American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock
by Marcus Koch
Being a huge fan of the original Japanese Guinea Pig series, I've been intently following the American counterpart that has been making its mark on the world recently. I've been excited to see more of the concept and anxiously waited to see a representation of what filmmakers can do here in the States. The first installment American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts & Gore, released in 2014, was a lot of fun and, like the original Japanese films, focused on the execution of some great gore effects and destruction of the human form. Thanks to the crowd-funding campaign that lead to the American Guinea Pig series, I nabbed myself a specially made signed VHS copy of the newest release American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock. The trailer was encouraging and I was pumped to check it out.
This mostly B&W entry begins with a man in hospital patient garb being strapped down in a chair while a man in doctor attire pries his mouth open. Things get going right off the bat when the man in control slices the victim's tongue off. I found this intriguing, as usually such an act is later down the line with such films. I thought to myself, "If this is how it starts, how rough is it going to get?" Between periods of being violently worked on, the man is secluded in an all-white room. The man is treated with hostility by an orderly right up front as if they have a genuine dislike for him. It is made clear to this unfortunate man that he has no future in front of him other than the torture we are about to witness.
The man finds little notes in his room reiterating the severity of his horrifying situation. The notes play a bit more of a role later on, but I won't go into that as I don't want to give anything away. With the first American Guinea Pig film, there is a reasoning behind the actions, but I wasn't expecting one until it presented itself in the end. With Bloodshock I found myself guessing right from the start. The film is still 90% torture for the sake of satisfying us gorehounds, but it's made clear that there is to be some kind of payoff explanation. With the first American installment, the reasoning behind the horrific actions came into focus with crisp clarity. Bloodshock, however, left me a bit unclear as to what I had just seen. Given the style, it didn't really bother me too much and still kept me guessing until the end. My guessing did no good, but the film still made me do it.
The gore is well done and whether or not it's aided by the fact that most of the film is in black and white the whole time, it's quite effective. There isn't as much gore as the first one, but the story is interesting and the added weirdness that pops up towards the end adds to it nicely. As with the first, there is little dialogue, but with this one it seemed less because there was simply business to attend to and more to add to the oddity. There are some unsettling reveals that I liked and it seemed to be going more for sick over gory than the first film. It has more of an artsy, film flair to it and is less straight-forward than Bouquet, but I think that was a good move for this entry in the series. This is the one way that the film reminds me of the original series' Flower of Flesh and Blood when most of it reminds me of Devil's Experiment, but that's going to take some additional explaining.
In order for me to give my overall impression and make the point that I'd like to make about how Bloodshock relates to the source material, I find it necessary to briefly explain the first two original Guinea Pig films. The first is titled Devil's Experiment and shows the step by step torture of a woman by a group of men. The concept is that she is an experiment in how much torment a human body can go through. While the overall intention is different, this is the film in the original series that Bloodshock brought to mind for me. There's even a scene in Bloodshock where the main victim is punched repeatedly that seemed to be a direct reference to the opening "hit" sequence in Devil's Experiment.
The second in the original series Flower of Flesh and Blood dealt with a maniac in a Samurai helmet who abducts a young woman and dismembers her as a way of creating art. This is the one that, for the most part, Bouquet of Guts & Gore seemed to be emulating, which makes sense given the similar titles. The way that Bloodshock differed from American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Blood & Guts was the same as how Devil's Experiment differed from Flower of Flesh and Blood. Flower of Flesh and Blood was less experimentation-based and focused more on the act of torture itself. However, Devil's Experiment had a more detached feel as the perpetrators weren't reveling in what they were doing as much as trying to figure something out.
The distinction is the same with these first two American efforts. Despite the American films being completely new stories and in no way being remakes, they seem to understand what made the first series work and are a spiritual sister to them nicely. The gore in this one was more clinical than in Devil's Experiment, but they complement each other nicely. I will admit that I wish this new American installment had let the torture play out more as it did in Devil's Experiment, but at the end of the day, they are two different projects and it's only so fair to compare.
It will be interesting to see if the series sticks with the original series' trajectory of going from straight-up torture for the sake of torture to more story-driven films that eventually move to extremely gory slapstick humor. I can't say for sure, but I will say that these first two films give me confidence that the filmmakers know what made the Japanese series work. The fact that this second entry adds a bit more story and feels more movie-like might be a hint to the direction the series is going. The overall effects of the film are great, complimented by the soundtrack from Gene Palubicki and Jimmy ScreamerClauz that sets the tone wonderfully. I did find myself disappointed somewhat by the lack of brutality and found that the main draw of the film didn't really come through, as the torture methods don't go full tilt, but it's still a good project.
As Bloodshock was just released, I can't say for certain if another one is on the way or even being planned, but I like to think so. There are a lot of different things one can do with such a series concept and hopefully we'll get a whole diverse collection of films following in the footsteps of Bouquet of Guts & Gore and Bloodshock. I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for word on what may come next.
P.J. Griffin, HMS