American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon

I think my biggest issue with this movie is that it tries way too hard to be serious, but none of the acting is good enough to be taken even remotely seriously. If it had even taken a couple brief moments to make a light joke here and there, so we know not to take it so serious, it could've helped it a tad. The bad actors overacting resulted in a lot of unintentional comedy.

The fact we did not see the possessed girl before the possession, in an innocent state, also lessened the effect in my opinion. Not like I wanted this film to be any longer than it already was, but I felt like I kept getting introduced to more and more new characters that I just didn't care about or know enough about to care, when I didn't even know anything about the lead girl in the first place. That makes for a pretty big chore to sit through this one.

But I don't believe they were concerned much with character development anyway, they were much more concerned with the splatter. Which is totally fine! I love gore flicks. There are a few fine displays of effect work in this film. The finale was rather impressive in that aspect. But when there's nothing else going for it, and the film just isn't good enough to believable, I feel the impact of the gore is also lessened.

With some better actors, maybe this movie would have succeeded for me. But as is, it should've known to keep it's tongue firmly in cheek so the viewer could've had a more enjoyable time with it.

Could a film be much worse?... Ummm NO. I won't reiterate what's already been rightfully said about, the acting, stealing of scenes from other films ect. It's all true. And almost impossible to sit through. I'd give it a negative number except for the trooper performance by the actress trying to make something out of leftovers. I'm sure you'll have to see it now, but do yourself a favor. Find the boots or, as many have had their fill quickly, used copes for a couple bucks. Move along nothing to see here

I'm a huge fan of Guinea Pig so i've decided to start watching American Guinea Pig as well. And... this one is... something... it has a nice idea to show creative gore scenes and possession but the acting and story kinda makes it fall flat for me. The actors and actresses just kinda feel stale and lifeless.

It did have some pretty horrific gore scenes though. But a few scenes were dragged out, for instance, the intestine vomiting scene lasts a good ~5 or so minutes. Really could've been cut shorter but they dragged it out so it didn't shock as well for me.

It's a nice love letter to Guinea Pig but don't expect anything amazing.

Where do I begin with this pathetic third installment of the American guinea pig films. The horrendous acting or the lamest dialogue ever written. I felt insulted for being tricked into watching this C-movie. I wish I could remember the reviewers name who actually said this was a pretty good film because I would put his ass on blast, He needs to quit giving advice immediately because he has no clue when a film is a crock of Sh$%. One of these user reviews stated this film was far fetched but that was too kind for this abomination. How can a movie even be made about priests performing exorcisms without the writers or directors who are obviously not religious do no research on the topic at hand. I mean the lords prayer was the only prayer said through the whole movie and they did it 10 times as if a priest only knows 1 prayer (Our father who art in heaven) That's a dead giveaway to anybody who worships that you are not well versed in God's word, And for a priest to appear in that fashion crushes any belief that he possesses faith. The special effects were the worst I've seen from the guinea pig collection long drawn out moans and character reactions were abhorrent and comical at best and it really does a disservice to the first "American Guinea Pig" which by all accounts was the best one because atleast it attempted to look some what real with an OK dialogue but if this is the first Guinea pig film someone gets to see they will never attempt to watch another. I forced myself to sit and watch these 82 mins. Of my life being wasted because I wanted to be totally sure this atrocity was from start to finish and I was right. At one point I broke out into laughter because the possessed girl started singing which I guess was the song of soloman and all of a sudden it turned into a musical. Please do yourself a favor and do not waste almost an hour and a half watching this way below average pile of garbage because that's why I wrote this review to save you from wasted time. And yes you are welcome in advance.

My spoiler free review for The Bloody Asylum that can be found at WordPress, Mr Geeky blog:

The American Guinea Pig series of films, produced by Unearthed Films, are an homage to the hugely controversial Japanese Guinea Pig films of the 1980s and 1990s, a series of extreme horror films that pushed boundaries with their graphic depictions of brutality, violence, blood, and gore, leading them to being banned in many countries to this day. Unearthed Films distributed the films in the US in the early 2000s, then when the use of the Guinea Pig name was made illegal in Japan they purchased the rights to the name. The first film produced in the American Guinea Pig series was "Bouquet of Blood and Gore" this was followed up by "Bloodshock". The third film in the series "The Song of Solomon" is produced, written, and directed by Stephen Biro, co-founder and CEO of Unearthed Films. The first of the series to have far more of a story and narrative structure. An exorcism/possession film as only Unearthed films could produce.

Stephen Biro's solid writing and directing is complimented by film-makers who so obviously have a passion for extreme horror as he does, all wanting to do something different with the exorcism/possession genre. They certainly have with The Song of Solomon, a low budget film that is far more accomplished than many mainstream studio horror films of recent years. Even more impressive is that it was produced on a very small fraction of the budgets of those films. The film-makers understand how to combine sound, music, visuals, and editing to good effect to create an effective atmosphere, not falling back on cheap jump scares as many horror films tend to do nowadays. For the most part there is an unnerving feeling of mounting dread and tension throughout the entire film, interspersed with shocking scenes of extreme blood and gore. These effects are all achieved through hugely impressive practical effects by Marcus Koch of Oddtopsy FX (We Are Still Here) and Jerami Cruise of TOETAG EFX (Tales of Halloween, Murder Set Pieces) that never overwhelm the other aspects of the film, although for those who are familiar with Unearthed Films, and are watching for those blood and gore scenes they will definitely not be disappointed.

By making The Song of Solomon a part of the American Guinea Pig series it somewhat hinders expectations because the resulting film is far more than just a blood and gore film. However, the series is exactly as the Japanese originals were, becoming far more story and character based with the latter films. Regardless of how accurate the actual exorcism ritual scenes are, a great amount of research was undertaken to ensure those scenes were in fact as realistic as they could be. In the context of the film they are extremely effective, with a lot of the credit going to JESSICA CAMERON as Mary the victim of possession, the standout performance of the entire film. Her portrayal is committed, fearless, and most of all disturbing. Moving effortlessly from innocent to being genuinely unnerving, and very convincing. Almost at times making it feel as if there is a demon inside her. Taking into account that she has gone on record as saying she feels she is not the best of actors. Here she without a doubt proved herself wrong. However, more of an introduction in the initial set up of the film to Mary and her family rather than the film picking up the story after she has been possessed would have added more of an emotional impact to her performance and so accentuated the horrors that unfold as the film progressed, especially the opening scenes, but Jessica Cameron did enough in the few early scenes to invest enough depth into her character to give the film an emotional edge.

There are some unexpected twists and turns with the story and characters, especially in the depictions of the priests, particularly Gene Palubicki in his first major film role, who also composed some of the superb music for the film. David E. McMahon is very impressive, having maybe one of the most controversial scenes in the film. Jim Van Bebber is also very effective when the extreme scenes of the exorcism kick in.

The film has some faults, a far grittier look and feel with stronger acting at times would have heightened the impact of the film. Although it is extremely impressive what was achieved on a very low budget, with the skill of the film-makers and particularly Jessica Cameron's performance balancing out the weaker elements of the film.

The Song of Solomon for the most part is an assured film and pretty much did what a horror film should do. Creepy, unsettling, and disturbing, added to that is of course the gut wrenching blood and gore that is to be expected from an American Guinea Pig film.

Fans of the series, exorcism/possession films, low budget independent horror films, and of course blood and gore films will not be disappointed.