A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain. After backing the film's development, the BBC refused to air it, publicly stating "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting." It debuted in theaters in 1966 and went on to great acclaim, but remained unseen on British television until 1985.
Mike O'Donoghue's parody of "Mondo Cane" showcases curious performers, strange musicians, celebrity mutations and unusual short films, including Thomas Alva Edison's "Elephant Electrocution". In the tradition of films like Groove Tube (1974), The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), and Saturday Night Live.
A feature-length documentary film adaptation of the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name, chronicling the history of Mondo cinema and the "death film".
Do humans have the right to judge and kill other humans? This program includes a history of capital punishment around the world through documentary footage and commentary. The electric chair, firing squad, hanging, poison gas, beating to death, slow execution, crotch-splitting, iron maiden, guillotine, execution by running, and beheading... It features a military execution in a South American country, obtained from a former prison officer. It also includes footage of the reality of life in Japanese prisons, death row inmates facing death, the parents of death row inmates, the families of their victims, and the gallows.
To mark the 30th anniversary of L'Étrange Festival, Gaumont is opening up its archives to offer the best of its most secret, bizarre and crazy images, digitized for the first time. A unique program featuring black magic, surrealistic happenings, world records, the evolution of feminism, wild bets, vanished places, forgotten inventions and other delights.
A western short depicting the execution of a horse thief by a group of enraged cowboys. This film is considered to be lost.
Bounding from one continent to another, from desert to jungle, this early mondo documentary examines the habits and customs of people whose lives are unaffected by the modern world. In New Guinea, director Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau's crew spends time with jungle villagers who honor the deceased by preserving their corpses, and in Africa they film the resourceful people of the Kalahari. Other subjects include a Brazilian community whose male members wear lip-stretching jewelry.
