Welcome Back,
A few years back, in my early days of writing reviews for SexGoreMutants I wrote a lengthy review of the infamous MONDO CANE series of films. It has come to light that genre author David Kerekes, who has written several books on this unusual and extremely controversial series of films for his Headpress Books series - notably Killing For Culture - which has just been reissued in a brand-new, wholly and extremely lengthily revised version, has mentioned my review in his book, and name checked me too. The book can be purchased from here and it's absolutely worth every penny! It runs over 600 pages in length, and the word "exhaustive" doesn't do the tome justice. The namecheck appears at the bottom of Page 157 and top of 158, for those who wish to see what is said.
For your edification, I thought I would post the original review I penned, from back in the day. Any errors remain as when originally written, for which I humbly apologise. That said, I still think this review is one of the better ones I've written. I shall be back soon, with the second part of my 2016 Arrow update. For now, enjoy this MONDO CANE review.
For your edification, I thought I would post the original review I penned, from back in the day. Any errors remain as when originally written, for which I humbly apologise. That said, I still think this review is one of the better ones I've written. I shall be back soon, with the second part of my 2016 Arrow update. For now, enjoy this MONDO CANE review.
In October 2003, Blue Underground released what could
well be the best ever DVD boxed set, for horror and exploitation fans,
as well as for those of you who consider yourself to be true Cinephiles!
"The Mondo Cane Collection" is a set of eight DVD's, of the works of
Italian documentary directors Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti.
However, if you are simply a horror movie fan, or a lover of
exploitation films, or even, someone who just likes something
"different", then read on, because I think you'll like what you see!
In the early 1960's Prosperi and Jacopetti created a
series of films that sought to show the weird, the hilarious, the brutal
and the frequently offbeat people, places and events that existed on
our humble planet. They were a form of documentary films, which were
intended to show to Western audiences what was going-on in the furthest
corners of the globe. ("Mondo" being Italian for "the world".)
However,
what the two men kick-started, was a genre of films that many have heard
of, yet few have actually seen. These films are considered to be both
high works of art, and the worst kind of exploitation film, often spoken
about within the same breath. Indeed, sitting down to work my way
through this stunning set, I had only rumours and other people's
opinions on which to rely. What I saw, was truly eye-opening! To allow
for adequate discussion of the entire set, I will cover each film
individually
Mondo Cane (1962)
The first one in the series, and in the Mondo genre
overall. And even now some 40 years later, this film is just as
uncompromising to view as it's always been. As a hardened gore-fiend, I
had psyched myself up for what I was about to sit through, but nothing
prepared me adequately for what unrolled right before my eyes. Here was
one of the most unrelentingly distressing films I've ever watched…
period! Forget "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Nekromantik II". Throw away
"Flower Of Flesh And Blood", "Autopsy" and "Subconscious Cruelty"! All
of these pale into insignificance! In fact, I'd even go so far to say,
that you may never sit through another movie as truly sickening as this
throughout the rest of your life! Why can I say this? It's down to one
simple thing: nothing is ever as disturbing as real-life. And here, we
get almost two hours of material that will test even those of you with
titanium for stomachs!
In 1962, I would have expected many audiences to have
walked out of the theatres within minutes of "Mondo Cane" starting. In
fact, I doubt there were many people at all who could comfortably cope
with the first hour, let alone nearly two. You see, what Prosperi and
Jacopetti deliver is probably the finest view of how sick we can be.
What is it that makes us - supposedly the superior species - act so
barbarically and so consistently nasty towards other human beings, and
treat animals in the same barbaric way, yet we can happily keep a cat or
dog as a pet, and/or treasure, love and devote ourselves to taking care
of a tiny baby for over 18 years?
It's this striking and hypocritical dichotomy that
plagues the movie, that makes it so valid as a documentary. We are
forced to look head-on at how lovely we can be, how wonderful the planet
is, and yet in a split-second, we can revert to our most primitive and
violent instincts in order to make money.
The film delivers scene after scene, of horrific animal
cruelty that we humans commit on a daily basis. Watching a scene of
bereaved owners express grief at an animal cemetery, and then have it
followed by the skinning of live snakes, solely for a rare and tasty
nibble for evening dinner, will leave you shell-shocked.
As humans, we all know where some of our food actually
comes from. We know, that our McWhopperXL burgers all come from the
slaughtering of cows. We accept that on Christmas Day, we'll happily
consume a large turkey, in the name of tradition. And, we also
acknowledge that kittens, puppies, mice and guinea pigs look so cute and
huggable when they're just a matter of weeks old. But, as the
hypocritical swines that we really are, we accept that food is simply
food. We don't think about where it comes from, or how we got it. It
just magically arrives, ready for us to cook, sauté and then divvy-up
between our family and friends. It's the inherent genius of the two
directors, that they force you to look at what we do as human beings, in
order for us to gain food! They take us by the necks, smack us around
for a while, quite literally put a loaded gun to our heads, and tell us
that this is what we do to animals, so that we can enjoy stuffing our
faces with their bodies! Seeing a goose being force-fed, so that it can
be turned into Foie-Gras, will churn your stomachs! Viewing in
unremittingly graphic and bloody detail as an Asian woman chooses a
snake for her family to eat, and then we see in one, lengthy,
butt-clenching moment, as the salesman happily pulls the snake taught,
(whilst it's still alive), skins and then decapitates it, before slicing
it in half, and into edible chunks for the woman, will make viewers
want to vomit!
Aside from the animal slaughter, there is the
occasional moment of hilarity that feels out of place within the rest of
the work. The Australian Lifeguard scene, memorably sticks out, and is
laughable for all the wrong reasons. To 1960's audiences it would
probably have been fairly amusing. In 2006, it's almost pitiful, because
it's a pathetic scene, rather than enlightening to us. It's obvious
that lifeguards need to practice on live people, to make certain that
their techniques will work when the time calls for it. But being a
spectator to about forty 1960's young women offering their male
"victims" the Kiss of Life, is trite and jars with the rest of the film.
Thankfully, such scenes are rare!
For me, "Mondo Cane" is sickening, but it is also
superb! It's an intelligent, articulate and challenging piece of work.
Admittedly, at close to two hours, it can be an endurance test. Ditto,
with all the scenes of animal cruelty. Yet, it is this kind of material
that we should be made to watch! As humans, we deserve to be shown why
we are such a lousy species. We bomb neighbouring countries into
submission without a second's thought. But looking on, at what happens
to those who are hit by those weapons, should make you feel sick… …and
rightfully so! This is the world in which we live! This is what goes on,
most days of the week, around the world, and here it is, in all its
gaudy, bloodthirsty detail. It's a sorry sight; a regretful and bleak
view, after the rose-tinted spectacles have been pulled from our eyes,
and crushed in front of us! And thought it's an abhorrent view, it's all
real!
If "Mondo Cane" affects even a minute amount of its
adult audience, and makes them think about who they are and what their
role is within society, then the release of this disturbing film will
have been truly worthwhile. You won't enjoy this film, and I would
expect many to claim it should remain unseen, but in my eyes, this is
the kind of video nasty that cinema was made for! See it at least once,
and change the way you look at the world today, because, it's not a
pretty sight!
Mondo Cane 2 (1963)
After the grotesqueries of the original, this
quasi-sequel is a little easier to handle, but still offers up many
harrowing scenes, that may edge you close to the STOP button on your DVD
player on several occasions. "Mondo Cane 2" is less a sequel, and more a
leftover collection of odds-and-ends from the original. In fact, the
directors claim that this is exactly what it was always intended to be.
Sadly, it's this slap-dash attitude that hampers the film's overall
tone.
Starting off well, with a vicious attack on the BBFC,
circa 1963, of course. At the time, the BBFC banned "Mondo Cane",
because of the content. Their objection were - unsurprisingly - to the
scenes of animal cruelty. In the opening scene of "Mondo Cane 2", the
narrator makes an enjoyably snide swipe at our state censors, over the
shocking images of dogs having their vocal chords severed, so that they
can't bark, scowl or vocalise their suffering, when they are tested-on
at a later date! The voice-over dares them to edit this scene, if they
still object to such material, and go on to satirise that we do indeed
live in a dog-eat-dog world! Yikes!
Also known as "Mondo Pazzo", this is still a
hard-hitting movie, but the jars between light-hearted fun sequences,
and the harsher realities of seeing man's inhumanity to man, (made even
worse, because the scene in which this is demonstrated most effectively,
is left until very close to the end of the entire film), throws you
completely off-balance. You're never sure what is the serious
documentary material, and what's been included purely for a Western
audience to laugh at. (Ah, all those silly foreigners, eh?!) This is
extremely noticeable when we are shown a clip of African people
mixing-up animal dung in order to cover their huts. The narration
alleges that the aroma given off as the sun bakes the roof of the
dung-covered huts, is a form of aphrodisiac to the males. Hmmm… I
somehow doubt that.
In spite of this jarring effect, the genuine scenes
are as unrelenting as ever. Images of the illegal slave trade that
still goes on, makes for angry viewing. The shock of seeing non-Whites
being treated in such a demeaning way, will get your goat for sure, but
it can only begin to prepare you for later discs like "Africa Addio" or
"Goodbye, Uncle Tom", which accompany the set. Ditto, the sight of pink
flamingos flying across a bright, blue sky, before we are thrust into a
scene of birds and fish dying from toxic waste, courtesy of an English
fizzy drinks company. It's nasty material, and even worse, is having to
try and endure every agonising second of it, as the helpless creatures
flounder and collapse in front of our eyes, nothing more than feathers,
bones, and semi-desiccated corpses that their stronger brothers and
sisters will eventually feed upon.
Both "Mondo Cane" movies offer us an English-language
narration, or the original Italian voice-over, with optional English
translation. Viewing the English-language versions, allow viewers to
really become enticed into the on-screen material. Although there is a
certain amount of light-hearted jovialness to it all, (specifically in
number two), the narration seems more appropriate. Trying to view such
difficult subjects as life and death, whilst listening to a
fast-speaking Italian man, with even-faster moving English subtitles,
makes viewing even more intense than it needs to be. Having said that,
the English-narration and the English-subtitles are quite different, and
each offer you a slightly altered version of the movies. The
translation from the Italian, seems to be more literal and authentic,
but the English-language narration, comes across as more free-flowing
and natural. Ultimately, it's nice to have the opportunity to choose for
ourselves, which audio option to select, rather than have it chosen for
us. Just don't select the English-language audio and the
English-subtitles, as you're head is likely to spin trying to follow
what's going on!
Whilst not as effective as the first movie, it's still a
pretty damn good disc, and makes for worthwhile viewing Just be
prepared to examine what you see, before deciding if something is real
or not. Not everything is as it seems, which hampers the film in my
opinion, and removes some of the overall strength. Both titles are in
1.33:1 full screen, which - in my view - suits the first movie fine, but
seems a little too tightly cropped for number two. I think that they
should probably both be in 1.66:1, but I have no way of verifying what
format either title was originally released in, in cinemas.
Irrespective, no major damage has been caused by having a full screen
print.
Women Of The World (1963)
Fact fans: if you think you recognise the voice-over,
then you'll be shocked when you find out who actually performed it. It
was narrated by English actor, raconteur, and all-round theatrical
artiste, Peter Ustinov! Who'd have thought it, eh?! Having said that,
his voice, circa 1963, sounds nothing like him. So make of that, what
you will!
As the title spells out quite clearly, this third Mondo
movie deals solely with women - in all their glory, both metaphorically
and figuratively-speaking! It's also, alas, the weakest disc of the
entire set, at least in movie-terms. (Picture and sound, are as before!)
For the first hour, the film is a fairly sexist,
sleazy, (albeit in a low-key kind of way), showcase of women from around
the globe, in all their forms. From tall and short, to fat and thin,
black, white and yellow: all of them are given similar on-screen
treatment. The film flits between exposing the harsh treatment that
women in different countries are dealt, either because of their culture,
their gender, or because of the way the world was in the early-1960's,
through to a showcase of female beauty in all their weird and wonderful
forms. I have to confess, that the constant shots of women, accompanied
by what is going to appear to many, as a highly crass narrative
commentary, seems to me to be somewhat boring! It's almost as if
Jacopetti, Prosperi and Cavara wanted to indulge their own pervery,
rather than make any genuine statement.
However, at about one-hour into the film, things take a
really nasty change! For the remainder of the film, the directors
appear to get a conscience, and look in a more investigative form, at
how women in different countries deal with being female, and the
contradictory nature that the world says they must all be tall, thin and
ultra-feminine, in order to obtain (or retain) a man, or how they must
simply accept that women are the "lesser" sex, and not only is it a
dog's world, but a man's world as well!
Depending on your own views of
society, you may find this totally repugnant, or a strangely
historically accurate depiction of how things were, and thank yourself
that society is - more often than not - a more civilised place for women
to be in.
The final half-hour or so, makes for harrowing viewing!
We are shown plastic surgeons operating on Chinese women, to modify
their bust-size. Whilst that might not sound extreme, this is the
1960's, and so implants and the such didn't exist then. Instead, women
had their breasts physically sliced into, and then a one-way valve
inserted into the flesh. The valve than had a tube connected to it,
before the surgeon enlarges the bust by injecting large quantities of
liquid paraffin! I kid you not! The camera refuses to shy away, and we
watch in shock, as we see the woman's breasts physically expand, like a
balloon being inflated slowly. Each breast is performed on individually,
and the only way they are matched-up, is when the surgeon gropes the
woman's breasts in his hands, and compares the way they feel. This was
how such surgery was performed just 40-odd years ago! It makes the US TV
drama "Nip/Tuck" seem like a piece of cake to sit through.
On top of this, we also get to see to what ends a woman
is willing to go to, to make herself beautiful. In one, brutal and
unrestrained sequence Western women, (from the USA), pay to have their
entire faces covered in an acidic paste, that literally burns the top
layer of skin off. After a week or so, and once all the dead skin has
been burnt, we are shown the same womens' faces, with the red, raw flesh
completely exposed, just like in George Franju's cult horror drama "Les
Yeux Sans Visage" ("Eyes Without A Face")! According to the narration,
it then takes another month or two, before a new layer of "skin" has
formed, during which time, the woman have to have their flesh
moisturised daily to stop the new "skin" from cracking! Seeing the
depths that these women were willing to go to, in order to become
"beautiful", truly shocked me! Why would anyone want to do this to
themselves?! In my eyes, that single scene says more about us males in
society and the media, than anything else!
Lastly, the film covers the raw power of child
prostitution and the sex slave trade, in Singapore. It's amazing how
relevant the issue still remains, but watching hidden camera's capture
middle-aged men, paying for young girls in their early teens for sexual
acts, is absolutely repugnant, despite the fact the film is very
restrained in what it actually shows. Whilst I still stand by my initial
opinion that this is the weakest film in "The Mondo Cane Collection"
DVD set, the final 45 minutes or so, just about make this disc worth
inclusion, and I can see why Blue Underground did include it.
In terms of audio-visual treatment, the picture is
good. It's not the best remastering seen in this set, and there are some
scratches, grain and brief moments where colour fluctuates, but it
doesn't detract from the viewing in a major way. The audio is crisp and
clear, and irrespective of whether you watch the English language or
Italian language with English subtitling, neither seem to be
inappropriate. I chose the English language option, and found that
Ustinov's narration made the tone of the film a lot lighter, (despite
some of the jokes he makes), than the Italian soundtrack, but
ultimately, either track is worth a listen.
One other note I should mention, is with regards to the
full screen print used. For the majority of the film's length, the
picture seems fine. However, there are a few occasions when the picture
appears to be cropped on the left and right hand sides, loosing small
amounts of visual data. I suspect, that the true picture ratio should
probably be nearer 1.77:1, but as with the previous films, there's no
real way of checking if this would have been correct. I can only presume
that no complete Widescreen print exists, because the film has
Italian-language opening and closing credits, and as this disc has been
restored from the original vault negative, then either the original
negative was never in Widescreen, or the film was cropped before the
master negative was created. It's a small issue, though, and nothing to
really get fussy over.
Africa Addio: English Version (1966)
Africa Addio: Director's Cut (2003)
This longer and alternate version of "Africa Addio"
comes to DVD for the first time ever, and as this extended cut has never
before been seen, it has a 2003 copyright date attached to it. Like its
shorter sibling, this is the controversial movie that Jacopetti was
almost executed over! I won't go into the details too much, except to
say that this is more of an alternative version, rather than simply an
extended edition of the original movie. Scenes in this longer variant,
appear in sometimes very different lengths and forms, and frequently in a
completely different narrative timeline. For me, this version is a
slight improvement and it should be viewed as an alternate print, only
loosely related to the original Theatrical release.
Opening with an on-screen narrative statement, about
"what the camera sees, it films pitilessly, without sympathy, without
taking sides", you soon understand what you are about to be a witness
too. "Africa Addio" is a mesmerising movie, depicting the state of
Africa around the 1960's, as Colonialism collapsed, and a new Africa
began to give birth. However, as we have come to expect, what emerges is
not a wonderful new paradise, but something closer to Dante's vision of
Hell on Earth!
As the film progresses, the viewer watches in horror as
the country tears itself apart through bloodshed, barbarism and
savagery, on a level never seen again until the Vietnam War - over a
decade later. Certainly the film contains many of the DVD collection's
most volatile imagery: scenes of Whites killing animals for their ivory
or fur, without a single ounce of remorse, and relishing in the deaths
of elephants, zebras, gazelles and lions; shots of local police officers
and government approved soldiers taking the law into their own hands,
and assassinating petty thieves and burglars; and a sequence of animal
hunters with some of the their vast contraband which is quickly
discovered by local authorities. This is Africa as you've never seen it
before, and never imagined could be such a hotbed of outright atrocity!
At turns, both heavenly and harrowing, it's an incredible two hour
experience.
As with previous titles, the remastering is one of the
finest jobs seen on disc! Apart from the rare, brief scratch or piece of
dirt on the negative, every single scene is vibrant and as lifelike as
you can imagine. Sound is clear and the balance between the audio and
the natural sounds caught on the film, is just right. Ironically, US
exploitation director Jerry Gross didn't like the original version of
"Africa Addio", and so removed some 45 minutes of material, and retitled
the remains as "Africa: Blood And Guts"! What he must have left in, was
far inferior to the full-length version, and to my mind, an incredibly
offensive and derogatory view of Africa and its population. Seeing both
of the restored prints, Prosperi and Jacopetti outdid themselves! An
accomplished masterpiece of documentary filmmaking that has rarely been
bettered. This is probably the best film in the entire DVD set!
Goodbye, Uncle Tom: English Version (1971)
Addio, Zio Tom (Goodbye, Uncle Tom: Original Director's Cut (1971)
This is it! The film that became as incendiary and
inflammatory as D.W. Griffith's 1916 black-and-white historical epic,
"The Birth Of A Nation". In that film, the Ku Klux Klan appear to be
seen as heroic. In "Goodbye…", the depiction of the slavery issue led to
the movie being targeted as a movie that incited racial hatred, and was
even labelled as "an unprecedented cry of Black rage and anguish"! Even
to this very day, I can see why this film has been so-called!
If the original wasn't extreme enough, then maybe the
extended version would do the job! Jacopetti was forced to cut and tone
down much of the 1971 release, because of complaints from the
distributors. Objections to the slave-trade atrocities were just one of
many elements, they found reprehensible enough to warrant removal,
before the film would be given public viewings. In 2003, Jacopetti
personally restored this movie, back to its original 136-minute cut, in a
painstaking fashion. Thanks to his hard work and tireless effort, we
can now see this landmark film, as it was always meant to be - fireworks
and all!
Irrespective of which version you choose to watch, this
film is probably going to be considered the most offensive, denigratory
and all-in-all unrelentingly distasteful film you are likely to have
ever been a witness too! Of all the films in the "Mondo Cane
Collection", this is just the absolute limit in what could ever be
committed to celluloid.
Unlike the other titles in the series, "Goodbye, Uncle
Tom" is a historically accurate, but dramatic recreation of events that
took part from the 1800's through to the beginnings of the 20th Century.
It is not a documentary, where the two directors simply pointed their
cameras and filmed. As such, you have to bear that in mind, otherwise
you are likely to find it even more offensive and distasteful! The film
opens at the dining table in a stereotypical White Southern US
household, circa 1800. Around the table are a set of Southerners,
discussing their slaves, and what they each think of owning such
accoutrements. As you'd partly expect, (if you've ever seen "Gone With
The Wind"), their opinions are bigoted, antiquated and extremely
dubious. In these peoples' eyes, Blacks were always meant to be slaves,
with one man even going so far as to say that God created Blacks solely
for White folks to use and abuse as they deemed fit! The racism in the
movie is absolutely unrelenting! Being Black myself, I wasn't personally
offended as I was able to distance myself from the film, but I can
certainly see why so many viewers would feel so angry at seeing Blacks
portrayed in such a disgusting fashion. I admit, that the white
characters in the film are hardly unabashed or sympathetic, but still…
For over 135 minutes, it's the sheer unrelenting bigotry that makes the
film such a political hotbed! But - and get this - there is worse to
come!
Yes: if racial offence wasn't enough to cause you to
think twice about viewing this work, then maybe the issues of misogyny,
incitement to racial hatred, and the overt sexualisation of children
will do it for you! Scene after scene in this film, has the black
characters being solely labelled as niggers, sluts, bitches, black
bastards, and numerous other tasteful words! In a fictional movie, I
could tolerate this. In a historical documentary that purports to be
re-enacting history, I could understand that authenticity may be needed,
but a recreation made in 1971 the language just makes you want to hit
the eject button on your DVD player, and snap the disc in half! You
could almost make a case that Prosperi and Jacopetti were unadulterated
bigots themselves! They claim they weren't, and aren't, (see the
"Godfathers Of Mondo" documentary), but it's very difficult to accept
that, going from the content of this film.
Yet, putting the racism issue aside, the wallowing in
the sexualisation of children of all ages - from babies, through to
young teenagers - is just absolutely unforgivable! Such events may be
historically accurate, but having the camera longingly gaze over a naked
child discussing the rights and wrongs of having sex, whilst the male
characters, (both black and white), abuse them, is just wrong on so many
levels! One scene has a white man grope and fondle a naked black
teenage girl. The young actress appears to be extremely distressed
on-screen. Another scene, has a baby being voyeured over, clearly crying
its eyes out at the noise, and its surroundings. There's simply no
justifiable reason to include this kind of material! And, it's this
aspect which makes the film so truly abhorrent! The racism can be seen
as justifiable, because it was probably historically accurate. But the
other material - no, no, no! There's absolutely no way in hell, that the
BBFC could ever sanction any release of this movie, no matter how long
or short you made the final edit. Simply put, this is as near to genuine
obscenity, as film has ever got. Pasolini's controversial movie "Salo,
or The 120 Days Of Sodom", would be seen as a piece of piss to get past
the BBFC! But "Goodbye, Uncle Tom" takes things to a whole new level of
extreme cinema, that I'd never thought I'd ever be a witness to, and to
which people in the BNP would regard as their kind of pro-white
pornography!
Thirty-five years have passed since this movie first
came into existence, and it's lost not one ounce of the rawness and
power to offend on every conceivable level! Trust me, when I say that
this is the nastiest film I've ever seen! "Irreversible" was like
watching "Play School" in comparison! Definitely for people with a very
strong tolerance threshold!
Like the other titles before it, both the English
Version and the Director's Cut have impeccable picture quality. It would
be unjust of me to fault them, for the occasional glitch, and the sound
appearing out-of-synch, when it was probably simply re-recorded by
other actors at a later date. The audio/visual quality is better than
some modern DVD releases, and as such, it's only fair of me to say that
this is stellar work. If only the film itself, wasn't so unrelentingly
nauseous.
The Godfathers Of Mondo: A Documentary (2003)
How could Blue Underground top this set? Well,
including a 90-minute long documentary, would certainly be one way of
doing things! The documentary interviews both Prospero and Jacopetti
at their respective homes, and covers their work included in the
collection you've just bought. As with Blue Underground, you get nothing
but the best here: intelligent questions accompanied by details
answers; appropriately chosen clips, and a thorough history of the
significance these two men have had, on exploitation and horror cinema.
If anything, it's not long enough for my liking. At the end, I wanted to
know even more about their lives. One question that does go unanswered,
is why these men refuse to be in the same room together now? Something
that I'm certain even David Gregory and Co at Blue Underground must have
been dying to know the answer too.
However, for a 90-minute piece, it does cover pretty
much everything else you are likely to want to know about these
characters. As the documentary was only made a few years back now, the
picture is crystal clear, with not a single speck of dirt or dust on it.
The audio is Dolby Stereo, and is loud, clear and perfectly balanced
between the right and left audio channels. Optional English subtitles
are available, should you need them, and it's nice to see a company
supply them, even though the main language is in English anyway.
Definitely a thumbs-up from me, for Blue Underground accommodating deaf
and hard-of-hearing viewers! Other DVD companies around the world,
please take note!
Overall, each disc is pretty much picture-perfect, given the
ages of each of the films. In fact, I've seen modern films released to
cinemas, in prints worse than these, which will hopefully give you a
very good indicator of just how fantastic each disc looks. Apart from
the rare scratch or single-frame piece of dirt, the picture-quality is
nigh on pristine! Congratulations to Blue Underground, for what has to
be one of the finest restoration jobs I've ever been witness too. Aurally, each film is in two-channel Mono. Expecting
anything more than this, would be criminal, in my opinion. Having a
pseudo-Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack specifically created, would probably
serve the films less well, than the original, cleaned-up mono audio.
The narration always comes through clearly and deeply, and no sign of
hiss or other background noise was heard on any of the discs. Again, a
stellar job by B.U.
I can't not mention the packaging! Here, for once, a
company has gone for simple and effective, rather than glossy and
flamboyant! Each disc is housed in a slimline DVD case, with the
respective cover reproducing each movie's respective original theatrical
image, over a single-colour background, and the requisite introductory
notes on the back, along with each disc's running time, and other such
information. Inside, the reverse of each movie's cover has around 25
chapter titles listed, which describe in simple and basic terms, what
chapter you can jump too.
All discs then come, in a semi-flexible, blue plastic
outer-sleeve, which houses the discs snugly, and comes with the main
"Mondo Cane" image printed on the front, and back. The sleeve has some
information about the entire collection, on the back, and simple disc
information on the base. I have to say, that the set does look gorgeous
on my shelf, and certainly stands-out against the myriad of dull, black
cardboard cases that many other box-sets utilise.
With everything all said, and done, I have to admit
that this is pretty-much a 100% perfect DVD set for any horror or
exploitation fan! For the price, and for the content, this is just
absolute perfection on practically every single level! If Blue
Underground only ever released one DVD boxed set, this has to go down as
one of the finest examples, I've ever seen anywhere in the entire
world! William Lustig and David Gregory should be thoroughly proud of
this collection!
If you can get hold of a copy, grab it, because you
won't ever regret having this in your collection! Just don't expect any
of these titles to appear in the UK, with BBFC approval! It just won't
ever happen, unless you want a single, five-minute disc, with nothing
but the Blue Underground logo on it. (Not even the extras, would escape
unscathed, I'm afraid!)
Addendum
Alas, this Limited Edition set of 10,000 copies sold
out almost instantaneously, back in 2003, and the set is never to be
re-issued in the same form again! (Each title is now being released as
bare-bones titles, with English-language audio only, over a period of
months. However, the documentary, is exclusive to the boxed-set reviewed
here!) Most online DVD companies no longer have copies left,
or are charging extremely silly prices, in excess of £100! Copies are,
as always, available on e-Bay, but you buy these at your own risk!
