The Spaghetti Western Collection on 1/7 (1 Viewer)

[Jon Robertson]

I'm hoping and praying (and have e-mailed Blue Underground with all the info I have) that their disc of Dead and Buried will include the short horror film The Orchard End Murder that originally accompanied the film on its UK cinema release. The pair of them make an eerie and atmospheric double bill and complement one another perfectly.

 

[ChrisJefferys]

I'm hoping the shockumentary set will have some kind of audio remix (I'd settle for 2.0). The great Riz Ortilani (sp?) music (one of the main reasons I'll be buying these) deserves to be heard in stereo.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Am I right in thinking that the upcoming Mondo Shockumentary will be in the same...er, vein as Faces of Death and that sort of thing? If so, no thanks!

 

[Anthony Thorne]

The mondo films in the box are all a bit different from FACES OF DEATH and other similar rubbish. They were made by (I'm hoping I've got their names right) Jacopetti and Prosperi, a fairly well-known Italian documentary duo from the day who both continued on into individual filmmaking careers, and they're simulataneously more light-hearted and more serious than the typically nasty death 'compilations' that flooded the market thereafter. MONDO CANE means 'strange world' and covers all sorts of (their description) 'odd' ethnocentric practices from all over the world, including tribal dancing, body-painting rituals and the odd piece of shocking, amusing or alarming footage. The film was a big hit worldwide and encouraged the duo to continue the series across different continents... ..something which led them into murkier waters, as the films started to cover more taboo material as society became more permissive and the contraints around screen violence and nudity were gradually eroded. (Bear in mind that these films are pretty much entirely composed of footage shot for the productions by the filmmakers themselves on 35mm, rather than simply being an assemblage of 'found' footage like the FACES OF DEATH series). Prosperi and Jacopetti also started to gain some notoriety regarding the verisimilitude of their films, particularly in regards to whether key scenes were filmed through chance, through luck, or actually staged for the cameras. The series culminated with FAREWELL UNCLE TOM, a big-budget, one-of-a-kind production that tumbled into the abyss of 'recreating' exaggerated displays of racial abuse, slavery and inhumanity within the context of a period piece (replete with slaves coming off the boat in chains and a cast of near thousands) with Jacopetti and Prosperi casting themselves as the narrators who 'interact' (tumbling into bed with one gorgeous female slave at one point) with the story whilst reporting on it, as if cameras had been present in the Deep South during the time of the actual abuses. Mixing wrong-headed history, exploitation and some shocking sleaze and violence, FAREWELL UNCLE TOM is banned or cut in a lot of countries and will certainly drop a few jaws when it appears as an exclusive in the box. Each film in the series also features a lavish orchestral score by Italian composer Riz Ortolani, who won an Oscar later on for his work away from the duo. There are a lot of stories about Jacopetti and Prosperi that blur the lines between publicity hype and dirt-digging rumours about unethical behaviour, and director Ruggero Deodato later used the pair as his unofficial inspiration for the protagonists in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, where snide Western documentary makers visit the Third World and descend into provoking death, torture and murder on camera for the benefit of their own 'hard-hitting' films. I'm hoping that Lustig has really dug into these controversies with the accompanying documentaries.

The films had a big impact culturally when they first appeared (SWEDEN - HEAVEN AND HELL featured the famous "MaNah MaNah" tune on the soundtrack that later appeared on The Muppet Show) and many of them were cut or altered for international release. All of them are a bit different from one another and have their own merits, and I'll note that the darkest of the bunch - AFRICA ADDIO (aka AFRICA BLOOD AND GUTS) - is a long censored title that some people will definitely have trouble watching if it appears in a fully restored version, as seems to be likely with the forthcoming box. If Lustig can combine these titles with new documentaries and archival footage from the time of each production's release (as with his efforts on the spaghetti western box) the final product will be an amazing set, if perhaps only suited in its entirety for those with strong stomachs.