5/10
Infamous pseudo-snuff from Japan.
19 May 2007
The first in the series of ultra-gory movies from Japan, Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment is a nasty little pseudo-snuff film that lovingly documents the torture of a woman.

Each of the steps in her ordeal are titled: Hit (she is slapped repeatedly, and then hit across the face with a bag full of coins); Kick (she is pushed to the ground and kicked); Claw (pliers are used to pinch her skin); Unconscious (the woman is spun in a chair and forced to drink whisky until she is sick); A sound (she is made to listen to a terrible noise for hours on end until she is a dribbling wreck); Skin (fingernail removal via pliers); Burn (hot oil is poured onto the victim's arm); Worm (maggots are applied to the wounds).

Then, in a section which lacked an English translation on my copy, the torturers chuck offal at the girl, slice open her hand with a scalpel before smashing it with a hammer, and finish off with the old 'needle through the eye' gag.

To be honest, Hit through to Worm is fairly lame stuff. Sure, it is nasty in tone, but it could've been thrown together by any group of morally retarded film students (myself included). 'Unconscious' looks like your average teenage drinking game (I'm sure I played that one during my college days), whilst 'A Sound' is nothing shocking: I've had to listen to my workmate Phil's ipod for 9 hours solid—now that is torture!

For fans of gore, it is only the final few minutes that will be of interest. The hand slicing and smashing is VERY realistic, as is the puncturing of the eyeball. It's easy to see how, in this film's early days of being circulated on VHS, it was often mistaken for the real thing.

Devil's Experiment is certainly an interesting film if you're studying the history of the underground horror scene, but as far as entertainment goes, it's actually quite dull. I rate this film as average, giving it a 'middling' score of 5/10.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed