"He Never Dies" is a low-point of the "Guinea Pig" series. I'm a fan of light-hearted horror when it's done right ("Shaun of the Dead" and the blacker than black "The Evil Dead", "Braindead" and "Re-Animator" are examples of excellent humorous horror films) but this Japanese production failed to tickle my funny bone.
The production values are the same as other "Guinea Pig" films but the plot is weak and the delivery wooden. The pay-off involving an immortal geek mutilating himself in-front of a cowering love-rival wearing an Elvis mask is just bizarre.
A small observation I made during viewing this film was that it seems to have borrowed music from Rick Wakeman's "The Burning" soundtrack for one sequence.
This is one for completists only. Twenty years ago, these films were hard-hitting and covering new ground for a generation of gore-hounds craving something different. Now, installments like "He Never Dies" just look a little silly. Not a patch on the multi-coloured delights of "Mermaid in the Manhole."
4 out of 10.
The production values are the same as other "Guinea Pig" films but the plot is weak and the delivery wooden. The pay-off involving an immortal geek mutilating himself in-front of a cowering love-rival wearing an Elvis mask is just bizarre.
A small observation I made during viewing this film was that it seems to have borrowed music from Rick Wakeman's "The Burning" soundtrack for one sequence.
This is one for completists only. Twenty years ago, these films were hard-hitting and covering new ground for a generation of gore-hounds craving something different. Now, installments like "He Never Dies" just look a little silly. Not a patch on the multi-coloured delights of "Mermaid in the Manhole."
4 out of 10.