Guinea Pig (1985)

Torture for the people…

Guinea Pig is the first installment in one of the most notorious movie series out there. It’s also known as Guinea Pig: Devil’s Experiment, probably to differentiate it from the later entries. The plot is a girl being tortured by three men for nearly 43 minutes. The end. It doesn’t exactly sound groundbreaking, but in terms of fake snuff or pseudo-snuff if you will, it kind of is.

It’s roughly divided into chapters where each one is a new form of torture. The first one is “Hit” where our helpless victim is, that’s right, slapped repeatedly. She is also kicked, tortured by deafening noise for a long duration, scolded, maimed etc. This actually works quite well. While it’s fairly graphic, director Satoru Ogura presents it in a very neutral way. Yes, this is pseudo-snuff, but the depictions are decidedly unspectacular. Particularly the scene where the victim is beaten and kicked becomes repetitious and boring. That can be a good thing when depicting bad things. I was never comfortable with what I was watching and it never entertained me. If anything Guinea Pig fulfills more of a morbid curiosity. Just because something isn’t pleasant doesn’t mean it can’t be intriguing.

Guinea Pig's pièce de résistance.

Guinea Pig is shot-on-video, which adds to the grittiness of the film. It looks cheap and dirty like it should. The camerawork is nothing spectacular and I sincerely doubt the raw effect would pack such a punch otherwise. There is some music in Guinea Pig that the movie would have worked better without, unless they had incorporated it into the movie as opposed to put it on top. The same goes for the title cards. I’m not saying psychopaths aren’t able to edit movies, but it increases the distance between the movie and the viewer. I want no “interruptions” that hints at what we see on-screen has been subjected to any treatment beyond recording. This is a cruel matter-of-fact testament shot on-the-run. The sound effects are suitably unpleasant and play a big part in making this film feel as grim as it does.

Using the term “like” doesn’t feel appropriate when discussing Guinea Pig. It’s a fake snuff film and anyone watching it should expect just that. To me the first film in the series manages to create a dark atmosphere showcasing mankind at its worst. The first sequel, Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood, is a far more graphic affair, while simultaneously adding some oddball humor for balance. Each installment has something different to offer.

Guinea Pig remains one of the nastier films out there. It has been surpassed since by numerous others, Psycho: The Snuff Reels being one, but as a testament to extreme 80s horror it holds up very well.

8/10