Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 21, 2023

Having relatively recently survived seemingly endless "mondo" suffused films courtesy of Severin's immense The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle set, I can tell you from personal experience "performance art" is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Kind of hilariously, if probably unintentionally, several of the "acts" documented in this film might well have shown up in one of the Laura Gemser "epics", and also kind of hilariously, there's even a quasi-Emmanuelle in this film in that the performance art sequences are bridged by a conceit of a gorgeous young woman (albeit a blonde in this case) acting as a virtual "tour guide". Reactions to this enterprise will probably largely depend on one's tolerance for late eighties excesses, as well as a certain gritty "lo fi" filmmaking sensibility that, again, is kind of comically reminiscent of some of the Emmanuelle "mondo" outings.

There's little doubt that some acts offered in this outing are going to be at the very least highly provocative, and, depending on "primness" levels, quite possibly offensive. Among the "celebrities" on tap are Joey Arias, Joe Coleman, Karen Finley, Phoebe Leger, Ann Magnuson, Lydia Lunch, Rick Aviles and Dean Johnson. Even the back cover of this release calls it a "time capsule", and if, like that famous maxim about the sixties, if you remember it, you weren't really there, then this film should suffice as a souvenir (in the actual literal meaning of that word).

Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mondo New York is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the MVD Rewind Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release touts a "brand new 2K transfer from the original camera negative". With an understanding that this is intentionally a kind of almost "grindhouse" affair in terms of grittiness, this is an extremely appealing looking presentation that boasts a very nicely suffused palette for the most part and generally commendable detail levels. The "fly on the wall" filming sensibilities can certainly lead to ebbs and flows of fine detail in particular, and there are even some moments of inartful focus pulling that can lead to downright blurriness for a moment, but on the whole things are nicely organic looking and aside from some issues during the opening credits, damage is minimal. Grain can be quite heavy at times, and there are occasional quasi-chroma anomalies with regard to the heavy grain field where things can have a slightly yellowish or bluish tint.

Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mondo New York features a nicely robust LPCM 2.0 track, though you have to get past some noticeable noise and crackling at the very start of the feature to get to "the good bits". All of the music sounds great, with good fluidity and some actually rather impressively full sounding midrange and low end. Dialogue is generally well rendered, though some of the live outdoor material can have momentary amplitude issues. While there aren't a lot of "quiet" moments in the film, when they do intermittently intrude, a very slight high frequency hiss can be discerned in the background. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Joe Coleman (HD; 49:33) features Stuart Shapiro and was shot in 2022.


• Interview with Joey Arias (HD; 49:48) features Stuart Shapiro and was shot in 2022.


• Interview with Shannah Laumeister (HD; 36:16) features Stuart Shapiro and was shot in 2022.


• Interview with Stuart Shapiro (HD; 27:20) features Lola Rock "N" Rolla and was shot in 2022.


• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (HD) is authored without a timecode, but does advance automatically, so have the Pause button on your remote handy if you want to linger on any given image.


• Press Kits and Script Gallery (HD) is authored without a timecode, but does advance automatically, so have the Pause button on your remote handy if you want to linger on any given image.


• Soundtrack CD

Additionally the keepcase features a reversible sleeve and encloses both a double sided poster and a nicely appointed insert booklet. Packaging features a slipcover.

Mondo New York Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe my long, hard slog through countless Emmanuelle films actually lowered my "resistance" to some of the performance hyperbole on display in Mondo New York, but I found this "time capsule" to be almost charmingly quaint at times, at least considering where we all find ourselves now. Technical merits are generally solid, and MVD has aggregated both appealing on disc supplements and some non disc (or at least non Blu-ray disc) swag. At least for those not faint of heart, Mondo New York comes Recommended.