The Films (3/5) (for both films)

In the wake of the exploitation Mondo film explosion during the 1960’s, filmmakers taking place overseas, Lee Frost and Bob Crease made their own domestic Mondo films, which were highly successful and contributed to them launching their own distribution company Olympic International. The two films are the raunchy, sexy and sleazy Mondo Bizarro and Mondo Fruedo.

In Mondo Bizarro, as the narrator Claude Emmand states the team’s “hidden cameras” go “beyond the beyond” to expose women in lingerie which they remove. After that, we get exposed to Bahamian voodoo ritual ceremony where a chicken and a snake are beheaded. We then pay a visit to Japan to see the massage parlors where corporate businessmen get rubbed down by scantily clad women. The world tour goes to Australia where an Australian lies down on a bed of nails which penetrate his skin. Other oddities include a white collared man eating glass (I guess the food wasn’t good), male prostitutes, a Nazi theater, and a fake Arab sex slave auction which was actually filmed in Bronson Canyon.

Mondo Bizarro is a compelling documentary, with a mix of both real and phony Mondo elements. There is no shortage of women wearing lingerie in this picture. The narration is informative and is highly entertaining. Everything you can ask for in a Mondo film !

Bob Cresse himself narrates the co-feature, Mondo Fruedo, which he states is “a world of sex and the strange and unusual laws that govern it”. Mondo Fruedo features Hollywood strippers, a look at hookers in Tijuana, lesbians in London, Satanists in Times Square which includes a bloody beheaded pig. And still more, there’s topless Watusi clubs and in general, endless scenes of topless women performing rituals and other erotic dance numbers. And let’s not forget the women mud wrestlers in Germany. 

Mondo Fruedo is every bit as thrilling as Mondo Bizarro. It’s a fascinating look at the underground scene in various parts of the world during that ear. Of course, some of these themes are not really underground in our present society. Bob Cresse’s narration is like icing on the cake, and is as entertaining as the film itself.

Audio/Video (4/5)

Severin Films’ advertising on their website states that “both films have been scanned in 4k from the original Something Weird 35mm vault negatives.” Both films look absolutely phenomenal. I was amazed with how well these two obscurities looked in HD.

Starting with Mondo Bizarro, the film is presented by Severin Films in its original full screen aspect ratio and the image is rich, with bold, strong robust colors, especially reds and pinks. Scenes taking place in broad daylight look just stunning. Film grain is present and no DNR has been applied. Black levels look balanced, and you can clearly see what the characters are doing. Skin tones look accurate as well. The black and white footage in the film is also smooth but there are vertical lines on the left hand side which is distracting. Luckily this particular segment isn’t that long. And also in some spots, there are speckles and some minor print damage. 

The same can be said for Mondo Fruedo, which is also in full screen. Colors tend to be rich and clear. The elements on this film didn’t fare as well as Mondo Bizarro, as there are a lot of speckles and print damages that were detected during the presentation. Overall, this was something of a revelation, despite the flaws in the video presentation.

The English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track sounds perfectly fine for both films. The narration was perfectly clear and even the footage used sounded fine. No serious distracting issues were detected on either film. The noise level wasn’t aggressive or too mild. It’s nothing mind-blowing but it is satisfactory.

Extras (3.5/5)

For this release, there are some good, informative supplements. There is an audio commentary with Johnny Legend and Eric Caidin talking about the Mondo films, Bob Cresse, Lee Frost and the footage from the film. They sound quite enthusiastic about these pictures in their commentary.

A featurette, called “The Cadaver Is Infinity: Bob Cresse, Lee Frost and the Birth of American Mondo”, is an Interview with Chris Poggiali. In this interview Chris talks about how Bob Cresse, and Lee Frost came to create the Mondo films, citing Russ Meyes’ The Immoral Mr. Teas as the start. He goes on to discuss the birth of their distribution company, Olympic International. It’s a must watch feature. Trailers for both Mondo Bizarro and Mondo Freudo round out the extras.

Overall (3.5/5)

Fans of American Mondo film documentaries are in for a real treat as both Mondo Fruedo and Mondo Bizarro are now available on Blu-ray that can be seen at its finest and comes equipped with some great bonus materials. This can easily be a considered definitive release for both pictures. Kudos to Severin Films!