Mondo Keyhole

This film starts off with a young woman screaming while she is being raped by a serial rapist by the name of "Howard Thorn" (Nick Moriarty). When he gets home he finds that his attractive but love-starved wife, "Vicki" (Adele Rein) wants to get intimate. But he wants none of it. For him the thrill is in the brutal conquest. As a result, Vicki turns to heroin while he becomes more and more reckless. Anyway, while I expected a risqué film of sorts, I never expected something produced in 1966 to feature as much violence and nudity as this one did. In black and white, no less. Be that as it may, what was also unique about it was that it took a rather crude plot and did a remarkable job of displaying it in an artistic manner. In that respect it was artistic--yet crude at the same time. In any case, while this movie might be interesting to some it is hardly something that will please a general audience. Definitely for mature audiences only.

Legendary cult filmmaker Jack Hill is screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and co-director of this particularly striking sexploitation drama. Nick Moriarty stars as Howard Thorne, operator of a mail-order business that deals in everything from adult films to torture soundtracks on vinyl. He's also a serial rapist, who goes after any attractive young woman who catches his fancy. Meanwhile, at home his wife Vicky (Adele Rein) tries everything that she can think of to get him sexually interested in *her*.

With John Lamb ("The Mermaids of Tiburon") serving as co-producer and co-director, "Mondo Keyhole" is an interesting adults only entertainment. It plays as if somebody like Bergman made a soft core film. This is because the film is not only sleazy but stylishly moody and effectively surreal as well. The music by The Psychedelic Psymphonette merely adds to the strange atmosphere. It has a somewhat linear narrative for a while, getting more and more bizarre towards the end, with a "vampire" (Christopher Winters / imitation Bela Lugosi voice by trailer narrator Ron Gans) serving as Vicky's guide to the latest in human debauchery. The human salad bar is an especially memorable set piece. One of the hooks to the film is the whole "is it fantasy or is it reality" approach to the storytelling.

The acting is passable for this sort of thing. Amusingly enough, the voice of Vicky is provided by cult actress Luana Anders, who's recognizable for her work with Corman and Coppola in the 1960s.

Worth a look for followers of the sexploitation genre.

Seven out of 10.

Watched the original when it came out. Black and white and later bought a copy from Something Weird Video. Was disappointed to see the SWV copy was not the same as the original. A rather erotic scene involved a girl in a stripped blouse be attacked in a junkyard. He wrestles with her a bit and then tears her blouse open exposing a very nice and large pair of bosoms. The original version, she tries to run away after he has ripped her blouse open and we see her running hard with her blouse wide open and of course....her **** bouncing madly, a good scene. He of course does catch her....Considering the time period, these movies were stretching the limits and looking back, have become an enjoyable journey back to a time more innocent with lots to gain...It is worth a view!

Nick Moriarty plays Howard, the owner of Arts Products, a mail-order service that specializes in adults-only films, pictures, art-work and even records like Punishment in Hi-Fi! Always dressed in a stuffy buisness suit with stuffy job and coming home to his depressed junky wife, Howard seems bored with his life so he goes out and rapes women. A man-hating lesbian blackbelt finds out eventually and has her revenge.

MONDO KEYHOLE has become virtually unknown after being deleted from the Something Weird Video collection which is a pity because it's a really interesting film and on top of that it was written and co-directed by Jack Hill! It goes against the porn industry with it's narration describing Howard as having committed "the worst crime of them all - RAPE!" which all leads to his job. There are also some suprisingly very funny depictions of these adults-only films and their directors ("I've put my heart and soul in to this one!") and if you look carefully you'll spot Dave Friedman's name written in big letters inside an open magazine. Despite it's extremely low budget, KEYHOLE features some terrific, mind-boggling effects and sequences (some using a negative print) including a skull lighting up in flames and a watch swinging back and forth during the opening scene. Also during a wild dress-up party everyone freaks out after drinking the punch spiked with LSD.

This definately for accuired tastes. It's very weird, arty and dosn't end up making much sense, but is still a visual delight. I only wonder what Jack Hill thought of it....

Of course this film does not deserve the full ten star rating because it is one of the greatest films ever but simply because it achieves completely what it sets out to do and them some. Clearly Jack Hill's brief was to make a sexploitation 'roughie' and this he does with great style but then, the director of Spider Baby can't stop there and this develops into sexploitation-noir and plays with drug taking and psychedelia before a character doing a passing interpretation of Lugosi's Dracula leads us to the end of the world. Along the way we have plenty of sexy action, though beautifully shot and not overlong, and some great party scenes, possibly the best ever with lots of skin and masks. There is also a lady in a large glass of champagne (which is shared by many) and a naked lady covered in salad with much French dressing (which is also shared by many). If you don't think you will like this you probably won't but if you just think you might, you'll love it.