Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		1.5

Porno Nights of the World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 30, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle release.

Kier-la Janisse gave film fans one of the most outstanding boxed sets of the last few years with All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, a late 2021 release that ended up making my Best of 2022 list. Janisse is back now with another gigantic boxed set, one that's even bigger than the folk horror compendium, and one that may appeal to a certain niche audience who may not have been especially interested in that earlier set. Those who may remember the rating system of days of yore will probably recall the "M" designation, which meant "for mature audiences only", and if I may be permitted an orthographic joke that is admittedly a bit arcane, some might argue that Emanuelle gave up one of her "m"'s in favor of three x's, at least with regard to some cuts of the many Black Emanuelle films. For those not conversant with the history of this perceived franchise, and who may be scratching their heads at my "joke" (what else is new?), Black Emanuelle was a pretty blatant attempt to cash in on Emmanuelle, and in order to avoid any potential legal hassles one of those original "m"'s in the title character's name got dropped. Furthermore, as supplements on many of the discs included in this set offer, there were hardcore XXX inserts (in more ways than one) that at least some of the Black Emanuelle productions offered. Joke explained, hopefully. Perhaps even more comedically than my fitful attempt at humor, the Black Emanuelle series ended up offering many more films than its perceived progenitor, and 24 of them (with additional cuts) are aggregated in this at times overwhelming collection. This is a collection where the quality of the films may be highly debatable, though it's salient to note that the supplements both overtly reference and are in and of themselves examples of perhaps unexpected critical scrutiny this franchise has engendered, and anyone interested in this kind of bizarre franchise mash up of what might be called porno, mondo and gonzo will most likely find this an amazing set to dive into.

For those who might be wondering about the "mondo" aspect of the "porno, mondo and gonzo" trifecta I mentioned above, look no further than Porno Nights of the World. If you're unfamiliar with the mondo craze, a subgenre of sorts that at least hinted at being documentary (esque?) while also showing all sorts of provocative and at times disturbing imagery. The idiom gets its name from the Italian word for "world", but it also is a clear allusion to Mondo Cane from 1962, which took the, well, world by storm, due at least in part to the rather unexpected smash hit song "More" (which ended up getting an Academy Award nomination) which was featured on its soundtrack. If the mondo films regularly mixed elements of travelogues with some more unsettling imagery, like the savageness of the natural world, some of the Black Emanuelle films did the same thing, while also adding in generous heapings of kinky (in this case seemingly softcore) sex.

Gemser as Emanuelle is more or less your tourguide for this journey, breaking the filmic equivalent of the fourth wall to directly address the audience and introduce various segments. Kind of hilariously, the actual "porno" element is much less explicit than it is in some of the other Black Emanuelle outings, but at least some of the scenery is quite engaging.

Porno Nights of the World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Porno Nights of the World is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Severin's almost overwhelming book The Black Emanuelle Bible included with this set offers a brief description of the transfer, as follows:

Source: 2K scan of interpositive.

Since Porno Nights of the World is a kind of grabbag of footage culled both from other films and what may actually have been some real "home movies" of various locations, there's the same kind of heterogeneous quality on display that is probably even more evident in some similar films like Emanuelle's Perverse Outburst. Things can look slightly faded at times, with a skew toward brown that can also tend to mask some fine detail in some of the at times very dimly lit nightclub footage. In its best moments, the palette pops quite agreeably and detail levels are generally good (see screenshot 3 for one example). However, a lot of this presentation is soft to the point of being fuzzy, and there are noticeable variances in color timing, densities and grain structure throughout.

Porno Nights of the World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once again as with many of the films in this set, Porno Nights of the World offers DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mixes in either Italian or English. I followed my standard operating procedure of toggling between the tracks as I watched, and encountered no major problems in either of the languages, though the Italian track sounds louder and more full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout for the most part (some of the archival video is a little wonky at times). Optional English subtitles are available.

Porno Nights of the World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Master of the World (HD; 8:41) is an interview with co-director Bruno Mattei. Subtitled in English.


• At the Dining Table (HD; 18:46) is an interview with producer Franco Gaudenzi. Subtitled in English.


• The Naked Eye: Sex and the Mondo Film (HD; 43:29) is an interesting analysis of the kind of combo platter that several of the Black Emanuelle and other films offer. This features film historians Elizabeth Purchell, Mark Goodall and Joe Rubin.


• English Opening Credit Sequence (HD; 2:14) bears the wonderful alternate title Sexy Night Report.


• Trailer (HD; 3:03)

Porno Nights of the World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Black Emanuelle series got pretty good at just flat out co-opting scenes from other movies and (sexual pun unavoidable) thrusting them into whatever property was being developed. Porno Nights of the World is probably more mondo and definitely gonzo than porno, with pretty ragged looking video at times, but acceptable audio and some nice supplements, especially The Naked Eye: Sex and the Mondo Film.