Guinea Pig (film series): Difference between revisions
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The second video, '''''Za ginipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana''''' (1985) was portrayed (for theatrical effect) to be based on an actual [[snuff film]] sent to the director [[Hideshi Hino]] by a crazed fan. In it, a man dressed as a [[samurai]] (played by Hino himself) drugs a woman and proceeds to cut her apart, and finally adds her body parts to an extensive collection. The snuff film rumour has been shown to be a contemporary legend; the film was in fact based on a manga (by Hideshi Hino himself, who is better known as an author and artist of horror Manga) about a florist who kills women and uses their dismembered parts as the seed of his beautiful flower arrangements. Most of this element of the story is cut out for the making of Guinea Pig due to the low budget and need of shock value. |
The second video, '''''Za ginipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana''''' (1985) was portrayed (for theatrical effect) to be based on an actual [[snuff film]] sent to the director [[Hideshi Hino]] by a crazed fan. In it, a man dressed as a [[samurai]] (played by Hino himself) drugs a woman and proceeds to cut her apart, and finally adds her body parts to an extensive collection. The snuff film rumour has been shown to be a contemporary legend; the film was in fact based on a manga (by Hideshi Hino himself, who is better known as an author and artist of horror Manga) about a florist who kills women and uses their dismembered parts as the seed of his beautiful flower arrangements. Most of this element of the story is cut out for the making of Guinea Pig due to the low budget and need of shock value. |
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After viewing a portion of this film, actor [[Charlie Sheen]] was convinced the murder depicted was genuine<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwRZuHRhLaA&feature=related Do snuff movies exist ? - documentary, part 2]</ref> and contacted the [[MPAA]], who then contacted the [[FBI]]. FBI agent |
After viewing a portion of this film, actor [[Charlie Sheen]] was convinced the murder depicted was genuine<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwRZuHRhLaA&feature=related Do snuff movies exist ? - documentary, part 2]</ref> and contacted the [[MPAA]], who then contacted the [[FBI]]. FBI agent Dan Codling informed them that the FBI and the Japanese authorities were already investigating the film makers, who were repeatedly interviewed by the Japanese police and eventually summoned to court to prove that the special effects were indeed fake.<Ref name=snopes/><Ref> |
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{{cite web |
{{cite web |
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| url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000221/bio |
| url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000221/bio |
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Revision as of 08:32, 14 October 2010
The Guinea Pig films (ギニーピッグ, Ginī Piggu) are a series of seven controversial 1980s Japanese exploitation gore-horror films. The series achieved global notoriety mostly for the first two films, which were mondo-inspired fake documentaries painstakingly shot and edited to resemble snuff films.
The tapes gained notoriety in Japan during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the fourth film of the series ("Mermaid in a Manhole") was found showcased in the 5,763 videotape collection of Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki. It was erroneously reported originally as being the second film of the series. It was widely but mistakenly believed that Miyazaki re-enacted the snuff scene from the second film as a part of his crimes. Because of the initial controversy surrounding the series, the series went out of production in Japan and is a collector's item which commands a high premium. However, the entire series has since been reissued on DVD in the United States, the Netherlands and in Austria and can be imported to Japan.
The films received additional media attention in the U.S. when in 1991 the actor Charlie Sheen mistook the second film of the series, Flower of Flesh and Blood for a genuine snuff film and contacted the FBI to report it.[1]
The Devil's Experiment
"Akumano Jikken" aka "Unabridged Agony" (1985) The first film revolves around a group of men who kidnap and graphically torture a young woman as part of an experiment on the human body's threshold of pain.
Flower of Flesh and Blood
The second video, Za ginipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana (1985) was portrayed (for theatrical effect) to be based on an actual snuff film sent to the director Hideshi Hino by a crazed fan. In it, a man dressed as a samurai (played by Hino himself) drugs a woman and proceeds to cut her apart, and finally adds her body parts to an extensive collection. The snuff film rumour has been shown to be a contemporary legend; the film was in fact based on a manga (by Hideshi Hino himself, who is better known as an author and artist of horror Manga) about a florist who kills women and uses their dismembered parts as the seed of his beautiful flower arrangements. Most of this element of the story is cut out for the making of Guinea Pig due to the low budget and need of shock value.
After viewing a portion of this film, actor Charlie Sheen was convinced the murder depicted was genuine[2] and contacted the MPAA, who then contacted the FBI. FBI agent Dan Codling informed them that the FBI and the Japanese authorities were already investigating the film makers, who were repeatedly interviewed by the Japanese police and eventually summoned to court to prove that the special effects were indeed fake.[1][3] [4]
The special effects of the movie were explained in the 1986 documentary "Making of Guinea Pig".
He Never Dies
The third film, Za ginipiggu 3: Senritsu! Shinanai otoko (1986) (lit. "Shudder! The Man Who Doesn't Die"), revolves around a bizarre scene in which a man cuts himself and is surprised when he suddenly can't feel any pain. Curious, he cuts more and more and finds out that he cannot die, and invites a co-worker to his home (asking that he brings back sharp gardening utensils) to terrify him. The movie is more mocking than the earlier two, and involves an elaborate revenge against the girl who drove the main character to attempting suicide.
Mermaid in a Manhole
Based on a manga by Hideshi Hino and directed by the mangaka himself, the next installment of the Guineapig series, Za ginipiggu 4: Manhoru no naka no ningyo (1988), is about an artist who is trying to cope with the recent death of his wife. One day while being in the sewers beneath the streets of Okinawa, he comes across a mermaid that he had met before when he was a kid, when the sewers used to be a big river. He sits down to paint her, but soon she starts crying in agony. That is when the painter notices that she has boils growing all over her body. She has been stuck in the sewers for a long time and she must have been infected by the environment down there. The artist takes her back to his house, and after a brief period of time, the mermaid develops lacerations and begins to bleed. The artist uses the blood and pus from the wounds to paint her portrait, but as he paints, her condition worsens and she dies.
Android of Notre Dame
Za ginipiggu 5: Notorudamu no andoroido (1988) is about a scientist who tries to find a cure for his sister's grave illness. The scientist needs a "guinea pig" to perform experiments on. A stranger approaches the scientist with an offer of a body for the experiments. The scientist accepts and the stranger supplies the body for a price. The experiments do not go well and the scientist becomes enraged, hacking the body to pieces. The stranger approaches the scientist once again and supplies another body so the experiments can continue.
American guitarist Buckethead's album Kaleidoscalp contains a song titled "Android of Notre Dame".
Devil Doctor Woman
Za ginipiggu 6: Peter no akuma no joi-san (1990) is the story about a female doctor who is a transvestite, played by real-life Japanese transvestite Shinnosuke Ikehata. The film takes the form of several 'sketches' in which she treats her patients (often mutilating or killing them in the process). This episode shifted the tone of the series from graphic horror to extremely violent slapstick comedy.
Slaughter Special
Za ginipiggu 7: Zansatsu supeshyaru (1991) is the seventh and final movie from the series. It works primarily as a "best of" special, showcasing the most gruesome moments from the first several films.
DVD release
In 2002, the now defunct German company Devil Pictures released a region-free, limited-edition box set which collected the six feature films, the Making of Guinea Pig documentary, as well the previously unreleased Making Of Devil Woman Doctor. Each set was individually numbered (between 1 and 3000) and also contained a t-shirt and a poster depicting the box art from Devil's Experiment. In spite of its name, Guinea Pig - The Complete Series, the set did not include Slaughter Special.
In 2005, the US company Unearthed Films released the first truly complete box set, collecting all six features, the two Making Of documentaries, as well as Slaughter Special. The set also had many extra features, among them the manga on which Mermaid In A Manhole is based. Unearthed Films has also released the movies as double features, and included reversible cover art featuring the original Japanese covers.
References
- ^ a b "A Pinch of Snuff". snopes.com. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
- ^ Do snuff movies exist ? - documentary, part 2
- ^ "Biography for Charlie Sheen". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
- ^ "History page". guineapigfilms.com. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
External links
- J-Horror: An Alternate Guide — guide to J-Horror for Japanzine by Zack Davisson