Search - Guinea Pig Devils Experiment /Andriod of Notre Dame Double Feature on DVD

Atrocity with a capital A

laughableteeth | california | 06/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What I don't understand about these armchair film critics that are trying to rip this film apart is... WHat do they expect? A cool story line, character development and maybe some kung fu? No, no no! The GUinea Pig films have non of this. They are brutal to the extreme. Nasty, vile and borderline atrocities that are for the true gorehounds and something to add to the library of gore.Want a story? Find Cannibal Holo or Nekromantic. Want gore comedy, get He Never Dies, BrainDead or Bad Taste. If you want to make your friends leave the house or freak em out then buy this. Want to support an indie company taking a chance on releasing these things, then buy this. You want [stuff] like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm St. then wait until the sequel and leave. These films are for the gorehound who has seen everything and are looking for that revolting scene that makes you wonder? Why do you enjoy violence. Cause baby, these are violent to the extreme."

Torture, Gore and Fun!

laughableteeth | california | 08/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know what your expecting when you buy this disc. Just torture and pure evil maliscious fun. No story, just good old fashioned horror. Android of Notre Dame is anothern gore film entirely. Story, plot, gore what else can you ask for.... This Guinea Pig dvd is an anamoly. Exploitive, Yeah I can say that. No story. Well not actually. Kidnap a woman and torture her to death. Sorry that's a headline and it's a story all rolled into one."

Devil's Experiment

Internal Abbatoir | Albuquerque, NM | 03/18/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Devil's Experiment is the first part of the infamous series of shock/exploitation gore films from Japan known as Guinea Pig. In reality, the first two Guinea Pig films contain absolutely zero plot; they are just cinematic examinations of torture, dismemberment, and abuse. The series has an infamous and controversial history, similar to Italy's Cannibal Holocaust. And, of course, we have all heard the so-called legend. That is the very reason why we are here in the first place, right? If it wasn't for this hearsay and this long endured rumor these films would have faded into obscurity a long time ago. The legend is that actor Charlie Sheen stumbled upon an old, unmarked VHS copy of Devil's Experiment/Flowers of Flesh and Blood and actually thought that it was "real." He ended up contacting the FBI about the tape where, of course, they came to the conclusion that it was a fake. And that is ultimately what the first two Guinea Pig films are - pseudo-snuff films. They are nothing more and nothing less.

Now you may ask, is there a point to these films other than putting them on your shelf in order to look "hardcore" in front of all of your friends? I don't know. From a certain perspective, these are some of the most fatalistic and utterly hopeless films ever made. They depict certain harsh realities that even most horror films will not touch upon.

There is no semblance of a plot, or even a deeper meaning behind these films. When it all comes down to it, you get what you get. It doesn't pull any punches. So when it comes down to actually reviewing this film, it is hard to come up with an actual objective rating. Giving it a five would be an insult because, quite frankly, this is a horribly unbalanced film. There is no story, no character development, no nothing. However, Devil's Experiment does succeed in what it sets out to do - it creates a shocking pseudo-snuff film. Granted, it may not be shocking to fans of extreme cinema, but it is still a shocking film to some extents. Just think about finding this film on an unmarked VHS tape, not knowing where it came from or who made it. That would be shocking and frightening. Of course, it looks fake because it is fake, but the subject matter of this film is still an examination of the darker side of our own nature. It calls out to us, intrigues us... whether we like it or not. Usually, we watch movies in order to escape the painful realities of death, but Devil's Experiment reminds us of how vulnerable we truly are and how short life is... And, as you can very well imagine, the good guys do not win in the end... Not at all."

Can you watch this?

Zack Davisson | Seattle, WA, USA | 10/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whatever you expect of the "Guinea Pig" film series, you are probably wrong. For one thing, only the first two in the series are anything "extreme". The following films are just cheesy gore fests, almost on the same level as Basket Case and with about the same level of realism. But those first two...I don't even know if one can classify them as "horror films".

The series producer, Ogura Satoru, said that he wanted to "test the limits of human pain", but he is also testing the limits of what people are willing to watch. People liked blood-splatter flicks, so he wanted to see just how much they could take, and to find if there a limit where even the most hardened fan would close his eyes and say "enough!" Apparently not.

This DVD has the first Guinea Pig film, "Devil's Experiment" (A literal translation of the Japanese title "Akuma no Jiken") and the fifth film "Android of Notre Dame" ("Notorudamu no andoroido").

"Devil's Experiment" is probably the harshest of the series, although not the most famous. This is not a gore fest, this is just abuse. A group of men kidnap a young girl, and proceed to torture her both physically and psychologically for an hour. That is it. No story, no conclusion, just a girl in a room being beaten, covered in animal guts and worms, thrown to the floor and kicked...and that is it. It is a brutal film.

"Android of Notre Dame" could not be a further contrast. Pure blood and cheese, this one tells the story of a midget scientist trying to bring his girlfriend back to life by doing experiments on beautiful naked women. There's not much to say about this one. It is a goofy gore fest, and a nice relief after watching "Devil's Experiment".

Like most people, the reputation of the "Guinea Pig" series is what made me seek them out. For gore and horror aficionados, they fall on the must-see list along with Cannibal Holocaust and the Faces of Death films. If you haven't seen them, you don't get to join the club as a full member, so to speak.

They are not as realistic as I thought they would be, and it is hard to imagine that people once thought they were actual snuff films. Maybe we are more jaded nowadays. Just to prove the point that it is all just theatrics however, this DVD even includes a "Making of..." feature for "Devil's Experiment". Apparently, Ogura's greatest worry, finding an actress to play the part, was no worry at all. Literally hundreds of women auditioned for the chance to be tortured and murdered on film."