|
Broken since the death of his wife from cancer, an artist (Shigeru
Saiki) goes into the sewers every day to look for inspiration - and one
day while down there he finds a mermaid (Mari Somei), who communicates
with him telepathically. The artist immediately sketches her, and only
then he notices the woman is suffering from some kind of rash. He takes
her home with him to take care of her condition, but she doesn't want to
be cured, only painted. As the days go by, her condition gets worse and
worse, and before long, the rash grows on her whole body and looks like
tumors growing on the outside. Eventually, these tumors open and worms
emerge. The artist suffers from seeing her suffer, but she insists he
finishes his picture before she dies - and once the painting is finished,
she insists he stabs and mutilates her. And while cutting apart the
mermaid's by now grotesque body, the artist even uncovers an unborn and
dead child - all of which is enough to make him retreat into some kind of
stupor. It's only days later that neighbours notice the smell and call
the police - who find the artist still sitting over the mutilated mermaid,
the dead baby just a few feet away - only the mermaid was actually his
dead wife, and it looks as if the whole mermaid story was just happening
in his head ... Filmed as part of the (extremely violent and
gory) Guinea Pig-series of films, this is actually the least
typical film of the series, and thus it is often neglected by fans of the
movies. It's least typical because it doesn't focus on violence and gore
but tells a poetical love story - but that said, there are enough
blood-and-guts found in Mermaid in a Manhole, and its poetic
aspects can be found in decay - but that makes the film all the more
fascinating, an outrageous piece of body horror dressed up as romance (or
the other way round), the story of true love told via pictures of decay
and dismemberment. As I said, a fascinating movie, but you still need a
strong stomach to devour it!
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Guinea Pig: Mermaid in a Manhole at adultvideouniverse.com
