Porno Nights of the World (1977) User Reviews

A dreadfully dull 'faux' mondo movie by Bruno Mattei.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 8 August 2007]

With a wink and a smile, Laura Gemser, sultry star of many an Italian exploitation flick, introduces viewers to a world of sex, strippers, sleaze and violence, as captured by prolific Italian director Bruno Mattei.

The film (hosted by Gemser in varying states of undress) reveals bizarre happenings around the world, which is presented to the audience as real-life 'mondo' footage, but which, in reality, is a series of specially orchestrated sequences designed specifically for this movie.

My version of this 70s piece of cinematic trash was uncut and unsubtitled, which meant that Gemser's prattle-track (in Italian) meant virtually nothing to me. But even without a complete understanding of proceedings, I can confidently state that this film is mind-numbingly dull, despite wall-to-wall nudity, much softcore sex, and a few brief moments of extreme bloody nastiness.

Although I can't be sure that the following descriptions are 100% accurate, here is a brief rundown of the 'best bits' in this dreadful film: a stripper performs with a man in a manky gorilla costume; another stripper performs with a couple of rather uninterested canines; a prostitute shows potential customers her wares, before inviting one 'lucky' chap into her glass-fronted booth for a freebie session; a bizarre magic show, in which an English speaking magician transforms his sexy assistant into a hermaphrodite; a shocking scene set in deepest, darkest Africa, in which an adulterous couple are punished for their sins (by genital mutilation and decapitation!); a sexy game, in which women poke their bare butts though a hole in a screen and have sex with men who might possibly be their husband; some voodoo/ Macumba shenanigans, in which chickens have their heads removed; and a woman inserting ping-pong balls up her 'holiest-of-holies'.

Whilst this all sounds like unmissable fare for fans of weird cinema, believe me when I say that staying awake during this film is a real challenge. How Bruno Mattei makes gratuitous nudity and sleaze so difficult to endure is beyond my understanding, but he does so with aplomb.

Dated, tame, occasionally amusing

[DocEmmettBrown · 12 September 2002]

Often credited as a Joe D'Amato film, this was actually mainly filmed by Bruno Mattei (this movie also appeared under the moniker 'Emmanuelle and the Porno Nights').

The premise as such concerns the ever smiling Laura Gemser guiding us through the modern world of erotic entertainment while she frequently and inexplicably changes clothes. We are treated to scenes from strip shows, fertility rituals, and even a 'Taxi Mother' who hires her daughter out as a prostitute.

Even by 70's standards this is tame stuff indeed. The 'erotic shows' are little more than nudity and when a scene does begin to get racy we cut straight back to Laura Gemser (still smiling) who will guide us into the scene.

There is some fun to be had though. -(SPOILERS)- One scene involves a girl in the window of a Holland strip joint, after stripping for the crowd she offers one lucky fella inside for something a little more intimate, he keenly obliges leaving he stunned wife standing by the window to watch.

More amusement comes from Laura Gemser's (did I mention she smiles a lot?) linking scenes. As I touched on before, she moves around her home, talking and randomly changing outfits. In her closing speech the strap of her top comes away clearly exposing a breast, 'oops' she says cheerfully, replacing the wayward strap.

The oddest scene comes in the form of an erotic magic show, in which a woman is thoroughly inspected by the crowd to make sure she's female, and is then given male genitalia by the magician.

If you're looking for erotic cinema then look elsewhere. Though a few mates and a few beers might make this little romp a pleasant experience.

As rough as it gets!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 21 May 2021]

Not to be confused with Emanuelle and the Erotic Nights - that's the safer one - this film finds Joe D'Amato and Bruno Mattei at the helm, starting things off with Laura Gemser appearing as Emanuelle with one m, saying, "It's your old friend Emanuelle again..." before taking us on a journey.

Also known as Sexy Night Report, there's a 70-minute edited version of this movie that's still pretty rough. But man, the unedited one? You need to wash your eyes with fire after watching it.

Sure, this being a mondo means most of the footage is faked. A good portion of this one is beyond fake, with scenes like a man in an ape costume "performs" with an exotic dancer and another where an Amsterdam red light girl shows off for a crowd before choosing a man from the window watchers, leaving his wife outside. Then, the movie descends into what I can only imagine Sodom and Gomorrah looked like to Lot's wife before she was turned into seasoning.

Yes, in case you wondered if you were still watching a mondo, we have chickens get their heads cut off, rituals in foreign countries, ping pong balls being launched out of a special place, a magic trick that turns someone into a hermaphrodite and, of course, a man's member being chopped off again and again, as the scene is replayed from every angle, looking faker and faker each time.

It's like Mattei - Jimmy Matheus! - and D'Amato - uncredited! - were thinking, "We've shown these raincoaters naked women for the last ninety minutes or so. Let's show them a pisello get sliced off and then someone get their head cut off to remind them that who we are."

We get it, Bruno and Joe. Or Vincent Dawn and Aristide Massaccesi. Or David Hunt and David Hills.

Marina Hedmann - speaking of extra names, she was also known as Marina Lotar, Marion Bibbo, Bellis Marina Hedman and many, many more - from Emanuelle in America, La Pretora, Play Motel and plenty of adult films (she was one of the first Italian actresses to appear in porn) appears.

If this looks way better than it should, despite being shot all in the same room even though they claim it's all over the world, that's because Enrico Biribicchi shot it. He lent his skills to plenty socially unredeeming movies, including The Return of the Exorcist, Emanuelle in America, Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Buio Omega, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead and Porno Holocaust. He was also the cinematographer for Antropophagus.

This being a Mattei movie, rest assured that plenty of recycled footage appears. There's some stuff from several Erwin C. Dietrich movies, some of Jess Franco's Mondo Erotico and even stuff from D'Amato's Eva Nera*.

Notti Porno nel Mondo is absolutely ridiculous, a movie that I would never recommend to anyone but absolute maniacs with no taste whatsoever. If you read this far, that's probably you.

*Thanks to Adrian on Letterboxd for figuring out where those scenes came from.

Notti porno nel mondo (1977)

[trashonline · 10/10 · 29 March 2007]

The undisputed king of trash, Bruno Mattei depicts various sexual perversions that take place around the world! Features a woman making love to a gorilla, strip shows, lesbo clubs, bestiality, sex through a glass, nude roller-skating, she-males, nude wrestling, sex schools, virgin sacrifices, decapitations, castrations... you get the picture! Laura Gemser narrates and gets nude of course. Shocking, outrageous, hyper-sleazy mondo in it's UNCUT Italian print! Do not worry about the lack of English options- this one is actually a montage of sleazy images without even slight storyline or plot! Not to be confused with EMANUELLE AND THE PORNO NIGHTS- the other Mattei mondo-mess starring (actually hosted by) Laura Gemser.

Sexy Night Report

[Michael_Elliott · 5 March 2010]

Sexy Night Report (1977)

** (out of 4)

Silly but entertaining Mondo movie has Laura Gemser introducing us to various strip clubs across the world where various strange acts take place. We get to see acts such as a magic trick that turns a woman into a man, a stripper a little too attached to her dog, nude roller skating, a strip act for lesbians only, an African tribe dance plus an even stranger one with an ape falling for the stripper. From what I've read, D'Amato directed the narration and introductions with Gemser while the one and only Mattei stepped in to film everything else. This is probably true as the strip scenes, which are suppose to be taking place all over the world, are often obviously being filmed on the same set. I viewed the complete, uncut Italian print, which didn't feature any subtitles but it wasn't too hard following everything that was going on and I'm fairly certain whatever dialogue that was written would have been silly anyways. The movie is pretty much what you'd expect from something like this with the sleaze level rather low but the nudity is very high. The stories are all mildly entertaining but if you want to see women naked then I guess the stories aren't too important. I found the nude skating to be rather funny and the dog sequence was pretty disturbing even though nothing ever crosses the line (good thing D'Amato didn't direct this!). Other highlights include a stripper teaching a class on sex dolls and some silly stuff dealing with the magician and his incredibly bad magic trick. Fans of Mondo movies will be the only ones even tempted to check this thing out as I'm sure most will be put off by the camp factor and the all around cheese. Gemser fans will be happy to know she takes her clothes off for several of her scenes.