Guinea Pig: Ginî piggu - Akuma no jikken

I thought I had seen it all, CANNIBAL HOLOCOUST, SALO, MEN BEHIEND THE SUN. Then I foolishly watched this. Why anyone could possably find this entertaining is beyond me. a girl is torchered and killed, end of story. you can clearly make a case for most of the special fx. except the one where she is killed, a large pointed ojbect is stuck trough the girls head and comes out through her eye. If anyone knows how this was done PLEASE let me know, by e-mailing me and put my mind at rest. it has disturbd me since I watched it. I am praying I have not realy watched a snuff movie.

Yours Faithfully DISTURBED.

SNUFF, you say?! Well, we'd all like to think that these "films" are merely Urban Legends, but who's really to say for sure whether or not they actually exist in our world. And for purchase no less. Enter GUINEA PIG: THE DEVIL'S EXPERIMENT. This "movie", straight from Land of the Rising Sun, is a real eye-opener and gut-buster for sure. Plot, simple... kidnap a young Japanese girl, beat her, burn her, and mutilate the poor thing for over an hour. Now, before you start to call the authorities, let just say that the Special Edition of this film has a "Making Of" feature and we'll leave it at that. But this thing, most definitely, is for jaded HARDCORE viewers only. It weighs really heavy on you and with the small nuances of the film, like the fact that there's no opening or ending credits and that the "actors" in the film have their eyes blacked out with bars for the sake of authenticity, really lends a hand to the entire experience of this shocker for sure. After finishing this frightfully offensive movie, I remember thinking to myself... "What the HELL have I just seen here? I think I just saw something that I shouldn't!" Now I just know that sock full of nuts and bolts sure looked real when they smacked her across the face with it. Not to mention, the gutteral scream that she bellowed out when that scalding hot water hit her elbow with that fleshy exposed wound. Ehmmm... makes my knees go weak just thinking about it. Be careful. I'm warning you, BE CAREFUL with this one! I swear it! I've tried to warn you! DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!!!

Before slipping this film into my DVD player, I must admit I had a few reservations. Having heard about the "Guinea Pig" movies many years ago, I had been warned that they were "strong stuff" and best viewed on fast-forward due to the over-the-top graphic violence (or pornographic gore, as I believe Chas Balun referred to it in one of his articles). As my finger paused on the "Play" button, I had to wonder, "Would the films be just too much to view or another case of over-hyped horror product?" The first "Guinea Pig" production was "Devil's Experiment" (1985), otherwise known as "Unabridged Agony". This 1986 straight-to-video release in Japan is a deliberately low budget production, resembling a snuff movie with just a touch of Japanese artistic content to make the viewing experience more bearable. Interestingly, the original Japanese video release had no credits and so bore more resemblance to an under the counter, real snuff flick! My own feelings are that this original version, presented on a VHS tape, would have really appeared seedier and more, ahem, authentic.

The "plot" as such is that a gang of men systematically abuse and torture a young woman, climaxing in her final demise. Their various methods of pain affliction involve the use of white noise, constant rotation, forced to drink alcohol, being burnt, cut, etc. One of the most bizarre moments of the ordeal is when the unconscious victim is being pelted with animal guts. Although it could be argued that there isn't really a storyline as such, the film does succeed in a slightly sordid, voyeuristic and uncomfortable manner in making the viewer an unwilling viewer of the unfolding events.

The film definitely isn't easy going but the episodic nature of the production allows you to draw breath before being plunged into the next atrocity. In terms of raw energy, this production does pack a punch.

Guinea Pig 1 – Devil's Experiment is one of those films I have wanted to see ever since I saw a trailer for it, and the first sequel in the early 90's. It was impossible to get back then because customs would stop any video on their banned list from entering the country, and I didn't feel like going to Japan just to see it either.

The piece is not a movie in the conventional sense though it belongs firmly in the horror genre. What you have is a horror film stripped to the bare essentials of what makes a good horror movie: atmosphere, violence, and gore. Devil's Experiment is more like a piece of funereal art than a movie. It is something you would run day and night on a large flat-screen monitor and put up on the wall next to your Hieronimus Bosche prints.

It is quite a short movie, but it belongs up there with other classics of the period like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cannibal Ferox, etc. This film however is art because the makers were making a point about extremity. These days, mainstream movies are far more extreme in terms of violence and special effects, but mainstream movies use context to justify what is on the screen. Take away plot, narrative, and meaning though and you would have a hard time justifying the rest of it. Charlie Sheen waged a personal campaign to have the Guinea Pig movies banned in the USA in the early 90's, which just made them more popular. I only mention it because I don't remember seeing Charlie Sheen in any movie of merit. While his films will be forgotten over time the Guinea Pig movies will live on – possibly being included on the curriculum at film makers school along with Metropolis, Citizen Kane and the like.

Devil's Experiment is a `have-to-see' movie for lovers of movies (not just horror movie fans either) and art. Time has taken its toll on the impact of the movie, so you must view it with a mind of when it was made. Indeed it could probably be shown on free to air TV channels in forward-thinking areas such as Europe, UK, and Japan (the UK showed an artist eating the flesh of a real dead baby at the beginning of the year on free to air TV).

It is an interesting movie, the special effects are well-done considering the miniscule budget on which it was made. Don't believe the hype about it either. It is not the most sick or horrific movie you will ever see. Chances are, if you are reading this review then you have seen a more horrific movie already.

8 out of 10, and I am now after the sequels.

Ah, the infamous "Guinea Pig" series...I honestly have to say that I've been disappointed as a whole by this entire series ("He Never Dies","Mermaid in a Manhole", and "Flower of Flesh and Blood" being the exceptions...and even those aren't great by any means...), but "Devil's Experiment" just plain blows. There is nothing realistic-looking going on here, other than the climactic (or perhaps anti-climactic, depending on how you view it) eyeball piercing scene. The victim appears to not really care what is going on and barely whines or whimpers while being subjected to "hideous" (more often sometimes "hilarious") tortures. "Flower of Flesh and Blood" is a more violent and gory depiction of fake "snuff" material, but that film also falls flat on the realism level. I applaud the Japanese for pushing the boundaries, and they've really come a long way over the past 2 decades to wear the crown in "extreme" film-making, but "Devil's Experiment" just doesn't hold up. Worth a look if you are a die-hard, if for no other reason than to see what the fuss is about, but I can only give this film an extremely generous 3/10 and that's only for the needle-through-the-eye scene...