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Released by: Unearthed Films
Released on: August 27, 2002
FILM RATING DVD RATING
Director: Hideshi Hino, Masayuki Kuzumi
Cast: Shigeru Saiki, Go Riyuji, Mari Somei/Masahiro Sato, Keisuke Araki, Eve
Year: 1988, 1986
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The Films:
Just like their first Guinea Pig DVD release, Unearthed Films has released another double feature of the most notorious Japanese films in history!
GUINEA PIG - MERMAID IN A MANHOLE (60 minutes)
The basic plot of this story, one of the more popular entries in the Guinea Pig series of films, is this: a man we see living alone has recently lost his wife. One day he wanders into the sewer, a place he often goes to be alone and collect his thoughts. He finds a mermaid down there that has been stuck there ever since the river dried up and was turned into a sewer system. He takes her home and begins to paint her but he finds out that she is quite sick from an infection. He tries to help her heal, but the infection appears to be getting worse and it soon becomes evident that her disease is terminal. Her last request is that he paints her portrait with the 'seven colors of puss' that excrete from her body before she dies.
If the premise sounds odd, that's because it is. This movie is way out there. But while it does everything that it can to gross you out, it still retains an unusual romantic sensibility and sweetness. The mermaid and the artist truly do care about each other, and to the artist, painting her portrait using her own puss as material is really all he can do, he has no choice in the matter because it is his destiny.
But while the romance and sweetness is one of the more subtle layers to the film, the gore and make up effects are totally in your face and nothing, not one single detail, is left to your imagination. We see every stage of the mermaid's infliction, and every stage of decay that affects her body, changing her from a beautiful and unusual creature of myth into a horrifying piece of worm vomiting rot.
Sickeningly sweet has never been a more apt term than it is describing this truly unusual film. While the more infamous chapters of the Guinea Pig series set out to hurt you, and beat you over the head with brutal violence, 'Mermaid in a Manhole' repulses and intrigues at the same time, and feeds not only your appetite for onscreen weirdness, but also your brain.
GUINEA PIG - HE NEVER DIES (40 minutes)
'He Never Dies' is another entry into the series, and is widely acknowledged as the funniest one, however, compared to 'Devil's Experiment' and 'Flowers if Flesh and Blood', something like 'Schindler's List' will seem like comic relief.
With more in common stylistically with 'Evil Dead 2' or 'Dead Alive', this odd little film revolves around a Japanese salaryman who has become disillusioned with his conformist and all too common way of life. He stops showing up to work and decides to commit suicide by slitting his wrists, but when the blood stops spurting and the pain goes away mere moments after knife tears flesh, he begins to wonder if he can feel any pain at all. After experimenting on himself with various objects (knifes, pens, etc) he finds out that he cannot be killed, which comes in handy in a perverse sort of way when he finds out that his girlfriend is sleeping with another man, a co-worker of his.
When the co-worker shows up at his apartment, he decides to get his revenge on him by grossing him out in as shocking a way as possible and proceeds on an insane self-mutilation spree that climaxes when he throws his own intestines at him.
With tongue placed firmly in cheek, 'He Never Dies' treats the viewer as a silent partner in the mans unusual plan for revenge, and towards the end of the film, you almost find yourself rooting for him, just to see what he'll do to himself next.
While certainly not for everyone (none of the Guinea Pig films are), 'He Never Dies' is a genuinely funny little film with some great gore effects and interesting plot twists along the way.
Video/Audio/Extras:
While not quite as sharp as the first double feature, the video quality here is still really, really solid considering the low budget video roots of the two features. Colors look great, especially in Mermaid, and the only problem is at times some compression artifacts are visible. Overall though, fans that were used to seeing these on VHS will be very happy. Also worth noting is that the subtitles here are nice and easy to read, presented in a bright yellow as opposed to white, which can often times be hard to read. The subtitles are also removable.
The sound is solid with no real problems at all to speak of. There's never any problem hearing the dialogue and the sound effects are genuinely unsettling in both features, with every ooze and squirt coming in nice and clear.
My only real complain with the first Guinea Pig release was that it was totally barebones. Unearthed Films has listened to the fans and provided some interesting extra material on this second release. First off are some trailers for 'Mermaid In A Manhole' and 'He Never Dies' as well as for 'Devil's Experiment,' 'Android of Notre Dame' and a 'Making of' trailer. There are also some brief photo galleries for the two features presented here with some nice behind the scenes shots, and in addition, presumably because they couldn't be included on the first disc, there are still galleries for 'Devil's Experiment' and 'Android of Notre Dame' here as well. Finally, there is an exhaustive seventeen-page essay on the history of the Guinea Pig films and their notoriety, which makes for an interesting read.
This is all wrapped up with some nice animated menus and chapter selections for each feature.
The Final Word:
A solid package overall, Guinea Pig Vol. 2 is a necessity for those with a sick sense of humor and those who appreciate great gore effects.