Mondo Weirdo: Born of Fire (1983)

I've missed you, Mondo Macabro.  Early in the life of this Site, I watched ALOT of Mondo Macabro Releases.  From Films about naughty girls to Turkish weirdness to Satanic Couples, I got plenty of mileage out of their stuff.  As time went on, they released a bunch of Nikkatsu stuff and...I was less interested.  On top of that, I found so much more craziness and I mostly forgot about them.  After months in my Queue, I finally watched today's Film- 1983's Born of Fire.  If you don't know, Mondo Macabro has a great Trailer Reel with every Disc, teasing you with Films to watch.  If you're me, you have probably seen most of them too.  In any event, all I knew about this one was random shots and a guy breathing fire.  The Plot: a Flutist goes to Turkey to save the World.  Yeah, there's more, but...that's enough for now.  To see how weird this Film you probably never heard of is, read on...

In a mix of shots, we see a woman and some weird guy looking at the Lunar Eclipse.  It is a bit more...skull-like than usual.

A Flutist is playing a Concert, thrilling many.

That is, of course, the least normal thing in the whole Film.  Woodwinds zing!

The Astronomer from earlier is drawn to the Concert right as he has visions and leaves.

For some reason, she's allowed back in his Dressing Room and they then find out that his Mother is dying.  As luck/fate would have it, she bonds with Mom before she dies.

After they both see some freaky stuff, they go to Turkey, which is where his Dad died.  They go there and are met by this mysterious fella.

He helps our Hero have a vision via Flute playing of his Father trying to stop a Ritual by the Master Musician (the freaky dude from earlier), only to be killed by fire.

Alongside a malformed mute, they do a ritual that...accidentally turns the lady evil.

This Film is mostly random Music and shots of Nature, but kudos for this one.

She dies after the Musician makes a creature be born from a husk somewhere else- why not?!?

To put a stop to him, we get...a Flute Battle.

He wins the battle and follows the drape that the woman was wearing when he put her in a puddle and it...makes a creature pull him into the water.  After random shots of Dervishes, the Film ends so...yea?

Weird.  This must be the only Film where a Flute factors into the Plot so much.  Flute Music powers magical ceremonies.  Flute Magic can lead to the destruction of the World.  Flute Battles decide the fate of the World!  To be fair, you need Flute Magic and the rare Skull Moon.  Who hasn't been to a Skull Moon Party though?  Neil DeGrasse Tyson goes wild at those!  Kidding aside, this is a nice-looking Film.  The problem is that the Plot is very much second to the visuals.  On top of that, the nearly non-stop Flute Music is a bit repetitive and droning at times.  Born of Fire looks neat, sometimes sounds neat...but doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  It is a pretty bit of what-the-hell for all you fans of that.  It wasn't for me, but I can at least appreciate the look of things.  Speaking of which, what the hell is this thing exactly?

Next up, another terrible Vampire Film that came with The Vulture's Eye.  Naturally, it involves... Spring Break?  Stay tuned...