Bloodshock

Two extremely resilient prisoners, a man (Dan Ellis) and a woman (Lillian McKinney), are subjected to a series of brutal medical procedures by a sadistic doctor.

I've always considered films like this to be challenge—to see if I can stomach the extreme violence being depicted. American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock is a challenge all right—to see if I can watch the whole thing without losing interest.

Bloodshock proves to be an apt title, since I was shocked to see that nearly all of the blood in the film has been captured in glorious black and white! While the gore is graphic (yet nowhere near as relentlessly nasty as its predecessor, Bouquet of Guts and Gore), its effect on the viewer is seriously diminished thanks to a misguided attempt at an art-house style that simply doesn't suit the material. It seems like such a waste of effort.

Director Marcus Koch's art-house approach also leads to interminable scenes that focus on the victims while they are locked in a padded cell, sharing poignant notes with each other through a hole in the wall, all of which serve to make the film a real chore at times. The pretentiousness is ramped up to 11 for the final act in which the two victims, free at last, decide not to escape but to get it on, reopening their wounds whilst having sex. At least that part pulls fewer punches, with the messiness now in full colour.

A final twist—revealed during the end credits—tries to make some sense of what we have seen, but does little to improve matters.

Directed by The Guru Of Gore, Marcus Koch, and written by The President Of Unearthed FIlms, Stephen Biro, The Man who revived the series in the US with the first chapter, called "Bouquets of Guts and Gore." Starring Dan Ellis, Lillian McKinney, Andy Winton, Gene Palubicki and Alberto Giovannelli, this is the most intense, unimaginable, raw, twisted, mind-blowing torture porn film I have ever seen in my life. I'm not saying this one's better than the rest of the guinea pig films, including the first Americanized version, but it's very different from all of them. It's more than just a torture flick - this film has that beautiful atmosphere, the vibe, the psychology, the feeling. It gets disturbing and more disturbing every minute till the end. The best beautiful, sick, unforgettable ending ever, which will hit you right in your head, BAM!!! This is my first Dan Ellis film, and it's just incredible the way he acted, going through all of the pain with the emotions he showed, incredible. I knew he was in Ryan Nicholson's films, which I will surely check out. Lillian McKinney gave an awesome performance as well, and I would love to see her act more. The rest of the cast all did well too. Movies like this are worth it in my opinion. I find disturbing films interesting. The sicker it gets, the more interesting it gets. This is one movie to see before you die if you're a pure extreme horror fan, and this is definitely not for the squeamish.

'Bloodshock' is nightmarish, tender, perfectly paced and very intense. It's not derivative at all but it did, in some ways, remind me of 'Eraserhead' and 'Le Chien Andalou'. Having seen both AGP films in a row I've noticed that they absolutely excel at sound mixing ('Bloodshock' even uses some delicate piano notes to chilling effect) and the use of textured film-stock. I was utterly gripped for the entire 90 minutes and the tension (and weirdness) built up beautifully. 'Bloodshock' is a film that I expect to be recommending to people for a long time to come - it's definitely my favourite horror film on 2016, so far. Marcus Koch (the special effects guru behind 'Bouquet of Guts and Gore') proves that he is a brilliant and visionary director. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't say anything about what actually happens in the film...but you need to see it!

The American Guinea Pig franchise is the American take on Japan's now infamous and banned series of films that all fell under the series name "Guinea Pig". The Guinea Pig series were a collection of notorious cult films that emerged out of the Japanese underground in the mid to late 80s to early 90s. The first film in this series, The Devil's Experiment, centered on a kidnapped woman who is held captive in a warehouse where she is exposed to a series of tortures inflicted by her captives who are exploring the human body's threshold for pain. This film's narrative holds distinct similarities to the plot of Bloodshock; and this is intentional.

The American Guinea Pig series pays clear homage to its original Japanese predecessor, and this is seen in the plot similarities between the films within the two series. The first film of the American Guinea Pig series, Bouquet of Guts and Gore, actually contains plot components that connects itself to the original Japanese Guinea Pig film, Flower of Flesh and Blood. Similarly, the third film in the American Guinea Pig series, Sacrifice, shares clear plot similarities with the original Guinea Pig film, He Never Dies. This model is no different when it comes to Bloodshock.

Bloodshock also centers its focus on a captive person, being held against their will, and forced to endure torturous experiments by the hands of the individuals holding them captive. Unique to The Devil's Experiment, rather than examining the human body's threshold for pain, Bloodshock's experimenters are harvesting the blood of their captive. The reason for this is interesting. During the infliction of pain and stress, the body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in the brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. These experimenters are using their victim's blood as a new kind of recreational drug. The film's victim is being used as crop to harvest.

This approach is intriguing and allows the film to exhibit similar graphic scenes of torture and violence, as in The Devil's Experiment, while having a story that is more complex and allows the film to explore untouched areas that the original Guinea Pig series was never able to reach. Additionally, the practical effects in this film are quite impressive and are a definite step up in terms of realism and graphic imagery from the original series.

That said, this film does not come without its flaws. For one, some of the acting in this film is quite awful. This is to be expected with any low budget indie endeavor, and often can be dismissed or forgiven. Unfortunately, when it comes this film, it extends into damaging the picture. Most prominent, there is a scene where the film's protagonist is held in a chair where a large man is punching him in the face. He is then hit in the knee caps with a large hammer. These blows are clearly fake, to a point where it is nearly comical. This poor acting in contrast to the film's magnificent practical visual effects creates an uneven, sloppy, and at times silly juxtaposition.

Furthermore, the filmmakers attempted to take the series in a more artistic direction, presenting the film almost entirely in black and white, and giving the film an ambient and eerie score. Many have argued that the black and white decision hurt the film. I personally do not hold this perspective. I found the black and white to be vital in regard to the film's climax, which I will not spoil. I do however find issue with the film's sloppy audio editing. The film's score is powerful, yes, but I felt that he filmmakers relied too heavily on it for the picture's tone and atmosphere. Going so far as compromising necessary sound effects that would have enhanced practical imagery in exchange for creepy sounds of ambiance.

The film's climax does save the picture to a degree, where a gruesome finally of passion, self-destruction, beauty, lust and gore all flood the screen in vivid detail. Unfortunately, this is short lived once the credits start to role. The film's credits are interspersed with scenes that attempt to add to the film's plot, but ultimately just feel like unnecessary filler, and actually hurt the picture. Out of the four American Guinea Pig films that have been released thus far, I would consider Bloodshock to be the weakest of the bunch. That does not mean that the film does not have some redeeming qualities. It is still a brutal and visceral picture but compared to the other films in the series Bloodshock just doesn't pack the same punch.

The original Guinea Pig series from the 80's were more shocking than the American series. They are similar in many ways with hardly no dialogue and over the top gore. I have seen several reviewers compare it with or to Human Centipede 2 maybe for the fact it's black and white. The difference I feel is Centipede 2 could not have been made in color the special FX were too good. This films FX are sub par. With that said I did enjoy it somewhat for what it is. I just can't for the life of me tell you what it was. Some enjoyed the score I found it annoying and tedious. The film overall made no sense and perhaps that's what makes it watchable.