The short story is, The Guinea Pig series began on the Japanese home video market in the mid 80's, intended as a series of shorts aimed at the extreme horror fan, so much so that the first volume was a faux snuff film of a woman being tortured. The first two volumes (the second being cruel torture but more cinematic and less raw) were hits and the series quickly completely abandoned the snuff approach and veered to narrative horror tales. While there was some minor controversy in Japan, the series didn't really reach any large acclaim, notorious or otherwise, in America until (I'm assuming a coked out of his brain) Charlie Sheen viewed a bootleg of Flowers... and turned it over to the authorities because he wasn't sure if it was an authentic snuff film (an urban legend- the snuff film market- that has never found even a shred of evidence that it exists in any way). Despite the FBI already being aware of the film(s) and having proven they were indeed hoaxes, the US media jumped on the videos and turned their ever condemning overhyped eye on them and profiled the videos very briefly until some kid probably fell in a well or Hollywood star picked up a transvestite and the media moved on.

Flowers of Flesh and Blood: Guinea Pig Vol. 2 (1985, 42 mins): Opens with a woman being filmed from a car, obviously being stalked. The man chases her though a playground, subdues her and knocks her out. The man, pale face, bad teeth, dressed in a rubber apron and samurai helmet, has her tied down to a bed in a dingy room. He taunts her by cutting a chickens head off and saying "Look, this is your fate." He drugs her, cuts off her hands at the wrists, then her arm, hammer and chiseling them off from the shoulder socket. The he saws off her legs and guts her. All the while waxing poetic to the camera, saying stuff like "And now her bowels start dancing wildly..." Lops her head off. Spoons out an eyeball. Has a post coitusish smoke. Then, he shows off his "collection" and sings a song about Hell. Most people put fish in a fishtank or plants in a pot. Not this guy.

The video opens with a text disclaimer stating that the video was mailed to a notorious manga artist, Hideshi Hano, and was supposedly a fan video where some psycho attempted to recreate one of Hano's manga tales "The Flowers of Flesh and Blood". Well, setting that sensationalistic bluff aside, this volume was directed by Hano and takes a more semi-cinematic, semi-narrative approach when compared to the first Guinea Pig short The Devil's Experiment, which attempted no story whatsoever. It is still the cruel torture and graphic dismemberment of a woman, but the crazy, never been to a dentist, samurai guy does address the camera and there are visual moves, cuts, panning, and editing that make it appear more stylized. The fx is hit and miss- sometimes impressive like the hands being cut off and the severed head, sometimes obviously fake like the severed leg and the icepick stabbed in unconvincing skin.

Making of Guinea Pig (1986, 44 mins): Now, I was turned off by the first Guinea Pig volume and faux snuff film. Turned off not because of its graphic content but because of its distasteful intent. My only rational for watching it was in an academic way if you were interested in makeup fx. Well, Making of Guinea Pig really reinforces this. The Making of Guinea Pig came about not only because of the shorts popularity but also to prove that they were indeed fiction. It covers the first three shorts, a little from Devils Experiment, but mainly behind the scenes of Flowers of Flesh and Blood and the blackly comic He Never Dies. Here we see the actors, directors, and makeup fx people working, being interviewed, and even fx recipes and explanations for the various fx. Most telling is the young fx designer for Flowers of Flesh and Blood stating the sad state of Japanese fx and how there is no formal training school so knowledge must be passed down and is largely do-it-yourself in terms of techniques.

The only real drawback is that this doc and the shorts are all now a good 15 years old. So, obviously makeup fx has gotten much better. Sure, the same techniques are still employed and often the GP fx is impressive, but overall it is as dated as the 80's breakdance synth music that farts over the feature. Still, it may be of interest to those fans of the series and burgeoning fx gurus interested in gaining insight on how to get the most out of a limited budget and mask those limitations.

The DVD: Unearthed Films

Picture: Full-frame. Standard 1.33:1. Once again, the films were shot on modest budgets with general video equipment. That said, the transfer presents the rough material in pretty good shape, about as good as it can be, with no technical defects.

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Japanese with optional yellow English subtitles. Same as above, not the highest quality sound, but given the nature of the production, presented in the best shape one can expect.

Extras: Chapter Selections--- Text Interview with Flowers of Flesh and Blood director/creator Hideshi Hano.--- "Darkside" magazine interview with Hideshi Hano.--- Original Flower of Flesh and Blood manga. This was really cool, the manga being much better than the GP short. I liked Hano's artwork and this feature actually made me go from suggesting the DVDs be a "rental' to "recommended". --- Gallery. 32 stills from Flowers of Flesh and Blood, behind the scenes stuff, very fake bloody.--- Text info on the History of the Guinea Pig series. 17 pages giving a nice, informative overview of the series.--- Trailers for GP shorts Devils Experiment, Android of Notre Dame, Mermaid in a Manhole, Flowers of Flesh and Blood Part 1&2, Making of GP, and the new wave zombie action film Junk.

Conclusion: Well, this presents two of the most interesting volumes in the series- Flowers of Flesh and Blood being one of the more notorious, and Making Of.. providing a nice behind the scenes look at the controversial shorts. This release has a few more extras making it worthwhile for fans of the series and those curious few out there looking for an odd, gross diversion.