Roddenhyzer
First, let me be upfront and say that I don't know diddly dick about the Mondo culture in general. I've only seen one Mondo flick in my life, Mondo Balordo, and thought it was quite abysmal. This is why I'm in absolutely no position to adequately judge whether Mondo Collecto succeeds as a satire of this type of exploitation documentary. What I do feel competent enough to say, however, is that it definitely does succeed as a funny and affectionate mockumentary on the life of the collector.The initial draw for me was the involvement of Ted V. Mikels, and in this regard, the movie really doesn't disappoint. His segment, where he talks about his collection of medieval weaponry, endears with Mikels' characteristic, sincere enthusiasm. This genuine passion carries over to another segment about a man who collects classic toys, mostly action figures, but subsequent bits featuring an eccentric Pez collector and a woman with a bizarre interest in Christian imagery (renditions of Jesus in particular) are a lot more fake and focused on comedic effect. They're entertaining nonetheless, though, mostly because the deadpan commentary by those two individuals is hilariously absurd.However, later on, the movie drags a bit when things get a little too fake and scripted. There's a rather pointless and drawn-out skit involving a flesh-eating psychopath and, towards the end, a melon-humping sexual deviant. They don't seem to fit in with the rest, as the humor just comes off as forced in these segments.All in all, I didn't really know what to expect from this movie when I bought it, but I certainly don't regret having done so. It manages to capture some sincere passion for the hobby of collecting, while also using it as a premise for absurd humor without relying too much on predictable stereotypes, and for this, I can only recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly different docu-comedy.
