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Mondo film is a subgenre ofexploitativedocumentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble apseudo-documentary and usually depictingsensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits ofmondo films include portrayals of foreign cultures (which have drawn accusations ofethnocentrism or racism),^[1] an emphasis ontaboo subjects such as death and sex, and staged sequences presented as genuine documentary footage. Over time, the films have placed increasing emphasis on footage of the dead and dying (both real and fake).^[2]

The termmondo is Italian for'world'. The termshockumentary is also used to describe the genre.

Mondo films began to soar in popularity in the 1960s with the releases ofMondo Cane (1962),Women of the World (1963) andAfrica Addio (1966). The genre arguably reached its peak withFaces of Death (1978), a film that inspired myriad imitators, such asBanned from Television,Death Scenes, and theTraces of Death andFaces of Gore series.

Although earlier films such asAlessandro Blasetti'sEuropa di notte  [it] (Europe by Night orEuropean Nights, 1959) andLuigi Vanzi's [it]Il mondo di notte  [it] (World by Night, 1960) may be considered examples of the genre,^[3] the origins of themondo documentary are generally traced to the 1962Italian filmMondo Cane (A Dog's World—a mild Italianprofanity) byPaolo Cavara,Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi which was a commercial success.^[4][5][6]

Documentary films imitatingMondo Cane in the 1960s often included the termmondo in their titles, even if they were in English; examples includeMondo Bizarro,Mondo Daytona,Mondo Mod,Mondo Infame andMondo Hollywood.^[7] Films outside the genre followed suit:Mondo Trasho,Mondo Weirdo: A Trip to Paranoia Paradise,Mondo Keyhole^[8] andMondo Brutale (a German release ofWes Craven'sThe Last House on the Left^[9]) title themselvesmondo, although none aremondo documentaries. Later in the decade, this naming convention began to fall out of favour and fewer mondo films identified themselves as such in their titles.^[7]

Filmmakers wanted to top each other in shock value to attract audiences. Cruelty to animals, accidents, tribal-initiation rites and surgeries are features of a typical mondo. Much of the action is staged, although the filmmakers may claim their goal is to document "reality". Subjects ofmondo films include sex (Mondo Sex andMondo Sexualis USA); celebrities (Mondo Elvis andMondo Lugosi); youth culture (Mondo Teeno) and the gay subculture (Mondo Rocco).

Russ Meyer's filmMondo Topless was one of the few "documentaries" restricted to the oldmidnight movie circuit in the pre-VCR era; it exploredstrip clubs in 1960sSan Francisco, at a time when strip clubs were a novelty in the United States, restricted to centers of port-city decadence (such as San Francisco). Other examples of this genre includeMondo New York by Harvey Keith,Mondo di Notte by Gianni Proia andMondo Balordo by Roberto Bianchi Montero.

The 1980s saw a resurgence ofmondo movies focusing almost exclusively on (onscreen) death, instead of world cultures. TheFaces of Death series is a notable example of this type ofmondo (or "death") movie. The producers used fake footage (passed off as real), but some of the footage was legitimate (including scenes of autopsies, suicides and accidents). TheItalian cannibal film is arguably an offshoot of the mondo film.^[8]

The rare 1985 filmMondo Senza Veli (World Without Veils orMondo Fresh) was purported by viewers to feature at its end the brutal execution of a young Arab rapist by public rectal impalement. This episode was, however, believed to have been a staged execution by some viewers.

Mondo films in the 21st century feature gore, exemplified by theFaces of Gore andTraces of Death series. There is less fake footage, and many use news footage of accidents fromEast Asia.^{[citation needed]}

The late 2010s saw another resurgence, beginning with theBootleg Death Tape series andFaces of Dying series from filmmakerDustin Ferguson, which both involved various independent directors from around the world.

A number of films have parodied the genre. Examples include Ricardo Fratelli'sMondo Ford,Mr. Mike's Mondo Video bySaturday Night Live'sMichael O'Donoghue, andIs There Sex After Death? by Jeanne andAlan Abel.Mondo Beyondo spoofed the films' approach to titling, but was a parody of satellite television.^[10]

The originalmondo film series was theMondo Cane series byGualtiero Jacopetti,Paolo Cavara, and Franco Prosperi. When this type of film proved successful, many imitators followed.

The pair'sMondo candido (1975) is not amondo film; the title was imposed on them by the studio, who wished to cash in on their earlier successes. The film is a retelling ofVoltaire's novel,Candide.

In the late 1980s,Stelvio Massi (a.k.a. Max Steele) made two spin-offs of the originalMondo Cane series, known asMondo Cane 3 andMondo Cane 4 on video.

In 1969, brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni began to make a series of their ownmondo films until the early 1980s. They made five films in all, tying Jacopetti and Prosperi as the most prolific mondo film producers. Each film examines brutal and bizarre behavior on the African continent. Their films are considered some of the most graphicmondo films ever made.^[11]

Antonio Climati, cinematographer to Prosperi and Jacopetti in manymondo films, joinedMario Morra in 1974 to produce their own string ofmondo films, known as the "Savage Trilogy". Prosperi also produced the films. Climati and Morra were known for staging scenes.

The 1978Faces of Death popularized amondo style known as "death films", which depicted humans or animals dying in graphic ways.

Uwe Schier bought the rights to theMondo Cane andFaces of Death films and released his own entries in both series, consisting largely of footage lifted from othermondo films.Faces of Death V draws heavily onDeath Scenes;Faces of Death VI consists almost entirely ofDays of Fury andMondo Cane IV (not to be confused withMondo Cane 2000, l'Incredibile, Schier'sMondo Cane IV is in fact the fifth film in the series) lifts from other films (includingDeath Scenes andDeath Faces IV).^[12] In 1993, Hurricane Pictures edited a mix of scenes featured inAddio ultimo uomo andShocking Africa, labeling it the "fifth chapter" of the saga (Teil V in German).

Several imitators followed theFaces of Death series; many used (or were composed entirely of) footage from othermondo films.

Othermondo films and movies influenced by the genre were released.

• Snuff film
• Goona-goona epic

• RE/Search No. 10:Incredibly Strange Films: A Guide to Deviant Films.RE/Search Publications 1986,ISBN 0-940642-09-3
• Brottman, Mikita:Mondo Horror. Carnivalizing the Taboo. In: Prince, Stephen (ed.) 2004: The horror film. S. 167–188. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.ISBN 0813533635.
• Goodall, Mark 2006:Sweet & Savage. The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens. London: Headpress.ISBN 978-1900486491. (the standard work on the mondo and cannibal genre)
• Goodall, Mark 2006:Shockumentary Evidence. The perverse politics of the Mondo film. In: Dennison, Stephanie (Hg.) 2006:Remapping world cinema. Identity, culture and politics in film. S. 118–128. London: Wallflower.ISBN 978-1904764625.
• Kerekes, David; Slater, David 2006:Killing for culture. Death film from Shockumentaries to snuff. Manchester: Headpress.ISBN 1900486636.
• Stefano Loparco, 'Gualtiero Jacopetti - Graffi sul mondo'. The first complete biography dedicated to the co-director of 'Mondo cane'. Il Foglio Letterario, 2014 -ISBN 9788876064760
• Shipka, Danny 2011:Perverse titillation. The exploitation cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980. Jefferson: Mcfarland.ISBN 978-0786448883.

• Italian Mondo / Shockumentary movies: 1984-1988
• The History of Mondo & Shockumentary Films

• Mondo films
• Film genres
• Documentary film genres
• Exploitation films

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