MONDO BALORDO is one of the many mondo documentaries that boomed in Italy in the 1960s. This one's narrated by the ever-genteel Boris Karloff, whose dulcet tones add immeasurably to the viewing experience. The rest is the usual concoction of clips culled from news footage, documentaries, et al. What's remarkable about this one is just how tame it feels for the modern viewer, a film where dwarfs, transvestites, and lesbians are described as 'strange' and 'abhorrent'. Elsewhere, there are scenes of women exercising and in their bikinis on the beach; Bedouin prostitutes; debauchery in Hong Kong nightclubs; elephant hunting and turtle butchery; zoo scenes and operations on sick dogs. It's all so dated that it feels like it comes from another world.

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

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!

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.