Are you a lover of world cinema? Do you regularly stock your film library with DVDs of world cinema
? If the response is positive then I am sure there should be some stock of Mondo films in your film library as well. These films are basically documentary films which depict sensational topics and scenes and this the reason behind these film being considered as pseudo documentary.
It all started way back in 1962 with the release of the film Mondo Cane by Gualtiero Jacopetti which was a huge hit and eventually made the genre of Mondo films popular among both classes and masses. These movies can be distinguished from other films as they have the word "Mondo" attached to it in the title. The main USP of these films is the shock value which ultimately draws the audience to the theatre. The shock value includes features like cruelty to animals, accidents, rites, surgeries and tribal initiations which are staged and according to film makers they depict the ultimate reality of life.
Basically there is sleaze in these movies which depicted sex and violence in a crude manner and which has become the ultimate draw for film goers. Take, for example, Mondo Topless by Russ Mayers which depicts the topless clubs and sleaze bars which had become a rage in San Francisco and other pot cities of United States. Mondo di Notte by Gianni Proia, Mondo Balordo by Roberto Bianchi Montero, and Mondo Ford by Ricardo Fratelli are other examples of such sex flicks which are popularly known as Mondo movies.
But the late eighties saw a kind of resurgence of Mondo films and they took an almost U turn as they started depicting death as the theme. The film makers used fake footages and passed it off as if they were depicting real death situations and they were popularly known as death movies like the Faces of Death.
In the 21st century Mondo films basically came to be known as gory films which were very crude. These films depicted blood, gore and murder in a very vulgar manner and they became very popular among the masses. They used less fake footage but used original footages of accidents which made Mondo films the face of death and gore.