in apartment buildings Films set in London LGBT-related horror drama films 2009 drama films 2009 LGBT-related films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films