''Mondo Macabro'' is a British

documentary television series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

written, produced and directed by

Pete Tombs Pete Tombs is a British author, television and film producer, and co-founder of the American-based home video distribution company Mondo Macabro, which he established in 2002 alongside fellow co-founder Andy Starke. Tombs also co-founded the pr ...

and Andy Starke. Based on Tombs' 1997 book '' Mondo Macabro: Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World'', the series focuses on

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

s from different countries around the world. The series ran for eight episodes and was first broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 2001.

Broadcast history

''Mondo Macabro'' first aired on

from October to December 2001. Each episode was followed by a film relevant to the scope of that episode; for example, the episode "The Nightmares of Coffin Joe", which is about the films of Brazilian director

José Mojica Marins José Mojica Marins (13 March 1936 – 19 February 2020) was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host. Marins is also known for creating and playing the character Coffin Joe (loosely translated from Zé d ...

, was followed by the 1970 Marins-directed film ''

Awakening of the Beast ''Awakening of the Beast'' (, also released as ) is a 1970 Brazilian horror/exploitation film directed by José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão). Marins appears as himself and as the Coffin Joe c ...

''; and the episode "Fantasy Films from Indonesia", which explores

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...

s produced in Indonesia, was followed by the 1981 Indonesian fantasy martial arts film '' Jaka Sembung'' (''The Warrior'').

Episodes

Home media

Episodes of ''Mondo Macabro'' have been included as bonus features on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

releases by Tombs and Starke's home video label of the same name. The episode "Mexican Horror Movies" is included on the out-of-print Mondo Macabro DVD release of the 1957 Mexican film '' El vampiro'' (''The Vampire''); "South Asian Cinema" is included on their DVD release of the 1967 Pakistani film ''

Zinda Laash ''Zinda Laash'' () is a 1967 Pakistani Urdu-language horror film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz,. and starring Asad Bukhari, Habib-ur-Rehman (actor), Habib, Deeba, Rehan, Zareen Panna and Nasreen. The film's plot borrows heavily from the 1958 Briti ...

'' (''The Living Corpse''); "The Nightmares of Coffin Joe" is included on their out-of-print DVD release of the 1969 Brazilian film ''

''; "Fantasy Films from Indonesia" is included on their DVD release of the 1988 Indonesian film ''

Lady Terminator ''Lady Terminator'' () is a 1988 Indonesian horror-fantasy action film directed by Tjut Djalil, also credited under the pseudonym of Jalil Jackson. The film stars Barbara Anne Constable, Christopher J. Hart, and Claudia Angelique Rademaker, and ...

''; "Turkish Pop Cinema" is included on their out-of-print

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

DVD release of the Turkish films ''

The Deathless Devil ''The Deathless Devil'' () is a 1972 Turkish action film, co-written, produced and directed by Yılmaz Atadeniz, starring Kunt Tulgar as a young man who takes up his father's mantle as masked crimefighter Copperhead to defeat the evil Dr. Satan ...

'' (1972) and ''

Tarkan Versus the Vikings ''Tarkan Versus the Vikings'' () is a 1971 Turkish action film, directed by Ertem Eğilmez based on a comic strip by Sezgin Burak, starring Kartal Tibet as fictional Hunnic warrior Tarkan, who vows revenge against Viking raiders after they amb ...

'' (1971); "Argentinian Exploitation" is included on their out-of-print DVD release of the 1967 Argentine film ''

Blood of the Virgins ''Blood of the Virgins'' () is a 1967 Argentine gothic horror film directed by Emilio Vieyra. Plot Ofelia's wedding day is approaching and she is to be married to Eduardo. She has some pre-wedding jitters during a meeting with her lover Gustavo ...

''; and "The Erotic Empire" is included on their DVD release of the 1978 Japanese film ''

Sins of Sister Lucia , also known as ''Sister Lucia's Dishonor'', is a 1978 Japanese erotic film directed by Kōyū Ohara and produced and distributed by Nikkatsu as one of the studio's ''Roman Porno'' films. Cast * as Rumiko Ōtaki / Sister Lucia * Rumi Tama as M ...

''. Additionally, "The Erotic Empire" is also available as an extra on the Region-0 release of the Nikkatsu ''Roman porno'' film, '' Assault! Jack the Ripper'' (1976).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=1229304, title=Mondo Macabro 2001 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings 2000s British documentary television series Channel 4 documentary series British English-language television shows Documentary television series about films