Naked and Violent (1970)
** (out of 4)
Italian Mondo movie tries to explain why America is a horrible place full of horrible people doing horrible things to other horrible people. In the film we learn that sex and violence is all that America has to offer and if people come here they will either end up on drugs or murdered in the violent streets, which are full of homeless thugs who will stop at nothing to get their next hit. If you think I'm being a tad bit over dramatic then you haven't seen this film, which is also known as America HOW VIOLENT, HOW NAKED. The Mondo genre became quite popular after MONDO CANE so producers everywhere were jumping on the bandwagon and this here comes from the Martino clan with Sergio, best known for his future giallos, making his third stint behind the camera. A lot of Mondo movies take a look at poor countries or old fashioned countries that have strange customs so it was rather funny seeing a film take on America. Having lived here all my life I must admit that I had quite a few laughs at this film and the "issues" it tried to push off. By watching this film you'd think the country was some toxic wasteland full of nothing but losers. The film mocks all the homeless people that can be found in New York and mentions that we leave the elderly people of this country to die in the streets. Again, I'm not sure where word got out that we treat our elderly folks like this. We also see the various hippies smoking their pot and walking around naked, which again is looked down upon in this film. We learn that hippies have a mental defect that causes them to act like this and we learn that weed is one of the most dangerous drugs out there (I guess the Martino boys were watching REEFER MADNESS as a study course). As you can tell, the entire "story" being told here is pretty stupid and it makes you wonder if anyone involved in the production had any idea of what they were talking about or if they were just making these stories up as they went along. The portrait of the country is quite laughable and certainly doesn't show or tell anything the way it actually is. Having watched this it makes me curious how many other Mondo films are just 100% lies trying to push "reality" on those who might not know any better. Overall the film is pretty boring without any real good stories or adventures to go through. I think people living in America will get a few good laughs at a few of the stories here but I can't imagine too many others get any type of entertainment here. Fans of Martino won't find any of his style here either.
