GUINEA PIG
MERMAID IN A MANHOLE

A Japanese artist, still coming to terms with the death of his wife, decides to find some artistic inspiration for his paintings by visiting an old underground waterway where he used to hang out as a child.

Once inside the waterway, he is surprised to find a real life mermaid down there. Realising she has an infection, he takes her home to try and care for her. But as the infection begins to spread, rather than ask for medical assistance, she asks him to paint a picture of her before she dies.

As the artist struggles to complete his painting in time, we are treated to several long disgusting scenes of the infection slowly enveloping her body, as she becomes covered on boils which ooze puss, blood and get infested with worms which he has to regularly remove.

Again, totally different in style from the other films, this one really goes for the gross out factor. There was one amusing part where the neighbours come round to complain about the blood dripping thorough the ceiling, in a scene reminiscent of "City of the Living Dead", but other than this is little more than a gore fest. The film does provide an interesting twist in the ending though.

Overall marks : 4/10.

Other Information.

• Manga artist Hideo Hino, who directed "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" returned to write and direct this instalment.

• Actor Shigeru Saiki who plays 'The Artist' also appeared in Takashi Miike's "Audition".

• The film was one of the best selling home video cassettes in its month of release.

• The scene showing the blood dripping through the neighbours ceiling and onto their dinner table appears to have been inspired by a similar scene in Lucio Fulci's "City of the Living Dead".

• Director Hideo Hino based the central character, 'The Artist', on himself.

• Longest film in the series with a running time of 63min. All others are around 45min.

Cast & Crew.

Special Feature.

Buy the US DVD (double bill).

Buy the US DVD box set (4-discs).

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Other films in the series.

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