Tag Archives: Mondo Cane

Song of the Day: More (Theme from Mondo Cane) R.I.P. Riz Ortolani

Posted on by Arleigh

Riz-Ortolani

The latest “Song of the Day” is dedicated to a great film composer who passed away today. Riz Ortolani is well-known in the virtual and brick-and-mortar halls of Through the Shattered Lens. In fact, I would say that his work would be a perfect soundtrack for the site if it ever decided to have one.

Ortolani was born in March 25, 1926. Music seemed to be in his blood as his musical career first began as part of an Italian jazz band before he eventually move to composing scores for Italian films. While many grindhouse and exploitation film fans got to know Ortolani through his work on Ruggero Deodato’s famous (infamous in some circles) cannibal exploitation film Cannibal Holocaust ( especially for it’s serene-like opening theme) his film scores ranged through several genres from mondo films, spaghetti westerns, eurospy flicks and Italian giallos.

For someone in elite circles would considered as beneath their notice for doing work in the so-called video nasty genre, ORtoani’s work has been hailed as genius and one of his compositions even won him an Academy Award in 1964. It’s this award-winning song that I’ve chosen to focus on.

“More” from the shockumentary Mondo Cane won Ortolani an Oscar in 1964 and even had an admirer in the Chairman of the Board himself that he would cover the song the very same year.

With each passing year the film and entertainment community loses one more of the earlier generation who were instrumental in making many at this site in falling in love with film and music. Time to appreciate what they’ve contributed to film and music and remind ourselves that sometimes just because something is old and dated doesn’t mean it’s still not better than something newer and more advanced.

R.I.P. Riz Ortolani and thanks for the music and memories.

Even the Ol’ Blue Eyes covered the song…

More (Theme From Mondo Cane)

More than the greatest love the world has known,
This is the love I give to you alone,
More than the simple words I try to say,
I only live to love you more each day.
More than you’ll ever know, my arms long to hold you so,
My life will be in your keeping, waking, sleeping, laughing, weeping,
Longer than always is a long long time, but far beyond forever you’re gonna be mine.
I know I’ve never lived before and my heart is very sure,
No one else could love you more.

[musical interlude]

More than you’ll ever know , my arms they long to hold you so,
My life will be in your keeping, waking, sleeping, laughing, weeping,
Longer than always is a long long time, but far beyond forever you’ll be mine,
I know that I’ve never lived before and my heart is very sure,
No one else could love you more, no one else could love you more.

En Pointe with six more trailers

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The grindhouse is like ballet — truly appreciated by only a few blessed and special individuals.  And for those individuals, here’s a picture of my legs…

And, because I really, really love all of you, here’s an added bonus: six more of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation trailers…

1) The Child (1977)

I’ve got this one on DVD, actually.  Considering that it was produced by the notorious Harry Novak, it’s actually fairly entertaining and not just in a “WTF” sorta way.  Still, I have to admit that the main reason I like this trailer is because of that “I don’t have to tell you anything,” line because I used to say that a lot when I was a child (actually, I still say it a lot).  Unfortunately, I never had undead followers to help back up my words.

2) The Children (1980)

Now, admittedly, some claim that I was occasionally a just a tad bit bratty when I was a child.  (The running joke, among my sisters, is that LMB stands for Little Mean Brat.)  However, I was never quite this bad…

3) A*P*E (1976)

Speaking of being bratty…A*P*E was originally entitled The New King Kong until a lawsuit changed the title.  By all reports, A*P*E was meant to be a “serious” film but it was advertised as being a spoof after the film’s distributors saw the final results.  A*P*E shows up on AMC occasionally.

4) Tanya’s Island (1980)

While we’re on the amorous monster front…I haven’t seen this one but it appears to be some sort of Swept Away With Big Foot type of film.  The vibe here is definitely grindhouse pretentious.

5) Mysterious Monsters (1976)

Bigfoot was also one of the stars of Mysterious Monsters, one of the many faux grindhouse/drive-in documentaries of the 70s.

6) Mondo Cane (1963)

And finally, here’s the grindhouse documentary that started them all — the Italian Mondo Cane!  None other than Giovanni Lombardo Radice has described this film as an example of “lingering fascism.”  It also inspired Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust.  Also, much like An Inconvenient Truth, it was nominated for a best original song Oscar.   (Note to self: Write a future post on how much An Inconvenient Truth has in common with Mondo Cane…)

Finally, in conclusion, here’s one final scene from A*P*E…

Song of the Day: Cannibal Holocaust Main Theme (by Riz Ortolani)

Posted on by Arleigh

The second song in the week-long special edition of the “Song of the Day” feature I’ve chosen the main theme to the infamous and controversial Italian horror film Cannibal Holocaust from Italian filmmaker Ruggero Deodato. The song is part of the film score composed wholly by Italian film composer Riz Ortolani.

The main theme to this greatest of film in the cannibal horror subgenre always take new listeners by surprise. For a film which shows some extreme examples of violence towards people and animals the theme is actually quite gentle and serene with just a hint of sadness in the suite. This theme really doesn’t prepare the viewer for what they’re about to see (though anyone watching Cannibal Holocaust for the first time should at least have an inkling what the film will be about just from the title alone).

It’s a testament to Ortolani’s talents that he was able to create a synth-based theme which has only gotten more popular with the passage of time. The theme could almost be considered the unofficial theme to the glory days of grindhouse cinema of the 70’s and 80’s. It’s even become the theme song to the greatest film (both long and short form) ever made: Treevenge. Just watch for yourself right below and you’ll understand why I say it’s the greatest thing ever put on film.