A Fool's World

I saw Mondo Balordo ("A Fool's World") at the late, lamented Mid-City Outdoor Theatre in 1964 (it closed in 1984) and at the time there were a number of films copycatting the wildly-successful "Mondo Cane" ("A Dog's World"). For the uninitiated, these are anthology documentaries of the offbeat, bizarre, and often even disgusting, all supposedly genuine, with an unseen narrator (in this case, Boris Karloff, who's great in anything), and a musical score. As a shockumentary, although I really don't remember even one topic, I recall that MB was hardly as well done as Mondo Cane, and if this turns up anywhere on video, I believe you'll be underwhelmed.

Except for Boris Karloff's narration, which is the best thing going for Mondo Balordo. I rated it a 5.

A footnote observation: it's amazing what little it took to shock the audiences of 1964. Nowadays ... hm.

MONDO BALORDO, whose tagline promises "intimate shocking scenes of love - man's insatiable hunger.." was slightly reshaped for salivating American consumption. A lively Boris Karloff provides the often humorous narration.

We travel with Boris to all sorts of hidden corners of our weird, kooky world. First we see an Italian rock group in full swing. Their lead singer is Franz Drago, a frantic, almost acrobatic 27-inch tall volcano of energy. Then it's off to Las Vegas, to see Beauty Pageant footage lensed by a boob-obsessed cinematographer. Next stop, a photo session of Asian girls in bondage. "This is for magazines for readers of special tastes..." Karloff purrs. Some of the footage, featuring natives tearing apart hunted animals may turn off some viewers. (Hey, the Mondo films were meant to shock.) An actual African exorcism where a live chicken is consumed, instructions on how to behave at a drunken transvestite party, and a poverty stricken Italian town where citizens visit the cemetery to ask the dead to cast spells on enemies and choose winning lotto numbers, fill the bill. After watching this film, you will think the world is filled only with chicken-eating, gambling drag queens! One scene in BALORDO shows a European freak show where Mr. Karloff tells us "Sometimes the people buying the tickets are the freaks." Tell it like it is Boris!

Mondo Balordo (1964)

* (out of 4)

Yet another imitation of the MONDO CANE series, this one featuring narration by Boris Karloff (just think from this to The Grinch!). What we basically do is travel across the world taking a look at various strange rituals mainly dealing with sex. There's some dwarf love going on but of course the big highlight is the animal violence, which was rampant during this "period" of cinema. I know many people outright hate these mondo movies simply because they see them as nothing but trash. I wouldn't go to that level because there are some that were meant to shock but also they were well made. That's not the case here as this is clearly just an attempt to make some money and there's no question that it's poorly made and mainly boring. The one "highlight", if you want to call it that, is Karloff doing the narration but I'm willing to bet that he just signed the back of a check and didn't actually see what he was putting his voice to.

Boris Karloff's lispy narration is spoken over "strange and bizarre" clips of absurdity. This is totally value-less tripe, but it's amazing to hear the seasoned horror actor saying words like "prosthitute" and "transvesthtite". I thought that someone might have utilized some innocent remarks that Boris may have been told to read and then play them over weird scenes with totally different meanings -- but no, it's incredible that Karloff actually reads sick and perverse words specifically intended for the material! These days the "shocking sights" are tame and quite dull; nothing as "weird" as they may have been perceived way back in the 1960's.

0 out of ****

Mondo movies are a time-machine sending one back to a pre-politically correct world. If you are sensitive, avoid them. But if you want to know what amused, titillated and shocked western audiences in the fifties and sixties, one may get much out of Mondo films.

As for Mondo Bolardo, relax and watch people do their own thing and enjoy the melodious tones of Boris Karloff's narration.

For example, note the goods for sale at the Italian black market. Those old electronic devices selling then for only a few million lire(!) would go for quite a bit on E-bay today.

(And, yes, a few animal slaughter scenes in this film are disturbing, but there is no reason not to fast-forward through those scenes and enjoy the rest of the show.)