Mondo Macabro Back-Catalog Spotlight Vol. 1: VIRGINS FROM HELL!!

Welcome to the first in a new monthly series spotlighting Mondo Macabro's back catalog treasures. For our inaugural entry, Cinema Sewer's Robin Bougie reminisces about his initial impressions of the Indonesian exploitation classic VIRGINS FROM HELL!

Virgins From Hell busted my Indonesian action cherry.

“Tortured, abused, sold into slavery, they sought revenge at any cost” was the tagline used on the back of the Mondo Macabro dvd release of “Virgins From Hell” in order to whip up viewer anticipation, and it was enough to get me to plunk down twenty-something dollars in a random blind-buy frenzy. Most film-fans know that often those of knee-jerk purchases can end in frustration, but Ackyl Anwari’s 1987 movie somehow, impossibly, lives up to the hype as it boldly tosses everything in the sink and stirs it up with a machine gun. This unapologetic trash is part women-in-prison movie, part moody girl-biker Pinky-violence, and part stunted-packed exploitation revenge film. Cover all that in bright, tacky, tight-fitting 1980s outfits and headbands, and we’re talking about optimal beer n’ pizza party entertainment, here.

Thanks to the unearthing of this brainless ode to violent fun, I was introduced to a genre of Indonesian cinema that has since become one of my favourites. I happily leapfrogged from Virgins From Hell into the movies of Arizal (The Stabiliser, Final Score, Lethal Hunter, Special Silencers), Jopi Burnama (Rambu: The Intruder), Ratno Timoer (The Devil's Sword, The Blind Warrior) and of course, the unforgettable Lady Terminator.

My friends, it is a movie like this that can change your whole set of viewing habits, and for that I owe the folks at Mondo Macabro a debt of gratitude.

Robin Bougie is a cartoonist, journalist and longtime trash movie fanatic. His legendary self-published 'zine CINEMA SEWER recently published its 25th issue and has been collected into (so far) three essential books by FAB Press. He has also written extensively on the porn industry for the likes of Screw Magazine and culturalgutter.com. He currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.



For the next month only, VIRGINS FROM HELL is on sale for only half its SRP from TLA Video! That's a steal! If you don't already have this'n, then what in the heck are you waitin' for?!?