A visceral Eye candy of insanity that is the Guinea Pig films.
A retro review and psychological pinpoint index
understanding of this vile series.
If you go into this movie series. I say start with part one,
watch part two and then watch part four. The others 3, 5, 6 and 7 are those
that really are skippable, but if you must watch them go in this order. 1, 2
and then 4 for these three are the most disturbing, the most graphic, and the
most memorable ones.
All the others are slapstick horror our b-movie comedy. They
are not believable and the reality of horror is turned into a corny setup. They
have more of a twisted dark humor, giggles, silly corny goofy B-movie stupidest
moments, but part one, two and four are brilliant pieces of sadistic cinema.
What stands as being too much? What stands as being too
extreme? What stands as being too disturbing or too natural looking to grab the
viewer, to want to call the cops, to want to turn away, to want to vomit in
disgust?
Look no further than the 1980 series known as the Guinea Pig
films.
Here we go again as you know in my other countless reviews
of certain films that truly stick with you that truly rapes your mind, that
truly sends you into a spiral trip of pure insanity and down into the pits of
darkness. This visceral eye candy of violence pain and suffering is a true trip
of horror beauty.
The Guinea Pig films consist of seven controversial Japanese
gore-slasher horror films from the 1980-90s. To start with what made the
pictures so famous is the director and those involved had to prove that no one
actually was murdered in the 2nd film. They had to prove it was not a real
snuff film.
Actor Charlie Sheen was given Flower of Flesh and Blood
which is part 2 by Chris Gore (founder of Film Threat) in 1991 and after seeing
Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Sheen contacted the FBI stating that he thought
this person was actually murdered on the film.
Something else that made the series famous and controversy
is Tsutomu Miyazaki who was known as The Otaku Murderer or The Little Girl
Murderer; he was a Japanese serial killer. When his home was raided they found
the fourth film of the Guinea Pig films Mermaid in a Manhole among many others.
Between the years 1988 and 1989, Miyazaki mutilated and
killed and tortured four innocent small girls ranging in age from four and
seven, which he also raped their bodies after death. He would drink their blood
and even consume their flesh. Now the Urban Legend is that he Re-enacted one of
the mutilations and murders that took place in the films. This so called
reality would bring great attention to the series and would cause a lot of
controversy leading to the close of production to the film series and also
producing the films on VHS or DVD.
He would taunt and tease the families. Sending those letters
about how he tortured them. Mari Konno his first victim, he chopped off her
hands and feet and kept them. Burned up her body, ground the bones into powder
and mailed it to her family with her teeth.
On July 23, 1989, Miyazaki tried to place a zoom lens into
the vagina of a school girl. After running he was arrested. In his house
besides finding pictures and tapes of his victims and torture and also body
parts they built there case around the 5,763 violent horror films stating this
was the basis of his criminal nature. The focal point of the films was The
Guinea Pig film series.
He was ultimately put to death for his crimes on June 17th
2008. This was one more tale that stills stains this violent and twisted series
of films.
Now let's pinpoint the series and discuss the horrors and
reality of the films.
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The Devils Experiment (1985)
Plot: A group of guys capture a young girl with the intent
of hurting her. They torture her in many ways.
My review and Thoughts:
The first in the series of the films is nothing more than
watching a girl get tortured. There is no plot, all it is, is an experiment of
three guys smacking, kicking and torturing the girl continuously.
Many methods are used such as hitting, kicking, using a
claw, unconscious, sound, skin, burning, worms, guts, and needle but the most
is the humiliation of the girl.
It's done in a believable way and is a sadistic approach to
torture. As I look at this all I can think of is something a medieval doctor or
old school psychologist would do to see and study reactions.
You can clearly see why people at the time thought this was
a genuine, even though nowadays we know it's fake, I can imagine the uproar and
reaction that this caused.
What's interesting about this one even though it is part
one, this is not my favorite because looking at it from a reality point of view
even though at the time I could see why people believed it, but as I watched
this I can see the flaws in it such as some of the pain the girl was going
through should have caused a greater reaction, such as uncontrollable
screaming, greater crying. There is a lack of that reality.
The worst torture that felt real, that made me cringe was
the burning of the hot water. It truly is a graphic moment, one that seemed
real to the point it made you question.
Now truly the grossest gut churning moment was with the
maggots, old-school all the way, Fulci maggot infestation reality.
This one is clearly not for everyone, hell the whole series
is not for everyone and truly is one of those series that you could watch once
and that would be enough. This one is what it is, it has its moments that are
truly disturbing.
Not since the classic razor blade through the eye in 1929's
Un Chien Andalou or Fulci's famous splinter in the eye in his masterpiece
Zombie has there stood out an eye torture that was believed and truly looked
real and by far graphic, brilliant, we'll this one has one hell of a needle in
the eye. Truly something that looked real, very interesting. A moment that
truly stands out in part 1.
Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)
Starring: Hiroshi Tamura, Kirara Yûgao
Plot: A woman walking home late at night is attacked by an
unknown assailant who knocks her out with chloroform. Takes her home and
experiments.
My Review and Thoughts:
This one was directed by an amazing Horror Manga artist
which his comics include Hell Baby, Hino Horrors, and Panorama of Hell. He
wrote this installment and also directed it and also would write and direct
Mermaid in a Manhole. Both of these installments where based on his comic work.
This one is the most controversy of all of the series. The
one that caused sparks and an uproar in the early 90s when it was thought to be
real. When the director and producers and actors had to prove that it was all
make up and not a real snuff film.
This one stands alone to me in all of the series and basically
is the one to choose to watch or even if you miss all the others (except part
4) this is the one to see. This is the one when I think of the Guinea Pig
Series, I think of this one.
This is the one I consider to be a piece of disturbing
carnage. This is a piece of memorable torture. This is something that sends the
viewer into a spiral ordeal of questions. You question just what you are
watching, is it real. The beauty of this film is it makes you think it's real.
The director would have to go and do a documentary on
showcasing just how they did the special-effects to ease everyone's mind that
it was not real.
Just like the first there is no real plot. What it is, is
one person dressed as a samurai slowly torturing and mutilating a woman. As in
the first one it was three guys torturing the girl.
Needless to say on a side note that the girl would've been
long dead from the lack of blood pouring out of her cuts, but it's a horror
movie they get away with these things.
Some truly amazing special-effects, believable, very
realistic, goes back to the wonderful old-school reality of the Godfather of
Gore Lucio Fulci films where it looked real, when your eyes widened and your
breath was taken away from the very nature of the images. That's the old-school
style of Italian horror Fulci, old school Argento, Bava and the horror of
Cannibal Holocaust and the old-school beauties of yesteryear.
---
He Never Dies (1986)
Starring: Shinsuke Araki, Ivu, Masahiro Satô, Rie Shibata
Plot: A man is depressed with his life. He decides to try
and kill himself when he makes the discovery he feels no pain and he can't die.
My Review and Thoughts:
This is another attempt at adding a goofy silly hilarious
reality to the film series. I say skip this one and go 1, 2, 4-3, 5, 6, 7, 1
and 2 and 4 are extremely gory and sadistic and disturbing all the other ones
are just plain silly and make no sense.
This is like watching a comedy skit on TV just adding blood.
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Mermaid in a Manhole (1988)
Mermaid in a Manhole (1988)
Starring: Shigeru Saiki, Mari Somei
Plot: An artist finds and rescues a mermaid in a sewer. He
noticed she is infected with a severe pus ridden infection. He takes her home
and try's to help her.
My Review and Thoughts:
This is the fourth installment and my favorite of the whole
series. This one adds a story to the film series. It adds more of a darker
nature or the sadistically erotic reality. A grieving man, an artist, a
cartoonist, after his wife dies, decides for inspiration to go down a manhole. There
he finds to his amazement, a mermaid that he once saw as a child when the
sewers had been a flowing river. Soon he realizes she has a disturbing
infection on her stomach so he decides to take her home and help.
When you read that description you kind of think the story
is silly and weird and it is from a fantastical fantasy point of view. But the
story adds an odd weird reality where it grabs the viewer as you witness this
interesting relationship between this infected female, half naked mermaid and this
artist.
The Infection seems to grow and it's very painful to the
mermaid as it starts to cause her suffering and it also squirts blood.
Based on a manga by Hideshi Hino and directed by the manga
artist himself this one is laced with mythology and legend and mixing the
reality of a horror movie.
The infection grows with huge boils filled with pus. The
artist cuts the boils and in the process the pus flows where he uses the pus to
draw her portrait.
I feel that there is an underlining story to the subject. A
mermaid which is beautiful, filled with a child's imagination gets infected by
man's garbage and destruction to the water. She gets infected with man's
garbage and therefore, from that garbage something beautiful is destroyed.
He decides not to paint her beautiful, he decides to paint
her as what man has done to her, infected her, destroyed, altered her beauty
and killed the imagination; because that's what man does best.
The makeup is great, it's very disgusting, the boils pus and
worms. The degrading of the body, the decay and infection makes you cringe a
little.
The infection is truly disgusting it makes you want to gag
at times the stuff that comes out of her. Priceless make up, classic gore.
This is my favorite of the entire series. Part two is my
all-time favorite dealing with the reality based making you feel like it’s
real. This one is just nasty and has a story behind it that gives it a more
meaningful film and not just all blood and guts, but this one like I say is
very disgusting and nasty at times because of the pus and gore in the
infection.
Loved the makeup in this and it made the viewer cringe and
almost gag a little. Truly a magical horror film of a disturbing nature.
I feel this one is a true classic, one that should be
represented on any shelf of horror films to watch, to review, to speak about,
it's one of those films that adds something to the horror world, not just the
aspect of the blood and carnage but the interesting fantastic folklore type
story of a mermaid being infected with man's destruction and one painter
falling in love or at least trying to save a childhood dream of imagination.
Does the story make sense, at first not really, but does it
need to. This plays out like the classic EC Comics of the 50's, those classic
Tales from the Crypt gory stories...
Once the truth comes out, the story behind the happenings in
the end, it makes a little sense. I highly recommend this one. I really enjoyed
Mermaid in a Manhole
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The next two are really worthless and have no business being
a part of the series just like part 3. I say avoid 3, 5, and 6. I recommend
them to gore whores just because they are nothing more than silly and
ridiculous. Just like I would say skip part 3 and also skip part 5 and 6 for
those seeking true disturbing horror.
---
Android of Notre Dame (1988)
Starring: Toshihiko Hino, Mio Takaki, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yumi
Iori
Plot: A scientist needs a "guinea pig" to perform
experiments on. A stranger approaches the scientist, offering a body for the
experiments.
My Review and Thoughts:
This fifth installment adds the movie reality again. A dwarf
scientist seeks out the experimentation trying to solve the illness of his
sister. He is supplied bodies by a mysterious man.
When he experiments on the bodies he hopes to solve the
great mystery of the illness of his sister. He goes to all extremes in
mutilation of the corpses in regards of hoping to break the illness.
When he can’t break the illness his experimentations move forward
in great extremes.
Like all the films this is filled with countless blood and
mutilation of the body. Extreme flesh torture and so on, giving it that classic
setting of the gore filled horror.
A mad scientist midget seeking out the answers of flesh.
This plays out like more of the dorky kind of film, more of a low-budget
sequel. Those so-called B-movie double bill Drive-in Grindhouse style films.
This one is dorky, corny, silly, goofy and downright stupid.
It's one of those that's forgettable. One of those that makes no sense. One
that has no real point. I felt I was watching nothing more than a cheesy film
with horrible special effects. Clearly this one does not belong in the series. Shows
you how far the series went to slowly die out to become nothing spectacular or
anything to remember.
This one has no spark in the historical reality of horror
films. This one is one of those that should be swept away and forgotten about
or just become a doorstop.
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Devil Doctor Woman (1986)
Starring: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Kobuhei Hayashiya, Masami
Hisamoto, Nezumi Imamura
Plot: A drag queen doctor named Peter conducts experiments
on patients which end up in anguish!
My Review and Thoughts:
This is another silly stupid sequel to the series, nothing
major, very comical at times. The sad thing about the series is the later the
sequels, the more corny they get, the more outrageous. It's like they abandon
the idea of disturbing people with the violence and wanted to make people laugh
instead.
This was produced as the fourth installment but was released
as the sixth installment. I can see why they waited because they tried to
change the tone of the films from graphic and disturbing and violent too silly
slapstick violent comedy which totally destroyed the idea of the series and
this one is the worst out of all, not in a good way, but a piece of forgettable
garbage, totally generic, totally stupid, totally outrageous and worthless in
my book.
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Guinea Pig 7: Slaughter Special
Plot: A compilation of scenes from Guinea Pig Films.
My Review and Thoughts:
All this was, was a way to cash in on the series. All it
does is showcase all the violent moments from all the other films, worthless in
all reality, just a completion of scenes, skip it, not even worth your time.
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Now I think to enjoy this series one has to be truly morbid
or disturbed themselves. They are what they are, their golden style of cinema.
A truly classic reality where the gore was the main subject matter. Those
old-school 70s and 80s Italian type films. This twisted nature that is this
film series in an old school reality of nothing but gore, torture and pain.
This type of Cinema would not pass this day and age but for
all those who are in the torture porn movement, and the violent bloodshed this
is where it technically all began. Yes there were films before this that
showcased great gore or great disturbing content but none with just the point
of torture. Part one and part two of this series is basically just that,
nothing more, no plot other than to torture.
All these films consist of or at least parts 1, 2 and 4 an
interesting eye-opening and breathtaking reality to them. When they started
getting into the later sequels and part 3 they started adding comedy and
slapstick humor. Parts 1, 2 showcased nothing but torturing someone with no
plot other than that and that's what the whole 45 minute films were.
Part 4 showcased an interesting story of a man with a
fantastical creature with his psychological brain and makeup could not
understand what reality was, what it was before him, what exactly was he doing?
Parts 1, 2, and 4 make this series shine and truly is a
memorable and historical moment in the horror genera of cinema. Part 4 is by
far the greatest with a plot, a story, great acting and an overall gory makeup
that stands out as being some of the greatest.
I highly recommend three of these films out of the series as
being something to view for those who love extreme. Those who love gore. Those
who love torture porn. This is not for everyone. I do not recommend it to
anyone that does not like extreme horror for these are extreme. These are not
the Jason's, not the Freddy's, not the Michael Myers, these are extreme violent
disturbing and twisted films.
If you want to skip part one and two that's okay, but make
sure you pick up part four, Mermaid in a Manhole is a classic horror film that
should be spoken about, remembered and should be placed on any shelf of the
greatest horror films in all of history.