User Reviews

In American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice Daniel is trying to reach enlightenment with the goddess Ishtar through ritualistic suicide. However, this one again falls flat much like Bouquet of Guts and Gore and Blood Shock.

It could have made itself much better by getting rid of the awful, awkward voiceovers that try to help add to the "plot". But even with them, there isn't much of a plot. No clear motive. And is just a gauntlet of pain and suffering. Experimental gore is not something I am new to, I have watched films like Fetus and Women's Flesh My Red Guts but even those had some kind of backstory to them.

The effects, however, are amazing. Almost too well done. I won't say much as to not spoil it but this film is the first one where my eyes were watering from watching his pain.

Hopefully the next round of AGP films can provide more in the writing spectrum and acting spectrum. I have faith in the directors, cast and crew involved.

I was all excited to watch this film because of the infamous "Guinea Pig" films out of Japan. But, this movie completely lost me with the shoddy SFX work and the completely unbelievable "tools" that the main character uses.

I'm sorry, but butter knives and chintzy battery operated screw drivers are not feasible tools for the so called "self mutilation" that he does. They could have at least gone the believable route and used something other then a blunt chunk of hand forged steel that wouldn't even cut a piece of paper (a plastic butter knife would do more damage). And the fact that they use cheap dollar store zip ties as tourniquets and couldn't even be bothered to do 5 minutes of reading to see how to properly apply them is just annoying.

If you like your horror to be at least remotely believable, or tend to nit pick movies, then don't bother with this. You will hate it.

But, if you get grossed out real easy by even the most obvious SFX, then knock yourself out.

American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice is another gruelling catalogue of violence, this time self-inflicted by Daniel (Roberto Scorza), who uses a range of tools to graphically mutilate his body. Whether Daniel is mentally ill, or driven to perform his ritualistic acts by goddess Ishtar (Flora Giannattasio) isn't decisive, but what is clear is that the film's director, the intriguingly named Poison Rouge, has set out to make a very disturbing movie, and in that she succeeds: watching Daniel slice, hack and drill away at various parts of his body is deeply unsettling, helped in no small part by the impressively nasty special effects.

Apparently, this movie wasn't originally intended as part of the American Guinea Pig series, but was snapped up by Stephen Biro, head of Unearthed Films, who saw it and felt that it would sit nicely next to his other movies. He wasn't wrong: Sacrifice is just as extreme as the other American Guinea Pig films that I have seen, with the nastiness including trepanning, toe-nail removal, leg drilling, and, in the most eye-watering scene, a screwdriver up the urethra (before Daniel goes the whole hog and hacks off his todger).

By no means a pleasant viewing experience, and a little confusing narrative wise, but one to watch if you're into extreme transgressive cinema.

From the late 1980s into the early 1990s Japan was at the forefront of extreme cinema with its now infamous Guinea Pig films. A series of projects all branching under one title "Guinea Pig", intended to push the limits of depravity depicted on screen. Though the series is best known for its first two titles, The Devil's Experiment, and Flower of Flesh and Blood, both of which were pseudo snuff endeavors depicting graphic violence of impressive realism, the series also carries other notable titles such as Mermaid in a Manhole, and He Never Dies. After much controversy over the series content, an FBI investigation, and the discovery of a copy of one of the films in the home of child murderer Tsutomu Miyazaki, it eventually came to be illegal in Japan to produce any other films under the Guinea Pig name, essentially killing the series.

The Guinea Pig films gathered a cult following and were heavily bootlegged within the underground extreme horror community. In 2005 the founder and president, Stephen Biro, of Unearthed Films bought the rights to the series, and released the films for the first time in the United States. This is where the American Guinea Pig series begins. Guinea Pig films could no longer be produced in Japan, but that did not mean that the spirit of these films could not continue elsewhere. An so in 2014 the American Guinea Pig series was born. American Guinea Pig is the American adaptation of Japan's infamous legacy.

American Guinea Pig clearly pays homage to its predecessor, but also shares a significant connection to the original films that many may be unaware of. Hideshi Hino, the director of the original Guinea Pig film, Flower of Flesh and Blood, stated that he got inspiration for the film after receiving a genuine snuff film in the mail. The film that begins the American Guinea Pig series, Stephen Biro's Bouquet of Guts and Gore, presents the narrative that it is the very snuff film that Hino watched. This homage to the original films can also be seen in American Guinea Pig's second release, Bloodshock, which shares uncanny similarities with the Guinea Pig original, The Devil's Experiment.

Understanding this background, we should expect no different when it comes to American Guinea Pig's latest release, Sacrifice. American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice tells the story of a young man named Daniel. Struggling with hardships with his family, as well as clear psychological issues, Daniel decides to lock himself in his bathroom and ritualistically commit suicide. Sacrificing himself to the Goddess Ishtar.

This theme clearly shares similarity with the original Guinea Pig release, He Never Dies; where a man down on his luck decides to take his own life, only to discover that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot die. Both films spend the duration of there run-time depicting men graphically mutilating their own bodies. The difference here is that Sacrifice is a dark and grueling exhibition of self harm and suicide, whereas He Never Dies holds elements of dark humor.

Interestingly, though Sacrifice is being distributed under the American Guinea Pig name, it is not technically an American film. In fact it originally was not intended to be a part of the series to begin with. Originally a different film was planned to be the third entry in the American Guinea Pig series, but something went wrong and the production for the film was terminated. So Biro began production on American Guinea Pig: Song of Solomon, wich was intended to be closing film for the series. While in post production for Solomon, Biro came across Sacrifice as a finished film. After viewing the film he realized it would be a perfect addition to the American Guinea Pig series, and so it was added.

Indeed, this was a good call. Sacrifice falls right in line with the rest of the American Guinea Pig efforts. It is graphic, gripping, and ruthless. The practical effects are impressive and visceral. This film contains segments that push the bar, even for some of the other films in this series. Showing graphic and realistic depictions of self mutilation and ritual. The film is also cinematically beautiful at times, especially when we are taken into Daniel's mind as he sacrifices himself to his Goddess. An intentionally or not, fans of the original series will see this film as paying homage to the original Guinea Pig films that came before it.

Haunted by memories of his father, a lone man returns to his family home and tries to put his traumatic past behind him the only way he knows how in an unsettling display of ritualistic carnage that may or may not be driven by a sadistic demon lurking in the outskirts of the house.

Basically, this is one of the most unflinching and brutal films ever made. There's very little point in that aspect beyond the utterly phenomenal gore effects here, which is where this one truly shines. With this one detailing the systematic and near ritualistic carving of his body while being driven to madness doing so, the effects showcased here are some of the most unnerving and realistic ever depicted on screen as the scars and blood flow featured here become truly nauseating in their effectiveness. From slicing open their hand and forehead to the peeling of various wounds open, taking a power drill to their leg and removing their toenails as well as the outright disturbing sequence of jamming a drill-bit into an orifice that really doesn't seem believable that a person would survive such a dismembering. This becomes such a common feature throughout this as the realistic nature of the piece manages to afford this one completely engrossing and realistic material, managing to make for a graphic yet still believable experience. There are several issues with this, however. The main point of the effort is the fact that this isn't entirely driven much beyond a need to showcase the admittedly effective, realistic and repugnant gore effects, leaving this devoid of any story whatsoever. The connection between his past haunting him and his desire to carve into himself isn't made clear at all, and with the completely ambiguous nature of the goddess lurking within the confines of the story, the film essentially runs as a special effects showcase without any other kind of purpose. The painstaking ritualistic manner in which he goes about undertaking everything before he starts is completely missing, and there's a sense of confusion of what each of the different processes means in the long run, causing that empty overall feeling. As well, the fact of him continually stopping to take a cigarette after every dismemberment makes this feel a little too start-stop with it's pacing, highlighting the fact that the blood flow and continuous cutting and wounds here should've killed him far earlier that it does. Still, these are all that really holds this one back.

Rated Unrated/NC-17: Continuous Extreme Graphic Violence, Full Male and Female Nudity and Graphic Language.

Very intense film lots of blood and great cinematography, the story seems or explains slow but you do get it by the end, so dont expect it to move as fast as the others. It takes its time but its worth the ride. Very cool film. Can wait for the 5 th installment