User reviews

Anyone who is familiar with the work of director Bruno Mattei isn't going to be fooled by the opening spiel of his mondo movie Libido Mania, which claims that the purpose of the film is to explore the subject of sexual aberrations, help us to understand them, and possibly cure them. The real reason for this film is to titillate, making the viewers of this exploitative trash-fest (myself included) guilty of at least one of the 'perversions' described in the film: voyeurism.

Amongst the other '-isms' featured in the film are sadism, pygmalionism, exhibitionism, cannibalism, troilism, narcissism, masochism and nudism. The film also ticks off a few '-philias': necrophilia, coprophilia, and zoophilia. All of these are discussed by 'experts' and depicted for our viewing pleasure. Most of the acts shown are relatively innocuous (by mondo standards, at least), and are obviously simulated (the poop in the coprophilia scene is clearly fake... thankfully, and a sex-murder is nasty in tone but laughably inept). However, there are one or two scenes where Mattei goes the extra mile to push the boundaries of taste, with unsimulated water sports, a spot of messy sex-change surgery footage, and a bestiality scene featuring a German Shepherd that fortunately stops short of showing the actual act.

The director also chucks in quite a lot of footage from the third-world, as per many a mondo movie, including deflowering rituals, a nasty but presumably fake emasculation (a native getting his tallywhacker sliced off in a gory scene that brings to mind the cannibal craze of the same era) and the bizarre sight of tribesmen sticking sharp sticks up their nostrils to cause severe bleeding.

5/10. While not essential viewing for fans of mondo madness (all of the 'serious' discussion drags it down), it at least delivers a few moments that might shock and surprise. Followed by Sesso perverso, mondo violento (1980), AKA Libido Mania 2.

Libidomania is a masterpiece of absurdity that not only pushes the boundaries of good taste, but smashes them with diligence and glee. This film is as if David Lynch or Cronenberg had a bad day and decided to work out their frustration in a low-budget erotic horror comedy mashup. The unintentional comedy is so terrific that you wonder if the actors knew they were in a film - or if they were just paid to buy pizza. The special effects are a feast for the eyes if you enjoy kindergarten crafts. 10/10 stars for the surreal uniqueness of this "shockumentary". A must-see for anyone who loves trash cinema - or wants to punish themselves.