Cochon D'Inde

When I first heard of the Japanese film series known as the Guinea Pig films, I was more than a little intrigued. A certain movie streaming network, which shall remain unnamed lest the powers that be take out their vengeful wrath upon their less than legal exploits, categorised the films as “horror shorts”. Naturally, my mind, being what it is, instantly envisaged a series of comic horror films about guinea pigs. Alas, upon further research, I was proved far from correct in my assumptions.

The Guinea Pig films are not, in reality, some cute creature features, but actually a series of extreme gore flicks harking from the perverse mind of Manga writer Hideshi Hino. The first two are so realistic in their depictions of violence, that there were, for a long time, thought to be actual snuff films, taking a very long and arduous court case to prove otherwise.

Last night I watched two of the films; the second and fourth in the series. And oh, what fun we had.

Gini Piggu: Manhoru no Naka no Ningyo
Mermaid in a Manhole
(Hideshi Hino, 1988)

No Stars

I often seem to be at a loss for words when it comes to Japanese films, and Mermaid in a Manhole has probably left me with the most nihilistic “what the hell have I just watched?” feeling of any film I’ve seen to date. A pretty impressive feat.

The story revolves around a painter, whose sanity is rather questionable from the outset, who discovers a dying mermaid in the sewer under his house. He takes in the mermaid and, rather than taking her to the authorities, who might just be able to help her, decides to paint her. As the film progresses, the mermaid becomes increasingly ill, breaking out in delightful pustules (which the painter drains and uses for his craft – like I said, questionable sanity here), before vomiting various creepy crawlies and eventually expiring.

There’s no art here; no deeper meaning, it’s simply an experiment in disgusting the audience, no more, no less. The acting is horrendous, and although the effects are good, and most certainly nauseating, there’s just no need for it.

Gore films do, I will admit, intrigue me. Pushing the limit of the human senses through film is a fascinating field for me, but it needs something more than meaningless puss flying everywhere. And the mermaid had nothing on Ariel.

Gini Piggu 2: Chiniku no Hana
Flower of Flesh and Blood
(Hideshi Hino, 1985)

3.5 Stars

This is the second, and perhaps most controversial of the Guinea Pig series, not only sparking a huge court case for snuff allegations after Charlie Sheen watched it, but also being associated with a copy-cat killer a few years after its release.

I must say, I can see why the court case came up. Flower of Flesh and Blood, quite honestly, has some of the most convincing special effects I’ve ever seen. When you also take into account this was made twenty five years ago on a minute budget, it really is quite a spectacular feat in film making.

There’s really not much of a narrative here; again based on one of Hino’s Manga stories, we follow a florist as he dismembers the body of a still-live young woman to use the parts in his ornate displays. It’s basically forty minutes of dismemberment and disembowelling. But dear lord is it entrancing.

Every cut, every slice, every sawn bone is so very convincing that, as a viewer, one can’t help but question just how it was done. When the young girl’s hand is removed, for example, we see every sinew, each tiny bone, and the hand, ghostlike, continues to move for a few seconds after removal. It’s bloody convincing.

How it was all done, I don’t know, and I shall most likely try to track down the “making of” film (though finding it in Japan shall be nigh on impossible, since all seven of the films have been banned over here since the aforementioned serial killer was found to have all of them in his video collection). As an exhibit of special effects, this is a masterpiece. As a film? Well, if you like that sort of thing…