Wandering into the darkest corners of media, there has for a long time been a prevailing belief in the existence of “snuff,” murders filmed to make money off the distribution of the footage. Many have been mistaken as purveyors of extreme content that purposely blur the lines between fiction and reality and the existence of “mondo films,” such asFaces of Death, which interstices images of actual death with re-enactments. It is by all means deplorable stuff, but the creation of pseudo-snuff remains as a form of entertainment on the fringes of cinema, with many filmmakers making a name for themselves, focusing solely on creating content that is as real as possible.
For those unaware of extremehorror, it can be quite a shock. ActorCharlie Sheenwas exposed to an infamous series from Japan, theGuinea Pigseries. Specifically, the second film in the controversial franchise,Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood.His reaction to the content may have been understandable then, but this misinterpretation of the work helped feed the urban legend around snuff movies.
Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood Terrified Charlie Sheen
In 1991, Charlie Sheen received an extreme horror compilation of films from critic and writer Chris Gore. It included the 1985 movieGuinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood, directed by Hideshi Hino, a famedhorror manga creatorwho based the film on one of his works.When Sheen watched the footage, he believed the work to be a legitimate snuff movie and reported it to the FBI. Taking the matter seriously, the FBI investigated the Japanese shock film before discovering it was fake.
Charlie Sheen did not understand theGuinea Pigseries or its intended audience. One can chalk it up to an honest mistake, and the VHS era was a wild time for questionable content being shared, but the response was somewhat comedic for fans aware of the extremes of horror. To understand why Charlie Sheen mistookGuinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood, one needs a better idea of what it is.TheGuinea Pigseries is infamous, but outside the mainstream horror world, you won’t find any of the films on streaming. While each one varies,the purpose of the movies is to express extreme scenarios of violence with an emphasis often on torture.
Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Bloodplot, or lack thereof,is about a man dressed as a samurai who abducts, tortures, and murders a woman. At the same time, not all series in the franchise are realistic, with the sequelGuinea Pig 3: He Never Diesfollowing a salaryman who, after a suicide attempt, learns that he can’t die and begins to terrorize the people of Japan by throwing his guts at them; it is anabsurd take on possession horror. Maybe if Sheen had binged the entire series, he would have been aware of the ridiculousness of his claims.
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Japan’s Debunking of Guinea Pig as Snuff
For those unfamiliar with the history of Japanese film, the extremity ofGuinea Pigfilms can come across as unsettling. However, there is complexity in how the film industry came to a point where extreme gore films could exist, which differs from the West.The roots can be traced back to the aftermath of WWII,which saw a severe relaxation of censorship and a surge in interest in exploring taboo content that steadily became more boundary-pushing over time.
This led to a boom in exploitation movies that often blurred the line between sex and violencein the rise of “Roman Porno” and “Pinky Violence” genres (Grindhouse Cinema Database). That is to say, while the authorities were probably not fans of theGuinea Pigfilms, they were likely aware of its existence, or at least the fringe cinema that was part of the underground Japanese movie scene.
Through a cooperative process,a behind-the-scenes documentary was made to show how the movie was made, and theFBI conducted interviews with the cast and crew. While this should have been ample proof, the movie was also analyzed in detail, including thebody horror-inspired practical effectsbroken down and highlighted when moments were fake, i.e., not biologically accurate. The existence of the other films, at that point six had been released, also helped ensure thatGuinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Bloodwas seen as fake by the FBI.
Charlie Sheen Calling Snuff Helped Feed the Urban Legend
The existence of snuff remains a point of contention. Many believe it to be entirely an urban legend, while others believe it only exists on the fringes and darkest corners of the world; fact checker siteSnopes does have its status as false. Still,Charlie Sheen’s claim thatGuinea Pig 2was real snuff has added to the prevailing belief that snuff movies exist. Other movies that have fed into the urban legend includethe controversialCannibal Holocaust, which had viewers believing that its filmmaker murdered its stars.
1976’sSnuffalso faced controversy when the filmmakers added an extra reel at the end of their film showing the supposed murder of an actor. This shock tactic paid off as the scene was believed to be authentic, making a rather unremarkable movie a talking point. In the modern era,the prevailing belief in ‘Red Rooms’ and the dark web has continued to sway many horror fans into thinking that snuff exists.
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The legacy ofGuinea Pigcan still be seen in series likeAmerican Guinea Pig, which has four entries in the franchise versus the seven that make up the JapaneseGuinea Pigfilms.The urban legend of snuff will likely always exist, with Sheen’s adding to the idea a notable yet one of the few reasons people still entertain the idea of murder on film for profit.Due to its graphic nature,Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Bloodis unavailable to stream or rent.
