MAD WORLD: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE GUINEA PIG
FILMS ON VHS
So you all (should) know about the Guinea Pig films and chances are you even
own them. They've become widely available since Unearthed Films released the
US box set, and now it seems every country on the globe is cranking these
films out on disks. But have you ever wondered how these films became so
infamous? Before DVDs were around, two of the Guinea Pig films, Devil's
Experiment and Flowers of Flesh and Blood, were released on a very scarce
double feature VHS from MAD Video, a Japanese Death Film company. There's
much speculation about this tape and it's relationship to the downfall of the
series, and it's existence in general.
MAD VIDEO
RELEASE IN A LARGE CLAMSHELL
Sai Enterprise began
production of the Guinea Pig films in '86. The shot on VHS camcorder Devil's
Experiment was released by the company independently, much in the same way
SoV films like Spine and 555 were here in the States. This lasted until the
fourth film in the series, Devil Doctor Woman (not Mermaid in a Manhole like
many people falsely say), and after that another company took over to
release the last two films on VHS. The series died in 1989 with the arrest
of Tsutomu Miyazaki.
ORIGINAL
SAI ENTERTAINMENT VHS
Image Provided by Louis C Justin
A serial killer who
dissected four schoolgirls, Tsutomu Miyazaki's arrest led to the obvious
search of his house. Found there, were the first five Guinea Pig movies on
VHS (Android had yet to be released at the time of his arrest). His murders
were very brutal, and he mutilated the girls in the same fashion as the pale
samurai in Flowers. This led to a huge outcry in Japan, but, again defying
popular belief, the series did not become banned. The only country to ban
the films was Australia. The series was, however, abandoned in the same year
as Miyazaki 's arrest.
TSUTOMU MIYAZAKI'S
MUG SHOT
Somewhere between '86 and
'88 Sai Enterprise sold the rights to sleaze empire Japanese Home Video, and
they took over the series in '88 with the release of Mermaid in a Manhole.
The final film, again produced and distributed by JHV, was Android of Notre
Dame, and it was released in '89 (the year the series came to an end.) So here
we have a problem -- where did MAD Video come into play?
LOGO OF THE
NOTORIOUS MAD VIDEO LABEL
Since the series was
abandoned after 1989, MAD Video had to have released this tape prior to that
year. It's unknown if the tape was in Miyazaki's collection, but I have
heard rumors. It would fit the time line, because he did have the '88 release
of Mermaid in a Manhole, which was distributed after Sai Enterprises sold
the rights. Again adding to the legacy of the MAD release, no information is
available on the tape whatsoever, and not a single site has MAD listed as a
distributor of either of the two films.
SAI RELEASE OF "HE NEVER DIES"
Image Provided by Louis C Justin
Logical thinking tells us
this tape must have been released when Sai gave up the rights, meaning there
was a chance that before his arrest, Tsutomu Miyazaki could have bought this
tape. The lack of info on this release leaves me scratching my head, because
there's so many lies about the series out there. To disprove a few, Devil
Doctor Woman is not number 6, it's number 4. The films were never banned in
Japan, the UK, or America. And last but not least, C(rackhead)harlie Sheen
was not the reason for the downfall of the series. He watched Flowers on
it's US VHS release (called Slow Death- Dismemberment), freaked out, and
launched the investigation in 1991 -- two years after the series was shelved.
FINAL
SAI VHS CLEARLY SHOWING THAT
"DEVIL DOCTOR WOMAN" IS THE FOURTH IN THE SERIES
To add even more
confusion, once Sai relinquished the rights, JHV restarted the series. There
is technically no number 5 or 6, because Sai ended at 4, and JHV released
the final two in a separate series. That means Sai released Devil's
Experiment: pt. 1, Flowers of Flesh and Blood: pt. 2, He Never Dies: pt. 3,
and Devil Doctor Woman: pt. 4. JHV released Mermaid in a Manhole: pt. 1,
and Android of Notre Dame: pt. 2.
A TYPICAL MAD VIDEO RELEASE
"DEATH FILES: YELLOW"
The final two tapes are
not super rare, but are scarce due to the short time they were on the
market. JHV, being the huge company it was, cranked out tons of the final
two films. The main reason why you can find their VHS releases with some
ease is that there was a huge quantity produced. Think Wizard Video here in the US.
Some of their tapes are worth quite a bit of money, but there were lots of
them produced.
JHV'S FINAL VENTURE INTO
THE GUINEA PIG SERIES
THEY RELEASED THE FINAL TWO FILMS IN SMALL CLAMSHELLS, AS
OPPOSED TO SAI, WHO RELEASED IN CARTON-STYLE SLIPCASES
Image Provided by Louis C Justin
Some light was shed when I
found out MAD Video released the Slaughter Special (DVD title was changed to
Greatest Cuts) in '88, one of the rarest tapes in the series (but not an
actual "film"). To make things even harder, MAD Video was a sub label of V&R
Planning, the notorious company behind such scat films as Squirmfest. MAD
Video was a Death Film pioneer, even introducing Japan to the Faces of Death
series (which was the intended market of the series, actually). The last
documented release I can find on the MAD Video label was of Faces IV in
1990.
GERMAN BOX SET
THE FIRST LICENSED DVD RELEASE
If I had to bet, I would
say this tape was released somewhere around '88, meaning it had one Hell of a
short lifespan. The Slaughter Special was made from clips of the original
four films. This tells us that either the rights to the original films were
bought by MAD and they didn't have a chance to release the last two before
the series was abandoned, or that JHV bought the rights from MAD. Either way
there were not many of these made, and calling them hard to find is an
understatement. What's also very interesting about this film is that it fits
perfectly into Miyazaki's time line. Whether this VHS was in his collection
will probably never be determined, but there's a damn good chance it was.
Written by: Chip Parton
He is the Chief Editor of
The Sins of Cinema
