This obviously fake Mondo movie starts off in New York where it follows the exploits of rapists in Central Park, gays in Greenwich Village, the “photographer’s model” racket, judges who grade strippers, and prostitutes who turn tricks for drugs. Then the action switches over to Germany as we pay a visit to the concentration camps. Afterwards, we take a look at German night life including mud wrestling, the red-light district, strippers, and drug dealers. We head off to London for the next segment as we look in on British strippers and prostitutes (one who uses personal ads to find clients), and there’s a long scene where two men fight over the same girl. Then in Paris a tourist takes his dates to various strip clubs, and we also see the Parisian red-light district, and a belly dancing club where comic relief pot smokers look on. Things wrap up with a segment on casting couches and an odd party where people throw trash everywhere.
Even the most exploitative Mondo movies take on the air of a faux-documentary and show the audience the various skeevy happenings under the guise of amateur anthropology. This one is callous, cynical, and judgmental and has no qualms telling the audience just what it thinks about its subject. By doing so, it takes the fun right out of it.
For example, one scene shows a couple of average gay guys walking down the street and the narrator grumpily quips, “It’s a sick… sick… SICK world!” That shit so wouldn’t fly today. I mean it’s one thing to reserve that kind of attitude while showing concentration camp footage, but when it’s just a couple of dudes just going about their day? C’mon.
I mean how authentic can the whole thing be when the people being documented are recognizable (or at least recognizable to me) B-movie players like Sammy (Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla) Petrillo and Doris Wishman regular Sam Stewart? Something seems awfully fishy. Because of that, I can’t give It’s a Sick, Sick, Sick World a clean bill of health.
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