A somewhat curious anomaly of its time the Mondo film was something that was pretty much spearheaded by Italian explorers and documentary makers Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi with 1962 film Mondo Cane. They really opened the floodgates paving the way of giving voyeuristic viewers depictions of taboo subjects like death and sex. Call them sensationalism or exploitation if you will but they had really hit a nerve with this sub-genre and continued with the likes of highly revered and reviled features such as a sequel the following year and Africa Addio in 1966. Many books have been written on the subject and in depth discussions on them staging certain scenes, setting them up for the camera have been debated. Another reason these films have such a hideous history is due to the fact that it is not just humankind featured and literally butchered in front of the camera but also animals too. Due to this naturally the films although relevant in context are effectively prohibited from release in places like the UK and many people such as myself would avoid adding them to their collection. Despite this, films such as the Video Nasty Faces Of Death series were the logical continuation and became incredibly popular throughout the world spawning countless imitators. Some are very good (and don’t need to rely on animal cruelty) examples that immediately spring to mind are Nick Bougas 1989 feature ‘Death Scenes’; others such as The Traces Of Death series full of fake footage and hideous scenes of animal cruelty are shockingly reprehensible and as our censors for once rightfully concluded had nothing in the way of “”journalistic, educational, or other justifying context for the images shown”. This is the briefest of overviews to contextually set the scene for 1982 film The Killing Of America, one that is thankfully only centred on human suffering.
This Mondo documentary was made by Sheldon Renan and Leonard Schrader the latter of whom went on to write award winning film ‘The Kiss Of The Spiderwoman.’ The way they did things was really concentrating on the historical side of things and giving us an all seeing overview of just how screwed up an America ravaged by out of control gun crime and racism was at the time. It’s a gritty and still very contentious outlook of things and is certainly not for all viewers. The film has had plenty of censorship problems and is still unavailable in its home country. It’s one that collectors may well have tracked down years ago, indeed I have bootleg Dutch Concorde Video release of it and although it seemed to vanish as quickly as it arrived Exploited Video did manage to get it released in the UK on DVD. Now the ever-reliable Severin have given this intriguing film its UK Blu Ray premier and not only is the 95 minute feature uncut but it also includes the 115 minute Japanese export version (Violence U.S.A.) with it.
Having never seen this version it was my preferred choice even if it did mean having to put up with a slightly annoying Japanese (thankfully subtitled) narration track. So you want to know exactly what to expect from the film? Well it leads you through the grim and grimy streets where murder is only a heartbeat away. We are taken through political assassinations both successful and attempted (Kennedy, Reagan) through to spree and serial killers such as Whitman, Berkowitz, Gacy and Bundy. Where available we have plenty of footage to view including the actual death scenes themselves and even interviews with surviving perpetrators. As well as the infamous ones there are others that are perhaps not so known, a killer wanting to make a name for themselves (probably largely forgotten if not for this) and a girl who shot at school-kids simply as she didn’t like Mondays. We dip into a morgue and view mutilated and hacked up bodies and get a quick-fire succession of gruesome crime scene photos to digest. We see attempted and successful suicides in all their gory futility and witness the shocking scenes of KKK supporters opening fire on a group of protesting workers trying to prevent them from entering town. Apparently the end segment about the death of John Lennon was added for the Japanese version to make it a little more upbeat, I didn’t find it that at all, more depressing and too drawn out but apart from that the film certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Severin have done a top job and the sound here was really good as were the image quality of the majority of the scenes. I have noted people complaining about some of the picture quality and saying it could be better but seriously how the hell are you meant to turn archive footage into modern day clarity, besides it would ruin the authenticity? I can safely contest it looks a lot better and sharper here than any other version you will have seen before.
Sure this is more graphic and indeed honest than anything you are likely to see on the countless reality shows that you could even consider derived from these sorts of films, you probably should be advised to go into this with a certain amount of caution. Killing Of America is by no means the worse Mondo film you will see and don’t go expecting a big flurry of others to suddenly flood the market. Largely it’s a sub-genre we don’t see any more but this is alarmingly as relevant today, if not more so than when it was made and could easily have developed into a series focusing right up to the present. The likes of shockumentaries such as Banned From Television 1998 (agh the train scene) and Executions 1995 do still rear their ugly faces and largely do so in the way of exploitation. There is debatably something about The Killing Of America that does set it apart from its peers though and it’s certainly one of the most interesting and viewable examples of its kind. As a footnote for those wondering if Mondo films have reached their nadir and gone as far as they can, well the answer is probably yes. For those that really want to push the limits, not something I have even wanted to do, that nefarious award to all intents and purposes goes to MDPope for his Most Disturbed Person On Planet Earth parts one and two. You have been warned!
After writing this I was more than intrigued to dip into the extras here and see what those actually involved in the making of the film had to say. First up co-director Sheldon Renan has his say and talks about collaborating with writer and director Leonard Schrader (brother of Paul who wrote Taxi Driver, a film making a fictional statement along very similar lines). Len wanted to take people inside the mind of what it is like to be a serial killer rather than to shock and awe as per Faces Of Death, something in my opinion he succeeded in doing here. Archivist Renan had the means of getting hold of the footage and achieved that part although states he does consider the film more Len’s than his. There’s very interesting anecdotes about the interview conducted with Ed Kemper specifically for the film. I would not have known he was one of the leading contributors at the time for voicing books for the blind; quite a chilling thought really if you think about it. A couple of quotes are quite alarming here. “Everyone knows of someone who has been a victim of homicide” and “I was surprised by the amount of people who came up to me and admitted to killing someone” That’s America all over I guess. Lee Percy the editor had a huge amount of material and scenes to weave into a coherent narrative with the film and also gets his segment to talk about his part in things. Being a documentary and not having a screenplay meant that he was really part author to tie everything together and tell a story so it was a lot of responsibility compared to more conventional film making.
Filling in the gaps at the end we have film journalist Nick Pinkerton giving you an insight into the Mondo movie phenomena, something I have done partly so I’m just going to cut it here and sit back and watch what he has to say myself. Anyone looking for further insight into this fascinating subject is advised to track down Killing For Culture – David Kerekes and David Slater (Creation Books) & Sweet And Savage – Mark Goodall (Headpress). As for The Killing Of America it’s the perfect starting place to explore for those wanting to and Severin have made it an essential purchase.
Pete Woods
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