Guinea Pig 2: Flowers 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

A defenseless woman in kidnapped. In a very bizarre place, someone is going to torture her. He will cut off her hands, arms and legs before taking off her head with an axe. He will add her in his collection.

This is Guinea Pig, a serie of torture films, nothing more nothing less! The history spreads an horrifying legend about how hideous and disgusting this movie is. I think this is quite gory with extreme graphic violence but not so horrible. The special effects are obvious but very well made in fact...but not too much realistic to called this a snuff movie!

Finally, Guinea Pig is an experience to live but only for the hardcore fans of this genre of film. The audience not aware of what it is will be shocked to death and very offended. If you like this kind of movie, watch it with a couple of hardcore friends, it may turn in a funny kind of sick show with laughs and horrifying thrills!

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.

Guinea Pig II: The Flower of Flesh and Blood (Hideshi Hino, 1985)

Hideshi Hino is, simply, one of Japan's finest exports. Writer, graphic artist, rabid media critic, all-around fun guy, but for as long as civilization exists he will be best remember as the guy who drove Charlie Sheen to the FBI.

Sheen saw _Guinea Pig II: The Flower of Flesh and Blood_ in 1990 at a party he was attending, and he was convinced that it was a true snuff film, so he took the copy and gave it to the local branch of the FBI. Large-scale investigations in both American and Japan followed, culminating ultimately in (a) the finding that GP2, like all other supposed snuff films, isn't real, and (b) Hino exploding in popularity in the United States (it's not a coincidence that an American graphic arts publisher started releasing Hino books in America in 1992, all of which I recommend very highly as a fantastic glimpse into the collective subconscious of post-WW2 Japan). The darker underbelly of the investigation resulted in the banning of Guinea Pig in Japan. To date, no distributor has picked up and reprinted the films officially (though the ban has not stopped new ones from leaking out, and the series now stands at nine), and so when one finds copies of Guinea Pig films, they are often fourth- and fifth-generation dubs of questionable quality at best. I have my doubts as to whether even owning them in the United States is legal, but one assumes that if it weren't, the sellers on ebay would be arrested pretty quick... but I'm relying on supposition here. (If I disappear quickly, you know why.)

Yesterday I received a third-generation copy of II and III (see below). GP2 is the most infamous of the series. It is also the shortest, clocking in at a scant forty-two minutes. It has no plot to speak of. A woman is abducted by a man dressed as a fourteenth-century Samurai warrior and systematically dismembered. And while, if you know the basics of film composition and realize that the cut shots could not have been done in the ways they are if this were actually being filmed in real-time, there are a few points where the best thing one can do is to sit and repeat to oneself "this is not real." The effects are, quite simply, spectacular (within the framework of what's going on), and I was pleasantly-- if anything about this can possibly be said to be pleasant-- surprised by the fact that other than the differing genders of the two players in this twisted, brutal sturm und drang (and much more drang than sturm, if you translate it literally), any sexuality involved is read into it by the viewer.

Guinea Pig 2 is not something to be enjoyed; it is something to test the boundaries of one's endurance. How is it possible to rate such an experience? And do you really want something like this in your home? In my case the answer is an unqualified "yes," but then, I'm depraved. Going strictly on the quality of my copy and the shattering effectiveness of the film at what it sets out to do, I'm forced to give it *** 1/2.

My friend showed me this film, which he had on video. He is a huge fan of gore movies in general so I have seen my fair share of them. NONE of them compare to this film. This is by far the most repulsive film I have ever seen. I consists of a Japanese girl being slowly dismembered, which seems to take over an hour to do.

Mind you, I am not someone who winces at bloody movies. I am a big Peter Jackson fan, and enjoy Fulci's films. This film is nothing like those. It's horribly realistic and sadistic. Supposedly, this film was investigated by the FBI because it was suspected to be a real snuff film.

I do not recommend this movie. Anyone who sees it, I hope it is by accident. The effects are done brilliantly, and are quite convincing. Unless you are studying how to do impressive gore-effects, or are a sadist, try to avoid this film.