Examples include: Mondo Cane (1962), Mondo Trasho (1969), Faces of Death (1978), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Mondomanila (2012) In our internet age, where theres something shocking for everyone; the pendulum swinging from The Human Centipede franchise to the collection of dark beheading videos, it can be difficult to know what did cinema present for shock value back in the day? The answer lies in the collection of top shelf Mondo films. A series of shockumentary features that presented real life and death events in shots of foreign cultures meant to repulse and arouse the audience. The word Mondo stems from Mondo Cane (loosely translated as 'A Dogs World') which acted as a global travelogue with shots jumping from couples weeping at pet cemeteries to Gurkhas performing rituals dressed in womens clothing and decapitating bulls. The result is a kaleidoscopic round-the-world trip which seems to celebrate, mock and criticise our global customs all at once. Hot on the heels of the success of Mondo Cane appeared the imitators and devotees; many using the word Mondo to garner the attention of the audience (such as Mondo Topless) and others in homage to the genre (John Waters Mondo Trasho). After the trend disappeared through much of the 70s, it picked up again in the 80s with the grim Faces of Death, which focussed solely on the grim and gory aspects of the original. Despite being eviscerated by critics, Faces of Death still appears on many rankings for its pioneering grossness, making it on by a narrow margin to Entertainment Weeklys list "Top 50 Cult Films of All Time" in 2000.
