Though he hasn’t directed a film since 1982, Jack Hill is still widely regarded as one of the greatest cult film directors of all time. Having directed such classics as Spider Baby (1967), Foxy Brown (1974), Switchblade Sisters (1975), and many others, Hill’s resume is one banger after another. It was his 1966 film Mondo Keyhole, which he co-directed with John Lamb, that remains quite an oddity to this very day.
Originally released on VHS by Something Weird Video, VCI Entertainment has finally issued it on Blu-ray as part of its Psycho-Tronica Collection. They couldn’t have found a better home for the (somewhat) forgotten picture.
Howard Thorne (Nick Moriarty) moves through Los Angeles unnoticed. He blends in, keeps a job, and goes to parties. But behind the routine is a man driven by violent impulse. He follows women and assaults them, sometimes unsure if what he remembers actually happened. His world is split between reality and brutal fantasy. At home, his wife Vicki (Adele Rein) numbs herself with heroin and clings to the hope he’ll look at her the way he used to. One night, they both attend a costume party. She uncovers the truth. One of his victims is there, waiting. What follows is punishment in their personal versions of hell.
Mondo Keyhole walks a very fine line between sexploitation and art. There’s no denying that it is what it is, but it’s also an interesting portrait of a man becoming unhinged. There are these dream-like sequences that begin to blend with reality, creating some fascinating moments. It’s effectively stylish when it shouldn’t be, and the audience will undoubtedly start to question what’s real and what’s not.
The acting is exactly what you’d expect from something like this, but it certainly works. The film runs just over an hour, with the pacing moving along quickly, growing more unhinged with each passing minute. The filmmakers knew it to be salacious in content, yet managed to present it in an artful manner.
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The disc from VCI contains some bonus content like a newly recorded audio commentary by film historian, podcaster, and artist Rob Kelly, an archival commentary from Jack Hill and Elijah Drenner, a Psycho-Tronica poster and photo gallery, and a two-sided cover wrap. The 2K restoration looks quite good, preserving how it was meant to look with a bit of clean-up where needed. There are reportedly other versions of it out there, but for one reason or another, they were unable to include any of those elements.
As it stands, Mondo Keyhole is an artistic, cult oddity, with a distinct vision that’s likely to continue to grow its audience for many years to come.
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