Mondo Macabro

[Adam X]

So Mondo have a flash pre-order on right now for their latest quartet of releases, currently only in a bundle ltd to 750 copies. The sale will end when they sell out. For those earlier wondering about more UHD releases, this round has two of them. Both UHD titles are limited webstore exclusives, with Death Squad's UHD disc being limited to this flash pre-sale only.

• (4K/BD) Death Squad (d. Max Pécas)
• (4K/BD) Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (w/both versions, d. Leon Klimovsky)
• Secrets & Mysteries: Films By Pedro Olea (incl. ‘The House Without Frontiers’ & ‘It’s Not Good For a Man To Be Alone’ & 2 short films. d. Pedro Olea)
• Special Silencers (d. Arizal)

Their annual Halloween sale starts on October 31st.
The latest newsletter has all the info.

Since Finch's last post, Mondo also released two '70's Japanese films:

• Curse of the Dog God (d. Shunya Ito)
• The Inferno (d. Tatsumi Kumashiro)

And coming next year...

Once we get passed the sale, we'll start thinking about what we have in store for next year, but expect great things like CAFE FLESH, the [Barry Prima] WARRIOR trilogy, upgrades of the Greek exploitation/gialli films TANGO OF PERVERSION and THE WIFE KILLER, and Vicente Aranda's arthouse horror film FATA MORGANA, among many other delights!

EDIT: Well, the bundle sold out in half an hour!

[therewillbeblus]

Death Brigade is an extremely weird movie, and I don't mean that as a compliment. The narrative constantly eschews opportunities to prime the audience to engage with the characters and activity propelling so relentlessly, so we're cued to treat this like a more passively absurd grindhouse pic. That's fine, except the tone is so unfocused. There's a lot of playful violence and some fun bits there, but the film turns on a dime many times to just carry out brutal, extreme violence and assault that serves no purpose other than to shock and disturb. The film treats its content incredibly seriously in these moments, but without that connective tissue between scenes and character and a sense of tone, it's hard to invest in some underlying utility that'll pay off later. For then we get silly violence again, and playful character jabs, and sexploitation inserts.. I dunno, I like acclimating to a rhythm when watching something like this, and it seemed to exist solely to disrupt a viewer from that comfort - which is just a bit ironic when your movie is squarely fit in the genre that seeks to provide that kind of comfortable cinematic 'ride'. Or maybe the movie had a different agenda and I just don't get it.

Max Pecas can capture some cool shots, but he can also over-edit or ignore significant script markers to help us get to where his mind is five steps ahead.

[jazzo]

Thanks for this. I'd never heard of this film, but many of the online reviews were comparing it to the Spanish film, MAD FOXES, which I have seen (with an audience in a theatre) and was easily able to dial into its particular wavelength of insanity and have a complete blast with it. This sounds less...that.

[therewillbeblus]

It is, in part! It's just the the other side is brutal and sustains that wavelength awkwardly before transitioning back to careless shenanigans. Feels like a dinner party where everyone makes light banter and then random people, anyone at the table at any moment, unpredictably initiate really aggressive uncomfortable topics and stare you in the face - then break back to the banter by laughing it off; rinse, cycle, repeat. I dunno, it's a somewhat uncomfortable feeling, but maybe that's the point? If so, it's not going far enough to make it.

[Finch]

Mondo Macabro's new announcements are Fata Morgana/Left-Handed Fate (1966) and Sex Acopalypse (1982).

[dwk]

New Mondo announcements. Both going up for pre-order on Thursday, June 20th at 9 AM PST/12 noon EST
THE MAX PECAS COLLECTION
Featuring I AM A NYMPHOMANIAC, I AM FRIGID … WHY?, and PRIVATE CLUB!

DISC ONE FEATURES
Region Free

I AM A NYMPHOMANIAC (France, 1970); 95 min; 1.66:1
French or English audio options with English subtitles

“I whispered it again and again: I am a nymphomaniac. Whenever I passed a man in the street, I felt the same craving burning inside me…”
Carole is an ordinary girl leading an ordinary life. Then one day it happens. She has an accident and falls down a lift shaft. Miraculously, she survives. But after she recovers in the hospital, she finds herself obsessed with her body, sex and sin. Will she ever be free from the torment of her passionate desires?
A classic piece of adult cinema from the golden age of French erotica. The film stars the gorgeous Sandra Jullien (Le frisson des vampires) as Carole alongside Janine Reynaud and Michel Lemoine (Jess Franco’s Succubus)

I AM FRIGID … WHY? (France, 1972); 101 min; 1.66:1
French or English audio options with English subtitles

In this follow up to his classic I Am a Nymphomaniac, Max Pécas takes us inside the mind of a girl searching for satisfaction. No matter how many times she does it, or with whom, Doris can never find the fulfilment she seeks.
Her search leads from her convent school to 1970's Paris, where she falls in with an outrageous theatre group, finally ending up as a high-class call girl in a house run by a lesbian dominatrix.
A riot of lava lamps, garish fashions and deliciously daft dialogue...
This is an extended version of the feature with two extra scenes not included in the original French release of the film.

This disc also includes -
Episode of the EUROTIKA TV series about Max Pecas
Deleted Scenes

DISC TWO FEATURES
Region Free

PRIVATE CLUB (France, 1974); 87 min; 1.66:1
French or English audio options with English subtitles

Marcel is a taxi driver who works in the center of Paris. He’s a romantic and is deeply in love with his photo-model girlfriend, Lise, but is still not averse to exchanging comments with his taxi driving pal Charlie whenever a pretty girl passes by. One day a gorgeous woman hires his taxi. She surprises him by undressing in the back seat of the cab. Soon she leads him to a private club where, forgetting all about Lise, Marcel spends the afternoon with the girls who work there. But he is in for a shock, one which will shatter his blinkered view of the world and male/female relationships.
A portrait of a long-vanished world of swinging sex clubs, shameless voyeurs and free love, Private Club marked the end of an era for Max Pecas who was soon to move on to a very different genre of cinema.

LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
2 disc set with a slipcover featuring brand new art by Justin Coffee; reversible inner sleeve with original ad art on each side; 20 page color booklet with new writing on the film by Pete Tombs; 10 double sided art cards; 1500 numbered copies (numbers will be sent out randomly)

and

THE WARRIOR TRILOGY
DISC ONE FEATURES
Region Free

THE WARRIOR (Indonesia, 1981); 94 min; 2.35:1
English or Indonesian audio options with English subtitles
Directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra

Witchcraft and black magic versus mystical martial arts
This outrageously entertaining fantasy flick stars Indonesian action hero Barry Prima. He plays Jaka Sembung, a kind of Robin Hood figure who possesses mystical powers. As a leader of his country’s rebellion against the oppressive Dutch colonialists, Jaka Sembung is captured, tortured and left for dead. But he returns, even more powerful than before. In desperation the invaders resurrect an evil wizard and set him against Jaka Sembung in a fierce fight to the death.
Packed with jaw dropping action scenes and astonishing special effects, The Warrior is the ultimate cult classic. This is the first Blu-ray release of the film in the US and is fully remastered and completely uncut.

* HD transfer from the original negative
* New Interview with film maker Joko Anwar
* New Interview with SFX maestro EL Badrun
* New Interview with writer/assistant director Imam Tantowi
* Archive interview with Imam Tantowi
* Interview with producer Gope Samtani
* Trailers for The Warrior, The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman and The Warrior and the Ninja

DISC TWO FEATURES
Region Free

THE WARRIOR AND THE BLIND SWORDSMAN (Indonesia, 1983); 95 min; 2.35:1
English or Indonesian audio options with English subtitles
Directed by Dasri Yacob

In this explosive sequel to The Warrior, Jaka Sembung is back, organizing resistance to the Dutch colonialist army in West Java and spreading the message of rebellion throughout the land. The Dutch commander organizes a martial arts tournament to select the best warrior to defeat Jaka Sembung. The winner is Si Buta, a mysterious blind swordsman from a place Called Devil’s Mountain. For a chest full of gold coins, Sin Buta returns with Jaka Sembungs’s decapitated head. However, things are not quite what they seem and they become even more complicated when a seductive sorceress, Dewi Magi, sets her sights on the blind swordsman and demands Jaka Sembung as her sex slave. The Dutch send in their heavily armed troops and an apocalyptic battle ensues, filled with magic, mayhem and mystical martial arts.

THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA (Indonesia, 1985); 99 min; 2.35:1
English or Indonesian audio options with English subtitles
Directed by H. Tjut Djalil

In this final entry in Rapi Films’ Warrior Trilogy, Jaka Sembung teams up with a female freedom fighter known as The Black Squirrel.
The film opens with a spectacular volcanic explosion and from there on the tension never lets up. Numerous high energy scenes of brutal martial arts are interspersed with sustained action, gore, and outrageous special effects sequences. This may well be the most action packed of all the films in the series and is directed by MYSTICS IN BALI helmer H. Tjut Djalil.
Jaka Sembung comes up against one of his most fearsome opponents in the seemingly invincible, iron skinned Balung Wesi. The film features one of the most over the top scenes in the entire trilogy when one of the villains has her face ripped off by the Black Squirrel.

LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
2 disc set with slipcover and reversible inner sleeve featuring brand new art by Jolyon Yates; 20 page color booklet with new writing on the films by Pete Tombs; 1500 numbered copies (numbers will be sent out randomly)

[dwk]

Mondo has said the following Blu-rays are OOP
Lizard in a Woman's SKin (sold out)
Perversion Story
Private Vices Public Virtues
Suddenly in the Dark

I assume the two Fulci titles will get re-releases from someone else, but I'm doubtful about the other two.

[therewillbeblus]

Umbrella just released a loaded edition of Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, which is region free

[dwk]

Mondo Macabro announced on twitter that they will be releasing Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight on UHD.

[What A Disgrace]

Teruo Ishii in 4K. Holy moly.