This is it! Quite possibly one of the single-most notorious gore movies in the history of the genre, Flower of Flesh and Blood is the second in a series of Japanese short films known as the Guinea Pigs (Za Ginipiggu). Flower OFAB literally strips the traditional story-telling narrative bare, leaving a disturbing short film that features a crazed (?) Japanese man in a Samurai suit doping and graphically dismembering a young woman who is tied to a bed. When his grisly - and incredibly gory - task is complete, he eviscerates and decapitates her, then scoops out and eats her eyeball! Her bloody remains are then added to the man\'s private collection of human body parts, all in various stages of preservation and/or decomposition (are they to be used as fertiliser for a flowerbed? or are they human flowers blossoming with gore and decay?). When first circulated amongst the worldwide underground horror circuit mostly as VHS imports or hazy bootlegs, it was without subtitles and appeared to many to be actual footage of a real-life murder (WHICH IT IS NOT). Indeed, according to the popular legend, a certain Hollywood actor (Mr Sheen), acquired a copy of the tape from a US mail order company run by genre critic Chas Balun, watched it and thought it was real. The tape was passed onto the MPAA (the US censors) and the FBI for investigation, though it was soon proved to be a very convincing FAKE made with almost anatomically-accurate special effects. Plus of course, you can see the murderer\'s face throughout, and even in the midst of the carnage, the victim\'s pubic hair and genitals are always covered up and never seen - a fundamental aspect throughout almost all of Japanese cinema. Oh, and the killing of a chicken is quite obviously faked (the director has explained that he does not believe in the killing of another living thing).

Directed in 1985 by Hideshi Hino, a renowned Japanese comic-book artist, it is allegedly based upon a genuine 8mm snuff-film that was anonymously given to the artist (along with 54 photographs and a 19 page letter). After turning this material over to the police, Hino decided to make a fictional, semi-documentary movie. Or so the publicity material and the film\'s introduction declared. Filmed back-to-back with the first Guinea Pig, The Devil\'s Experiment, Flower OFAB is more closely based upon Hino\'s own manga comics, particularly Akai Hana (Red Flower).

In Japan in 1988, a man was caught after commiting a series of brutal murders, one of which seemed to have been a re-enactment of Flower OFAB, though ultimately the films were not blamed for his psychotic behaviour, as the authorities managed to take a more intelligent view of the tragic incident (Daily Mail readers take note!). Even when the filmmakers released a Making Of Guinea Pig, clearly showing the latex-and-mechanical effects work, the controversy surrounding the film continued...

Not only does the current DVD release from American Unearthed Films have a crisp, digitally remastered print of Flower OFAB, it also comes with English subtitles, so that we in the West now know exactly what the nutter in the Samurai outfit is saying! The gloriously packed disc also contains a full and incredibly insightful history of the movies, the aforementioned Making of..., original trailers, at least two easter eggs (or hidden features), superb interviews with the man himself, Hideshi Hino, and on-screen reproductions of Hino\'s Akai Hana - the manga comic that Flower OFAB is based upon. Flower of Flesh and Blood is almost unique in its extremity, and is a deeply unsettling piece of celluloid, yet it is also imbued with an intelligence more akin to arthouse movies. I personally believe that art should always be a challenging, cathartic experience that takes you to a place you have never been before and exposes you - forces you to confront - emotions that you have probably never felt before. Yes, it is shocking, brutal and extreme, but after all, it is ONLY A MOVIE...

Top of page