Guineapig films
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The Guineapig films (from the Japanese "ginipiggu") were a series of 1980s Japanese horror films with extremely detailed special effects. They became infamous when Charlie Sheen mistook one for a snuff film and contacted the FBI. They have since been reissued on DVD in the United States and in the Netherlands. The tapes were catapaulted to a new level of infamy in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the first five films of the series were found showcased in the 6,000 videotape collection of Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, who, suffering from delusions which warped his perception of reality, re-enacted scenes from the films as a part of his crimes.
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The Devil's Experiment
The first Guineapig film, Za ginipiggu: Akuma no jikken (1985), is alledgedly a re-enactment of an actual snuff film. The film revolves around a group of men who kidnap and graphically torture a young woman as part of an experiment on the human body's threshold of pain.
Flower of Flesh and Blood
The second video, Za ginipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana (1985) was also based on a purported snuff film, this one sent to one of the screenwriters. In it, a man dressed as a samurai drugs a woman and proceeds to cut her apart, and finally adds her body parts to an extensive collection.
After viewing a portion of this film, Sheen was convinced the murder depicted was genuine and contacted police. The band Skinny Puppy wrote a song, "The Mourn," after discovering the video; when they later learned it was a fake they incorporated clips of it into their live stage show.
"Flower of Flesh and Blood" was Tsutomu Miyazaki's favorite of the first five films, and the one which apparently served as one of his primary "blueprints" for his crimes.
He Never Dies
The third film, Za ginipiggu 3: Senritsu! Shinanai otoko (1986) was not based on a real film, but instead on a bizarre crime scene in which it appeared that a man had cut himself apart and played with his body parts for several hours before dying. The movie is more mocking than the earlier two, and involves an elaborate revenge against the girl who drove the main character to attempting suicide.
Mermaid in a Manhole
Based off a manga by Hideshi Hino and directed by the mangaka himself, the next installment of the Guineapig series, Za ginipiggu 4: Manhoru no naka no ningyo (1988), is about an artist who, while trying to cope with the recent death of his wife, finds a young woman on the streets of Okinawa. The artist takes the young woman back to his house, and after a brief period of time, the young woman develops lacerations and begins to bleed. The artist uses the blood from the wounds to paint a portrait of the woman, but as he paints, her condition becomes extreme and she dies. The artist dismembers her body in his bathroom; the police burst in, and we see that the painting he has made, and the corpse he is dismembering, are his wife.
Android of Notre Dame
Za ginipiggu 5: Notorudamu no andoroido (1988) is about a scientist who tries to find a cure for his sister's grave illness. The scientist needs a "guinea pig" to perform experiments on. A stranger approaches the scientist with an offer of a body for the experiments. The scientist accepts and the stranger supplies the body for a price. The experiments do not go well and the scientist becomes enraged, hacking the body to pieces. The stranger approaches the scientist once again and supplies another body so the experiments can continue.
Devil Woman Doctor
Za ginipiggu 6: Peter no akuma no joi-san (1990) is the story about a female doctor who is a transvestite, played by real-life Japanese transvestite Peter. She mutilates and eventually kills all of her patients. This episode shifted the tone of the series from graphic horror to slapstick comedy.
Slaughter Special
Za ginipiggu 7: Zansatsu supeshyaru (1992) is the 7th movie from the series. This film tries to give funny endings to two of the former movies. However it achieves an exactly opposite effect.