LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL is basically just a re-hashed and more exploitative re-telling of the original MEN BEHIND THE SUN FILM - obviously created to cash-in on that films success while putting forth a minimum of originality. That's not to say that I hated the film - on the contrary, I found it relatively enjoyable, it's just nothing you haven't seen if you've seen the original.
In LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL, we get the same "historic" content of the Japanese using mainly Chinese, Koreans, and Russians as guinea-pigs for chemical warfare during WWII. The main difference between this film and MEN BEHIND THE SUN, is that it's told from the point-of-view of a soldier who is forced to work in the camps and we see his obvious guilt and disagreement with the atrocities portrayed. There's also a romantic side-plot regarding the fiancée he left at home during the war...
Those that hate this film are justified. The acting is often wooden, the English dubbing (as there's no subtitle option) is laughable, there are a few moments of "humor" injected into the film that are completely unnecessary, etc...As to the good points, though the film is every bit as exploitive as MBTS (if not moreso...), the general information on Unit 731 is still portrayed and is relatively accurate. For those interested in this one only for the gore/torture scenes - they're in this one as well. A couple of real autopsy scenes (one "live" one that looks suspectly authentic) and a few of the original tortures from MBTS are recreated in this film. Basically, LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL treads no new ground that wasn't already handled better in MEN, but if you enjoyed the first one and haven't seen it in a while, give this one a look and you may dig it. I definitely DO NOT recommend watching the original and then watching this one back-to-back - it's essentially much like watching the same film twice and I'm sure will be tedious to the viewer. But on it's own merits, LABORATORY is a relatively decent "historical-exploiter" that may be of interest to fans of the original film...7/10
In LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL, we get the same "historic" content of the Japanese using mainly Chinese, Koreans, and Russians as guinea-pigs for chemical warfare during WWII. The main difference between this film and MEN BEHIND THE SUN, is that it's told from the point-of-view of a soldier who is forced to work in the camps and we see his obvious guilt and disagreement with the atrocities portrayed. There's also a romantic side-plot regarding the fiancée he left at home during the war...
Those that hate this film are justified. The acting is often wooden, the English dubbing (as there's no subtitle option) is laughable, there are a few moments of "humor" injected into the film that are completely unnecessary, etc...As to the good points, though the film is every bit as exploitive as MBTS (if not moreso...), the general information on Unit 731 is still portrayed and is relatively accurate. For those interested in this one only for the gore/torture scenes - they're in this one as well. A couple of real autopsy scenes (one "live" one that looks suspectly authentic) and a few of the original tortures from MBTS are recreated in this film. Basically, LABORATORY OF THE DEVIL treads no new ground that wasn't already handled better in MEN, but if you enjoyed the first one and haven't seen it in a while, give this one a look and you may dig it. I definitely DO NOT recommend watching the original and then watching this one back-to-back - it's essentially much like watching the same film twice and I'm sure will be tedious to the viewer. But on it's own merits, LABORATORY is a relatively decent "historical-exploiter" that may be of interest to fans of the original film...7/10