I'm going to write my first review on a classic - the first of the notorious Guinea Pig series that first surfaced in the undergrounds of Japan in the mid 1980's. Surely every seasoned gorehound and horror aficionado has seen or at least heard of this series of fake snuff films that skyrocketed to notoriety when actor Charlie Sheen contacted the FBI after watching 'Flowers of Flesh and Blood', a later entry into the series, after believing he was truly watching a real murder caught on tape. One of the Guinea Pig films was also found showcased in the home of Japanese serial killer Tsutomo Miyazaki. So no, these films are not for those who had a hard time sitting through 'Saw'. The Devil's Experiment in particular because out of all the films in the Guinea Pig series, this one is by far the most sadistic and cruel in terms of its sheer disregard for human life and suffering. This would be one out of two films out of the six film Guinea Pig collection to go for a 'snuff' feel. With that little bit of background out of the way, I'll get to my opinion of the film.
The Devil's Experiment is a short film with absolutely no plot other than torture. A group of men capture a girl and perform various 'experiments' on her to test the limits of human pain endurance. The filmmakers cleverly set up their faked snuff film by leaving out a list of credits, and starting the film with a story about how the movie was found as an unmarked VHS tape with absolutely no clues as to where it came from. This may have worked back when the film was released on VHS in 1985 but watching the film on restored DVD quality took a bit of that mysticism away. It is very clear that this whole thing is acted, particularly with some of the scenes in the beginning when the perpetrators slap and kick the victim. It is hard not to notice how fake this looks with the actors slapping their hands under the girls chin. I think it's safe to say that the victim adds to the flaws of the film because she does not scream or show pain, EVER. If someone captured me and tortured me the way these guys did in this film, you can bet your last dollar that I (or anyone for that matter) would be screaming bloody murder the whole time.
The film does not waste any time getting into the torture scenes, but most of the movie is rather dull. There are many long, drawn out scenes with the victim getting slapped, getting spun in an office chair while drinking Jack Daniel's, and being subjected to sound torture that honestly just bored me to the point that I didn't care too much by the time the later scenes rolled around. As the film progresses, the victims abuse gets more and more severe, culminating with the famous "eyeball" scene at the end that makes it very clear that the filmmakers spent 90% of their budget on this one scene. That being said, the eye scene was terrific for such a low budget.
In conclusion, this was not an awful film for what it was meant to be. I probably wouldn't watch it again, as it was far from the best in the Guinea Pig series. It does have its place in history though and if you are going to seek out this series, I would not recommend skipping this one as it is one of the more brutal, sadistic, and well-known of the series. It is far better than some of the later entries but all-in-all I really did not find it too spectacular. For a movie with no plot that relies heavily on shock factor, many of the scenes were just boring. Out of all the Guinea Pig films, The Devil's Experiment plays out the most like a genuine snuff film, if such a thing exists. Check it out for the history and to say you've seen it, but don't waste too much money on hunting this one down. The Unearthed Box Set of the whole series is a nice set, but it can be rather costly on sites like Ebay and Amazon.
2 OUT OF 5 STARS
** out of *****
The Devil's Experiment is a short film with absolutely no plot other than torture. A group of men capture a girl and perform various 'experiments' on her to test the limits of human pain endurance. The filmmakers cleverly set up their faked snuff film by leaving out a list of credits, and starting the film with a story about how the movie was found as an unmarked VHS tape with absolutely no clues as to where it came from. This may have worked back when the film was released on VHS in 1985 but watching the film on restored DVD quality took a bit of that mysticism away. It is very clear that this whole thing is acted, particularly with some of the scenes in the beginning when the perpetrators slap and kick the victim. It is hard not to notice how fake this looks with the actors slapping their hands under the girls chin. I think it's safe to say that the victim adds to the flaws of the film because she does not scream or show pain, EVER. If someone captured me and tortured me the way these guys did in this film, you can bet your last dollar that I (or anyone for that matter) would be screaming bloody murder the whole time.
The film does not waste any time getting into the torture scenes, but most of the movie is rather dull. There are many long, drawn out scenes with the victim getting slapped, getting spun in an office chair while drinking Jack Daniel's, and being subjected to sound torture that honestly just bored me to the point that I didn't care too much by the time the later scenes rolled around. As the film progresses, the victims abuse gets more and more severe, culminating with the famous "eyeball" scene at the end that makes it very clear that the filmmakers spent 90% of their budget on this one scene. That being said, the eye scene was terrific for such a low budget.
In conclusion, this was not an awful film for what it was meant to be. I probably wouldn't watch it again, as it was far from the best in the Guinea Pig series. It does have its place in history though and if you are going to seek out this series, I would not recommend skipping this one as it is one of the more brutal, sadistic, and well-known of the series. It is far better than some of the later entries but all-in-all I really did not find it too spectacular. For a movie with no plot that relies heavily on shock factor, many of the scenes were just boring. Out of all the Guinea Pig films, The Devil's Experiment plays out the most like a genuine snuff film, if such a thing exists. Check it out for the history and to say you've seen it, but don't waste too much money on hunting this one down. The Unearthed Box Set of the whole series is a nice set, but it can be rather costly on sites like Ebay and Amazon.
2 OUT OF 5 STARS
** out of *****