Guinea pig 2: Flower of flesh and blood

Well, I did it. I found and watched all 42 minutes of "Guinea Pig 2: Flowers of Flesh and Blood". Seeing how the series seems focused on gore (although the fourth installment which apparently features a mermaid sounds disgusting and yet oddly artistic, unlike the rest of them) and is largely unconnected I went for the 'accomplishment' of having seen what is supposedly the most extreme one. Also the favorite film of the first five in the series, prominently displayed among notorious serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki's 5000-strong video collection, and supposedly the inspiration for his own crimes. When Charlie Sheen came across a battered VHS copy of this in the late 80's he was convinced it was real and reported it to the FBI. Eventually the makers of the film had to prove the effects were fake (as Deodato did with "Cannibal Holocaust").

As a look into the darkest corners of the human mind this is worth a look. But is it really? Can't you just read up on some serial killers or something if you want to be 'disturbed'. Watching this was ultimately a fairly worthless experience, and outside of the undoubtedly impressive (though certainly fake-looking) special effects, there is really absolutely nothing else to recommend with this 'film'. Clearly the cinematically illiterate who claim that this is some sort of great art film are nincompoops? I mean, come on. It's 42 minutes of dismemberment. The special effects are fairly admirable, but there is literally nothing else of worth here.

I sat through it. I suppose that this is something I thought I should see for myself due to its notoriety and reputation. Not that I was expecting it to be good, but I at least thought it would be worthwhile. Don't fool yourselves, this is on the level of a high school student film technically, there is no 'writing' to speak of (well, except some rambling about blood resembling flowers or some nonsense like that), and the 'actor' in the lead role spends most of the 'movie' looking pretty goofy. The abducted woman, 'guinea pig' if you will, is asleep most of the time. There is nothing here except something for fledgling serial killers to watch while sharpening their knives. I'm not dismissive of 'shock' films in general, some of them can be genuinely well-made and reasonably compelling films. This simply isn't one. It's absolute garbage, cinematic puke. Truly one of the worst films ever made, and my hatred comes not from being 'offended'. Watching this isn't watching somebody being tortured, it's torturing yourself.

0/10

I'm going to say something that I've seen very few reviews anywhere say: Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood really, simply is NOT that gory. Do not misunderstand me. I'm not one of the countless reviewers who are complaining this movie didn't look realistic. Some of those people wouldn't think a real body being cut up looked realistic if they didn't know it was real. What I'm saying is, the actual events depicted on screen simply weren't all that gory or sick. Not by today's standards.

It's a sad little world when you read the internet nerds who hide behind a cheesy screen name and trash modern torture movies because they're not gory enough for their supposed juggernaut balls. Most of them speak with elegance, spouting off the names of obscure Japanese movies that are "So sick!" and "Make Hostel look like a family movie!" Put simply: They're almost always wrong. What's sadder than that is that most people don't realize their wrong, even after they watch oh-so-sick obscure movie and shyly realize they've seen worse on the Saw promo posters, but would never admit it because it would mean going against the self-proclaimed film buffs.

That is why I'm here to stand against the crowd and say what needs to be said. Flowers of Flesh and Blood is not the goriest movie of all time. For someone who's seen modern torture movies, it's not even that gory at all, and here is why . . .

First and foremost, as has been stated by almost everyone, this movie has no plot. It's pure fake snuff from open to close. I have absolutely nothing against that at all. While it was too tame for me to fully enjoy, the lack of a plot made the film very intense and easy to sit through without getting bored. On the other hand, however, the lack of a plot made the film seem a lot more brutal than it actually was. If you were to take any of the five Saw films and cut out every minute except the pure gore, all of them would seem just as intense, if not more intense, than Flowers of Flesh and Blood. If you were to add forty more minutes of plot to Flowers of Flesh and Blood, it would seem just just as tame as all the Hollywood torture films that the self-proclaimed film buffs all call tame. Don't mistake intensity for gore.

Second, Flowers of Flesh and Blood isn't something you can just walk to the local video store and get five copies of. It's nowhere even slightly as well-known as Saw and Hostel. The obscurity is something self-proclaimed film buffs have always fed off of, and if this were something you could easily pick up, the same self-proclaimed film buffs wouldn't even consider it gory. You see, it's not about content, it's all about lack of popularity that builds a false hype. Likewise, whenever someone says, for example, that Ichi the Killer is "The sickest movie I've ever seen!", the self-proclaimed film buffs all jump on his back and say they found it tame, even if they really didn't. Then they say something like, "But, man, go watch Flowers of Flesh and Blood—now there is a sick movie!" Again, the lesser known name build the hype.

Third, the gore content is simply uncreative. Standard limbs are severed as in every other standard gore movie ever. The only difference here is that the cameraman goes into ultra close-ups every few seconds to give the illusion that this movie is actually doing something that hasn't been done thousands of times.There were at least ten spots in the movie where my own mind went into things that could have been done to make the scene four times as gory, but the director doesn't even have half that imagination or balls. He stuck to the generic, seen-it-a-thousand-times gore scenes. That alone makes this inferior to the Saw and Hostel series as far as gore goes, not to mention inferior to the countless other modern films like The Decent and Inside. Point blank: there is nothing here that is sadistic or even that gory. Sadism implies that gore has creativity, and that is a total joke here. Gore implies that something is brutal and bloody, and, as I've said, compared to modern movies, this is fairly average.

Don't believe the hype that this is oh-so-gory.

On a technical level, the acting from the main villain a joke, as I think it was meant to be. The acting from the woman was very believable. The ultra close-ups became cheesy. The gore effects are nothing compared to the French gore film Inside, but I never once thought they lacked enough realism to become laughable, as some reviewers stated. You have to remember, also, that most of the reviewers who say they laughed at this movie are most likely saying that to overlook that they have weak stomachs. It's common.

On an entertainment level, I found this movie to be very much worth a watch, and very entertaining. I give it credit for the intensity. The only plot point in the film, that the killer only kills women, is a outright cliché, but it doesn't bear anything on the actual film.

Overall, Flowers of Flesh and Blood is a fun little torture film that lacks anything truly disturbing or gory, but is worth the watch if you're a gore fan. I'm really just sick of people hyping this to be so much gorier than the Hollywood norm, because it simply is not. The first five minutes of Saw IV alone, the autopsy scene, had every single thing this movie had. When it comes to the world of gore, this is the single most overrated film of all time.

4/10

This film when viewed on an old vhs tape is really very convincing. Hardly any dialogue spoken and just lashings of the old ultra violence. A girl is kidnapped and tied to a table then a guy in samurai gear proceeds to hack her to bits.

Then out comes the DVD release with a good quality picture and the effect kind of gets lost. It's looks quite phoney and takes away a bit of the "is it real ?, isn't it real?" factor of watching on low quality video.

If you're into gore movies, watch it on video first, then catch it on dvd if you can, just to see how all the effect were done (theres a making of documentary on the DVD).

This was one of the most disgusting films I've ever seen. But I couldn't stop watching it. I saw a Japanese copy.

Believe it or not, here in Japan, you can find this in used video shops among the Disney flicks and Chuck Norris sequels.

The grainy filming and bad sound made it seem like a real snuff film.

Supposedly, Charlie Sheen saw this and reported it as real.

The effects were shockingly realistic. But they did have a segment where they showed how they were done. This should ease minds.

Some people (like me) enjoy finding things like this. A real sense-tester. Watch it at your own risk.

I've seen all eight of the notorious ‘Guinea Pig' series from Japan and can tell you this is by far the most extreme. A random young woman is kidnapped, drugged and tied to a bed. She is then slowly hacked to pieces by a guy in a samurai uniform. It only lasts for about thirty minutes, but during those minutes you are glued to the screen witnessing some of the cleverest and most realistic special effects ever committed to celluloid. This is about as gory and nasty as it gets and even seasoned gore-hounds will be distressed by some of the onscreen display.

Bought to notoriety by Charlie Sheen who mistook this for a snuff film, the FBI spent months tracking down the Director and eventually found him. Even by today's standards this is so extreme that most DVDs of the film also contain a making of just in case you start to believe what you're seeing.

Admittedly it's doubtful that you'll find this one in your local Blockbuster by accident, but be warned – this is very strong stuff indeed. For fans of extreme cinema, I cannot recommend this enough.