In 1991, actor Charlie Sheen contacted the FBI after watching Japanese gore-fest Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985), convinced that what he had seen was a genuine snuff movie; the bureau's investigation was eventually dropped after the makers of the film demonstrated that the on-screen dismemberment of a woman that had so shocked Sheen was nothing more than a impressive display of special effects.
American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore sees Stephen Biro of Unearthed Films teaming up with make-up expert Marcus Koch to go one better than the infamous Japanese splatter classic by depicting an even more disturbing display of human butchery—the systematic physical destruction of not one, but two women by a gang of sadistic film-makers, who record every last nauseating detail on film and VHS tape.
Bouquet of Guts and Gore starts with the abduction of the unfortunate females by a gas-mask wearing weirdo hiding on the back seat of their car. The action then cuts to a makeshift studio where the women—now strapped to operating tables—are revived, injected with a neuromuscular blocking agent and given a dose of LSD, after which their outer garments are removed. Twenty two minutes into the film and the gory stuff finally begins, Koch and his special effects team pulling out all the stops to make the on-screen torture and butchery as convincing as possible.
The first victim (the one on the left always start on the left!) has her hand removed, followed by a foot and then the leg at the knee. The second leg proves to be more of a challenge, the bone requiring some serious effort. An arm comes off next. The head provides some particularly revolting moments, with a spot of Un Chien Andalou-style eyeball trauma and the administration of an extreme 'Chelsea Smile' using a saw. The torturer then disembowels his victim, bleeds her out by removing the tourniquets from her stumps, and then cuts out her heart.
The second girl has the skin stripped from both arms, the flesh peeled off her legs, and her chest opened up. A lump hammer is used to smash in her teeth and a cigarette is stubbed out in her eye, the guy pushing his thumb deep into the socket for good measure. The woman's rib-cage is then snipped away with bolt-cutters to reveal her heart still beating (how these women remain alive during such trauma is one of my minor bugbears—but more of that in a mo). The finishing move this time is a frenzied slashing of the neck with a sharp knife (followed by a little chainsaw action).
As extreme horror movies go, this is definitely amongst the most gruelling I've seen, Marcus Koch's stomach churning effects ensuring a satisfyingly gruesome time for anyone brave enough to watch. Stephen Biro's direction is in keeping with the original Guinea Pig movie, capturing the horror in a suitably matter-of-fact, in-your-face manner. If I can find any faults with the film, it's that the action becomes a little repetitive at times (amputate the left leg, amputate the right leg, skin the left arm, skin the right arm etc.), some of the performances are a little ropey (there's a touch too much dialogue for my liking), and, as I've already mentioned, it's hard to believe that the women would stay alive for as long as they do under the circumstances (pseudo-snuff needs to be believable to be truly effective).
Despite these issues, I have no qualms about rating this sick little splatter flick 8 out of 10 for being so amazingly bloody and ballsy, and wonder whether the makers dare go where they threaten with the final scene. Only a sequel will tell.
American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore sees Stephen Biro of Unearthed Films teaming up with make-up expert Marcus Koch to go one better than the infamous Japanese splatter classic by depicting an even more disturbing display of human butchery—the systematic physical destruction of not one, but two women by a gang of sadistic film-makers, who record every last nauseating detail on film and VHS tape.
Bouquet of Guts and Gore starts with the abduction of the unfortunate females by a gas-mask wearing weirdo hiding on the back seat of their car. The action then cuts to a makeshift studio where the women—now strapped to operating tables—are revived, injected with a neuromuscular blocking agent and given a dose of LSD, after which their outer garments are removed. Twenty two minutes into the film and the gory stuff finally begins, Koch and his special effects team pulling out all the stops to make the on-screen torture and butchery as convincing as possible.
The first victim (the one on the left always start on the left!) has her hand removed, followed by a foot and then the leg at the knee. The second leg proves to be more of a challenge, the bone requiring some serious effort. An arm comes off next. The head provides some particularly revolting moments, with a spot of Un Chien Andalou-style eyeball trauma and the administration of an extreme 'Chelsea Smile' using a saw. The torturer then disembowels his victim, bleeds her out by removing the tourniquets from her stumps, and then cuts out her heart.
The second girl has the skin stripped from both arms, the flesh peeled off her legs, and her chest opened up. A lump hammer is used to smash in her teeth and a cigarette is stubbed out in her eye, the guy pushing his thumb deep into the socket for good measure. The woman's rib-cage is then snipped away with bolt-cutters to reveal her heart still beating (how these women remain alive during such trauma is one of my minor bugbears—but more of that in a mo). The finishing move this time is a frenzied slashing of the neck with a sharp knife (followed by a little chainsaw action).
As extreme horror movies go, this is definitely amongst the most gruelling I've seen, Marcus Koch's stomach churning effects ensuring a satisfyingly gruesome time for anyone brave enough to watch. Stephen Biro's direction is in keeping with the original Guinea Pig movie, capturing the horror in a suitably matter-of-fact, in-your-face manner. If I can find any faults with the film, it's that the action becomes a little repetitive at times (amputate the left leg, amputate the right leg, skin the left arm, skin the right arm etc.), some of the performances are a little ropey (there's a touch too much dialogue for my liking), and, as I've already mentioned, it's hard to believe that the women would stay alive for as long as they do under the circumstances (pseudo-snuff needs to be believable to be truly effective).
Despite these issues, I have no qualms about rating this sick little splatter flick 8 out of 10 for being so amazingly bloody and ballsy, and wonder whether the makers dare go where they threaten with the final scene. Only a sequel will tell.