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The Morgue
Guinea Pig 3: Shudder! The Man Who Doesn't Die
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Shudder! He Never Dies is one heck of a hilarious gory film. You didn’t read that wrong, gore films can also be penetrated by important amounts of humour especially if they’re Japanese. They always manage to insert dark humour into the bloodiest productions.
Unlike the previous two Guinea Pig’s films that skipped any attempt to create a plot and jumped to the gore itself. This one tried to build a little plot, okay maybe a tiny bit but it was somewhat meaningful. He Never Dies differentiate itself from all the other films of the Guinea Pig’s series because the main character was the one inducting pain to his own body. He realized that he’s an immortal so he can’t actually die no matter how hard he cuts his wrists, throat or any vital spot.
Having a funny take wasn’t meant to reduce the amount of gore in this film; it was actually reinforcing it with several brutal acts to one’s body. The depiction of gore was plain realistic even while showing the insides or the beheading. The special effects used for this part were pretty much convincing except some little details here and there.
As usual, the lack of a subtle plot forbids me from rating this any higher. As I said before, gore for the sake of gore don’t deserve any high appreciation from me even if this part and Flower of Flesh and Bones pleased me the most out of the whole series.
Watch if:
-You like extreme gore films.
-You like the Guinea Pig’s series.
-You like gore films mixed with dark humour.
Do not watch if:
-You can’t handle bloody sadist gore films.
Shudder! He Never Dies was absolutely the funniest part of the whole Guinea Pig’s series. But being humorous doesn’t mean it was light, the usual elements of sick gore films are still there.
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We’re all familiar with the Japanese sense of creativity that knows no limits and this film falls under that category. Takeshi Miike is surely a genius director but he comes up with pretty crazy films sometimes, that’s why I understand people who think of this as unwatchable and I also relate to those who consider it another creative work. What’s for sure is that this film isn’t directed for everyone.
This is basically a school film; one of those J-films where there are lots of delinquents and a badass male lead and of course, there’s a little romantic interest as a spice. But then things get ultimately awkward and irritating when they add singing and dancing to those elements. I don’t know what this film’s makers were thinking about when they did that. I thought that they were trying to imitate a Disney musical or something but if that was the case, then this was a drastic failure. I believe that the film would’ve been more enjoyable if they excluded the meaningless singing and dancing, I had to skip those parts to be able to follow the story and that was somehow successful. But then again, you can’t consider this as a pure delinquent film since it was interrupted with pointless romance without any chemistry that grabs your intention.
The acting was pretty alright. I mean there’s Satoshi as the male lead and let’s not forget other good actors such as Sakura and Ihara who were quite good as actors but I can’t say the same about any character in this film, most of them were all over the place especially the female lead who was utterly annoying and badly written. So you can guess that this is a film where you have to set a thin barrier between acting and characters; even though the former was quite good, the latter was a hot mess.
The music department was extremely bad, I do believe that it ruined the whole film no matter how much you try to ignore it; it will pop out in front of you out of nowhere to destroy any sort of entertainment you expect from this film. I think this is the worst musical film (if that what the makers were trying to accomplish) ever made.
Taken as a whole, I wouldn’t dare to recommend this to anyone because I am sure that most people would hate the frustrating singing and dancing but if you can disregard those elements and watch this as another weird school/delinquent J-film mixed up with some romance then this could be to your liking. However, remember not to have any expectations for this one or else, you will end up awfully disappointed.
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The team of eight have different shores within their posts and they have to stay there for a little more than a year. Their story is mainly told by their easy-going appointed chef. Basically, the film shows bits and pieces of their everyday life and how they manage to survive in such a place. There’s water control, waiting for one’s role, lack of communication, shortage in certain ingredients and surely routine, cold and loneliness.
The characters in this film were very well shaped. Even though the chef was the main character. Every other group member got his exposure. There was an interesting balance between their behaviours and their natural eccentric personalities. You would see a bunch of grown man doing sports activities every morning, a tantrum thrown out of nowhere or several activities to shorten the time. All while helping each other and relying on one another through various situations.
The film’s strength was keeping the storyline very close home. It was humane and quite real. It’s how you would expect of a scientific team to act when they’re thrown in an isolated region. Their quirky humour and delightful situations were a great way to not make this film too melodramatic or overly sentimental.
Led by the versatile Sakai Masato, the acting department was very well illustrated. The cast delivered, as they should have. They were quite faithful to their characters.
It could be that the film got a little slow but it was that exact same building that made it quite delightful to follow. Plus, the funny situations made it a lot shorter than what it seems.
A little warning, try not to watch this on an empty stomach. It will be a complete torture with all the delicious dishes in the film. It’s impressive how a good chef can make a variety of food with little choice of ingredients.
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