Guinea Pig (film Series)

Guinea Pig (film series)

The Guinea Pig films (ギニーピッグ, Ginī Piggu?) are a series of seven controversial Japanese gore-slasher horror film from the 1980-90s. The series achieved global notoriety mostly for the first two films as the producer needed to prove that nobody was actually hurt or murdered. The producer Hideshi Hino's original concept was to create a film adaptation of his manga work.

The tapes gained notoriety in Japan during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the fourth film of the series (Mermaid in a Manhole) was found showcased in the 5,763 videotape collection of Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki. It was erroneously reported originally as being the second film of the series. It was widely but mistakenly believed that Miyazaki re-enacted a scene from the second film as a part of his crimes. Because of the initial controversy surrounding the series, the series went out of production in Japan. However, the entire series has since been reissued on DVD in the United States, the Netherlands, the UK, and Austria.

In 1991, the films received additional media attention when film personality Chris Gore met actor Charlie Sheen and gave him a copy. Sheen then watched Flowers of Flesh and Blood and, mistaking it for a genuine snuff film, immediately contacted the FBI to report it. FBI agent Dan Codling informed them that the FBI and the Japanese authorities were already investigating the filmmakers, who were repeatedly interviewed by the Japanese police and eventually summoned to court to prove that the special effects were indeed fake.

The 1990 Japanese splatter film Lucky Sky Diamond is often misattributed to the Guinea Pig series as Guinea Pig: Lucky Sky Diamond, but is, in fact, unrelated to the series.