Men Behind the Sun ll

"Man Behind the Sun 2" aka "Camp 731: Laboratory of the Devil" is one of the most worthless films I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. Godfrey Ho (who is incorrectly listed as being an alias for T.F. Mous) managed to take Mous' disturbingly realistic film (which was originally intended to be a documentary and ended up falling somewhere in between docudrama and exploitation stomach turner) and completely flush out every element that made "Man Behind the Sun" so hard to view.

What's worse is that Ho doesn't even make a weak attempt at a plot. Instead he literally copies Mous' work word for word only stopping to pump up the amount of blood, torn flesh, innards, and severed limbs. Ho never treats his victims with honor, rather he goes out of his way to completely exploit the unwatchable torture and mass executions these innocent prisoners of war endured.

Though, the most grueling ordeal is having to sit through a film that is based on real documentations of Camp 731, which was set up in Harbin, China by the Japanese during World War II. Inside Camp 731's Nazi-like interior

captured Chinese, Koreans, and Russians were subjected to inhuman biological warfare testing. In the end out of 3,000 men, women, children, and infant prisoners not one was left alive and some 200,000 more Chinese died from neighboring areas when the camp was imploded and the Black Plague (which was being experimented with) was unleashed.

Godfrey Ho should live in shame.

Zero Star Rating out of ****

"Laboratory of the Devil" is one of the sickest movies ever made, though it's not as bad as its predecessor. It also lacks the sense of realism that "Men Behind the Sun" had because it replaces documentary style filmmaking with stylish camera work. It also goes for plot and character development instead of just showing the horrors of the camp. This is not to say "Laboratory..." isn't violent; it's just that the violence does not have the impact of that in "Men...".

The plot follows a man who is enlisted in the infamous squadron 731 in Japan. He is also forced to leave behind his fiance, and due to the secrecy involved with the location of squadron 731, he cannot have any kind of contact with her or any of the outside world. As he is forced to kill the Chinese, his mental state begins to deteriorate. "Laboratory..." has many scenes of various inhuman deeds being performed, which include the "skin-ripping" seen in the first film, a VERY detailed "autopsy" on a living person, and people being given lethal injections just to see how long it takes to kill them. All of these scenes are extremely realistic, and are bound to sicken even those with the strongest stomachs.

Had "Laboratory..." had the documentary style of "Men...," it easily could have surpassed it. Godfrey Ho's direction is once again very solid, and the special effects are almost too realistic, which really adds to the film. The acting is also very good. Like "Men...," this film also suffers from terrible dubbing (It sounds like those dubbing the film are talking through a mouth full of food). Like the first one, this film is not all about violence; it has a very strong message about Japanese WWII war tactics (They kidnapped numerous Chinese off the streets and killed them inhumanly in experiments. The Japanese have not apologized to this day for their actions against the Chinese.).

This film is for those with strong stomachs who want more than just violence in their films and also is for gorehounds. My rating: Seven out of ten.

I've not seen "Man Behind the Sun" or "Evil Dead Trap" or that many Asian horror films. That said, this movie is more gruesome than almost all European and of course American movies that I have seen. It is not quite as disturbing as "The Untold Story" from Hong Kong. I ran to the computer to make sure the autopsy early in the film was not real. I did not really find anything on the web that proved to me otherwise. The naked girl does not look like a dummy and the dry limbs being sawed off, that's shocking. I'm not sure that if it was a real corpse, that it was then material taken from stock footage. Anyway, it blows away the first film in the "Guinea Pig" series, which has a very low budget and poor production values.

This movie has a large cast and does not skimp on special effects. All the gun deaths result in blood splatter. In more lazy gore films they sometimes don't bother and you get a silly PG moment.

The first half of the film is heavy and serious and I was afraid each upcoming scene would make me squirm. Then the movie becomes over-dramatic and unrealistic with scenes that bring to mind "The Story of Ricky". This is an exploitation film more than a movie trying to make a statement about history. The end will have you laughing and perhaps will help ease the guilty brought on by enjoying earlier scenes of gore that are based on real human death camps. Recommended.

Both "Man Behind the Sun" and "Maruta 2" are feature films, instead of documentarys. "Man Behind the Sun" fits historical facts, but "Maruta 2" clearly not. It is a fictional war love tragedy. Historical facts are a serious matter. This kind of fictional story is not helpful to people's understanding of history. It will only encourage the hatred of Chinese nationalists, because they may not be able to distinguish between fact and fiction.

The plot of this movie is relatively empty, and the part describing Ida's personal story does not seem to occupy the main line. Hayashida's death was inexplicable. Bing is not exactly Aiko's savior.

He nailed this movie right on the head...I agree with everything he says. I found this movie at the Cleveland Public Library's audiovisual department,and being a lover of foreign horror films,I had to see it. I wound up fast-forwarding past all the talking and watching the nasty bits,which are laughable beyond belief. Of course,if you're not a nutcase like me,this movie may sicken you,but the special effects aren't quite special enough to even do that...