A Nightmare That’s Difficult to Dismiss

MOVIE REVIEW
Mondo Keyhole: The Psychotronica Collection #2
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Genre: Sexploitation, Psychological Horror
Year Released: 1966, MVD Blu-ray 2025
Runtime: 1h 10m
Director(s): Jack Hill, John Lamb
Writer(s): Jack Hill
Cast: Nick Moriarty, Adele Rein, Carol Baughman, Pluto Felix, Penelope Faith, Cathy Crowfoot
Where to Watch: available July 29, 2025, pre-order your copy here: www.vcientertainment.com, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: MONDO KEYHOLE: THE PSYCHOTRONICA COLLECTION #2 is a contradiction in motion—a grimy relic of 60s underground cinema that manages to be both brutally exploitative and strangely artistic. Part of VCI’s ongoing restoration series (although this is #2 in the series, it looks like #1, 3, and 4 will be coming in September), this 2K scan breathes new life into one of the earliest—and most uncomfortable—entries in the “roughie” genre. And while it’s not for everyone, it’s a revealing time capsule of America’s sleaziest cinematic corners.

Originally directed in 1966 by Jack Hill (credited alongside John Lamb), MONDO KEYHOLE is not a “mondo” documentary (a subgenre of exploitative documentary films) nor a traditional narrative. Instead, it’s a Freudian descent into the mind of Howard Thorne (Nick Moriarty), a serial predator who walks the streets of Los Angeles with a warped sense of reality. He stalks, attacks, and assaults women—sometimes in dreams, in real life—and the film intentionally blurs that line. We’re trapped in Howard’s head, forced to hear his internal monologue and suffer through his delusions of dominance and power.

The story is brutal, yes—but it’s also constructed with an unsettling amount of thought. Rather than sensationalizing violence for stimulation, Hill attempts to present a distorted psychological portrait of a broken man in a broken system. It’s hard to say how successful the film is at walking that tightrope, but there’s no denying its ambitions go beyond skin-deep smut.

The film opens with disjointed, dreamy visuals: screaming victims, voyeuristic camera work, and psychedelic transitions. As Howard ignores his heroin-addicted wife Vicki (played by Adele Rein), we get glimpses into the adult film and fetish publishing industries of the 60s—making MONDO KEYHOLE one of the earliest films to peek behind the curtain of American underground porn. These sequences are almost documentary-like, with real locations, real printing presses, and what appear to be real working artists on screen.

But that pseudo-realism is only part of the draw. What sets the film apart is its deeply surreal style. Howard’s dream sequences are laced with symbolic imagery, including BDSM parties, vampire figures, and twisted costume balls. The voiceover (partially supplied by cult favorite Luana Anders) is deliberately unsettling. At times, it feels like Bergman dropped acid and wandered into a grindhouse theater.

The script’s central conceit—that Howard may not know what’s real and what’s fantasy—adds a layer of psychological tension that gives the film more dimension than you would expect. It’s a movie as much about denial and ego as it is about sex and violence. We’re not watching a film that glorifies its subject—we’re watching one that exposes him.

Nick Moriarty—credited under a pseudonym and a real-life figure from the adult mail-order world—gives a disturbingly blank performance. It’s effective because it doesn’t feel like acting. He’s a man with no charisma, no charm, just compulsion. That lack of emotional range turns Howard into an avatar of obsession, and it’s horrifying in its ordinariness. Adele Rein (as Vicki) fares better emotionally, especially as her arc veers into drug use, self-harm, and revenge—culminating in a bizarre, empowering, and genuinely surreal finale at a psychedelic costume party.

This new restoration brings clarity to what was previously murky VHS bootlegs and soft-focus DVD prints. The 2K upgrade showcases the stark black-and-white cinematography with greater nuance, particularly in the film’s final act, where dream and reality fully merge. The release also includes two commentary tracks—one archival from Jack Hill, and a new one from Rob Kelly, a film historian who contextualizes the film’s place in exploitation history with insight and care.

Of course, this all comes with a massive caveat: MONDO KEYHOLE is not a comfortable film. Its depiction of sexual violence, misogyny, and drug abuse is constant. Some moments remain hard to defend, even with historical context. This isn’t just a rough watch—it’s one that actively invites discomfort. Some sequences may leave you wondering whether the filmmakers are in control or if the film is being swallowed by its subject.

And maybe that’s the point. The movie is meant to be ugly. It’s a descent into a mindset most people would rather not acknowledge. That it exists in a slick, double-disc boutique release in 2025 is a reminder that preservation doesn’t equal approval—it’s about grappling with cinema’s past, warts and all.

Fans of exploitation cinema will find this release essential. However, general audiences—or those unfamiliar with 60s grindhouse—should approach it cautiously. MONDO KEYHOLE isn’t trying to win you over. It’s trying to disturb, disorient, and leave you questioning where the real horror lies: in what’s on screen, or in the mind behind the lens.

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[photo courtesy of VCI ENTERTAINMENT, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

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