After an introductory sequence during which chickens are beheaded on a chopping block, the main action begins. Platinum blond bombshell Mary Vivian Pearce begins her day by riding the bus and reading Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon. Bombshell is later seduced by a hippie degenerate "shrimper", who starts molesting her feet while she fantasizes about being Cinderella. She is then hit by a car driven by Divine, a portly blonde who was trying to pick up an attractive hitchhiker whom she imagines naked. Divine places her in the car and drives distractedly around Baltimore experiencing bizarre situations, such as repeated visits by the Blessed Virgin Mary —during which Divine exclaims, "Oh Mary... teach me to be Divine". Divine finally takes the unconscious Bombshell to Dr. Coathanger, who amputates her feet and replaces them with bird-like monster feet which she can tap together to transport herself around Baltimore.
Cast
Mary Vivian Pearce as The Bombshell / Cinderella
Divine as Divine / Greaser in Alley
David Lochary as Asylum Inmate / Dr. Coathanger / Voice of Snob #2
Depending on versions of the story; either Waters or the whole crew was either arrested or nearly arrested during production for illegally shooting a scene involving a nude hitchhiker on the campus of Johns Hopkins University.
Title
The film's title refers to a series of semi-related quasi-documentary films that were popular during the 1960s: Mondo Cane, Mondo Freudo, Mondo Bizarro, etc. The title also pays tribute to Mondo Topless, a film by one of Waters' favorite directors, Russ Meyer.
Music
Waters, in a 2008 interview, stated that the songs used in the film were taken right out of his own record collection. Waters says he did not pay the proper licensing fees to use these songs because he could not afford to. It is because of this, Waters says, that Mondo Trasho remains out of distribution, as the still-unsecured music rights would be too prohibitively expensive to clear.
Reception
Mondo Trasho currently holds a 50% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Background
Waters himself has stated that he does not care for this movie. In an interview with British Film Institute Waters said it should have been a short film instead of a feature but was a feature-length due to being influenced by films such as Andy Warhol's experimental filmSleep.
Home Media
The film was only produced in 1984 on a 95 min rated R VHS, hi-fi mono sound inblack and white by Cinema Group Home Video. In an interview with the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA on tour for his book release of Mr Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder, John stated that Mondo Trasho would never get released again due to copyright issues with the music and that it would cost $1 million dollars just to secure rights for the music.
