Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Sabah Hensley
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Yazmin
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Francene Odetta
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
JoeKarlosi
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 ****
MARIO GAUCI
The so-called “Mondo” exploitation documentaries weren’t the sole province of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi who made the first such film, MONDO CANE (1961), and several more thereafter. This is one of their imitations and it’s actually the first I’ve watched of the latter: while I can’t say that the ‘originals’ were exactly good to begin with, or even enticing to the undersigned, the films made by other hands (at least, judging by this title) are downright mediocre. Though each entry in the genre purported to tackle specific themes, they were mostly interchangeable, so much so that some of the idiosyncrasies dealt with here (say, the 'phenomenon' of transvestism or the dubious assertion that camel waste possesses beautifying properties) were also featured in WOMEN OF THE WORLD (1963), which I watched a fortnight or so ago! Among the wackier episodes here involves a midget pop-star; otherwise, the accent is on titillation (censorship hadn’t completely relaxed as yet) and, needless to say, there are the usual insensitive depictions of animal cruelty. Frankly, however, the single most notable thing about this particular effort is the fact that the narration for the English-language edition was provided by none other than horror icon Boris Karloff (clearly making for one of the lowest points in his generally respectable filmography).
EVOL666
I've never been real big into "mondo" films. I've seen a few over the years, but they've just never really held my interest. I've had a bunch laying around that I'd been given, and figured I'd give a few a shot to see if my opinion has changed. Not knowing anything about MONDO BOLARDO, I decided to give it a go. I wish I'd have never bothered. I'm going to spend very little time summarizing this one.Boris Karloff narrates a bunch of EXTREMELY boring and non-shocking stuff that shows no nudity, sleaze, or any of the other things that mondo-fans seem to dig. The most "shocking" scene is some African hunting footage...I guess I should have done my research and realized that this film was made in 1964. Had I known that, I would have expected something about as exciting and sleazy as ANTIQUES ROADSHOW instead of something more akin to FACES OF DEATH. The only reason I was able to sit through the entire run-time of this one is because I was doing other things while it was on - namely, trying to pay as little attention to the film as humanly possible, while still retaining enough to advise that it sucks. I can recommend this film to...well...no one - unless you are suffering from severe insomnia - in which case, this one should do the trick nicely...2/10
John Harrington
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.)