8. Brutes And Savages (1978)
Possibly the only Mondo movie that will have you laughing your head off, rather than cringing in disgust, Brutes and Savages is an hilarious 'shockumentary'. First of all, we have our narrator Arthur Davis, who trots around the world wearing a salmon pink safari suit. Charisma is not his strongest point and his ridiculous postulating provokes gales of laughter. Then there is the footage - most of which is clearly and badly staged. Apparently African men are obsessed with face paint and dancing. They never cease dancing. Except to indulge in sexual rituals and rite of passage nonsense like crossing crocodile filled waters where our 'savage' meets a very poorly staged end - mannequin limbs floating in the water. There is, per usual Mondo movie standards, a lot of very real animal slaughter which is distasteful and obviously staged for the camera. There is a repugnant llama ritual sacrifice scene and some primitive brain surgery thrown in for good measure. Simulated bestiality rounds the film off and by this time, the viewer's jaw is scraping the floor at the film's sheer audacity to have pretensions of merit. I personally object to the title Brutes and Savages. I think it is racist and condescending to the native peoples who took part in the film. But the movie is so trashy, the title doesn't come as a surprise. One thing it has in its favour is a groovy disco score from Riz Ortolani which is inappropriate but nice to listen to. Without a doubt the poorest Mondo ever made, and a film devoid of any cultural or anthropological insight, Brutes and Savages is nevertheless, a gloriously trashy affair which will brighten up your day no end if you like to wallow in crapulence like me.