This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Disturbing yet enthralling

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

'Mermaid In A Manhole' is part of the infamous 'Guinea Pig' series of Japanese horror films, considered to be among the goriest, and most grotesque offerings out there. There are six titles to choose from and I went with the one that seemed to be the tamest. As an added bonus I got two films for the price of one. The other title on the disc was a 39 minute horror comedy called 'He Never Dies'. 'Mermaid' itself is only 63 minutes long, and that's a good thing. It is definitely disgusting and a couple of moments were gag worthy, but it isn't unwatchable. I realize that most people would find this film extremely repulsive, and I get that. Everyone has there line in the sand. I don't care for long scenes of rape and humiliation or animal death, but mermaids covered in tumors that squirt out worms and multi-colored pus is just a little too far from reality to be upsetting to me. There were trailers for other films in the series that looked much harsher. Even the favorable reviews I read said that there is little, if any story to 'Devil's Experiment' and 'Flowers of Flesh and Blood'. They are quite simply an exercise in how much you can stand to look at. I love the gore, but I need more! I need a story, or comedy, or some other form of entertainment to go along with it. I'm not going to rush out to rent more 'Guinea Pig' films, but to my surprise, I didn't hate 'Mermaid'. "There are seven different colors of pus in these tumors. You will paint me with the pus of seven colors." Our mermaid starts out with just a few tumors on her stomach and they spread like wildfire. The tumors are extremely disgusting to look at and as they spread they get more vile with the added addition of blood, colored pus and worms. Lot's and lot's and lot's of worms! The artist quite literally does paint her portrait with the seven colors of her own pus. 'Mermaid' was obviously made on a tight budget, and I think they pored every dollar they had into the gore. But there is a story, and the film actually comes full circle with an ending that is a twist that actually makes sense when you look back at it. The film tries to horrify but doesn't really succeed. It will gross you out and disgust you but it isn't suspenseful and it certainly isn't scary. There are more than a few moments that are just dumb. One particularly gory scene of the mermaid twitching out in slow motion, spraying away like a fountain, gave me a good laugh. In addition, there is a fan behind her blowing her hair about. Those crazy sound effects they used were downright cartoon-ish. There are also wacky neighbors that live below the artist that just didn't fit the rest of the film. I'm not sure whether they intended a little comic relief or it was unintentional, but in any case it didn't work for me. There is plenty to poke at, but I can't fail it. The mermaids tail was quite cool; very slimy and fishy. The gore is creative, and at times quite effective and the ending made up for some of it follies. I'm giving this one a day pass but rent it at your own risk!

I have seen a lot of horror films in my day, and was able to watch the first three Guinea Pig films with complete ease. But there is something about this one that just gets to me.This is the fourth film to come out of the Guinea Pig series, following after the Devils Experiments, Flower of Flesh and Blood, and He Never Dies. The film follows a painter who visits a location that originally was a river, from his childhood. The river has now become a sewer, so the painter climbs down in and starts doing sketches of what he sees. He comes across a mermaid; apparently he has come across this mermaid before, back in his youth. He asks the mermaid if he can paint her, she gladly allows him but as he starts sketching he sees that she is injured. He takes her back to his apartment and attempts to mend her wounds. The mermaid tells him to stop helping her and to paint. He does so and as a result the mermaid's injuries begin to infect and consume her body. The painter desperately wants to help her, but she is determined that he will finish his painting. The film concludes with a shocking and unexpected ending.I'm not really sure why but after this film ended I had a very gloomy and odd feeling that followed me through out the rest of the day. The film itself is alright, not the best, but its effect it had on me definitely made it the most effective out of the series, with its ability to shock.Most fans of the Guinea Pig series would probably recommend Flower of Flesh and Blood, or Devils Experiments. I recommend this one.

A painter finds a mermaid in a sewer. Then she starts to get sick. "Paint me," she insists.There's gore and disturbing scenes, but the story itself seems to have a depth to it. Even if there really isn't much of a story at all. I blame my love for the movie on my psychology degree, and my own dreams. The sewer is the unconscious. He takes the mermaid from the sewer to save her, to make art out of her -- only she's infected. But if she came out of his unconscious, then really, isn't he the one that's infected?There is definitely a sort of Cronenburg, Kafka, "Picture of Dorian Gray" feel to the movie. Repulsive, and yet I couldn't stop watching, even as I squirmed in my seat.Definitely not for everyone, but what's there is powerful -- even though the acting and special effects sometimes make the movie feel more like camp than true horror.

WARNING, may contain minor spoilersI watched this film mainly out of curiosity, given the reputation of the entire Guinea Pig series, and I must say that I am a bit disappointed. While I started really hoping to get totally sick, I wind up laughing at the screen halfway. The problem is that it is very easy to see pass the supposed blood and gore see paint and plastic. I can literately feel the little plastic hoses that squirt out those multi-coloured paint from the puss. When the mermaid's face is deformed by the disease, the face looked more like a plastic mask glue on the actress than something supposedly revolting. And it is obvious that the actress never did put the worms in her mouth, since you never actually see her barfing them out (the camera pans down away from her face at that point). It's really just a clever camera trick.But it isn't for the lack of trying. That are some genuinely shocking moments in the film, such as when the artist discovered what was inside the mermaid when he chopped up the mermaid after she died. So I am not saying that the film is not disgusting, but I found the low-budget and dated special effects to be laughable.Story-wise I did like that the film is short and not overly complicated. Obviously the main drawing point is the gore, but there's a pretty decent story as well about lost love, and life in general. And The ending just added an extra layer of mysteriousness into the mix, leaving the viewer thinking just what exactly has transpired.I still haven't figured it all out myself.