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Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole, 1988, dir. Hideshi Hino

For the fourth entry in the series Hideshi Hino gets back on board as writer and director, and things take a turn for the darker again. Personally, this is the film that had me the most disgusted with the gore, which focuses on infection, pustules, worms, and maggots, which make me much more squeamish than hacked flesh ever has. Although I was much more disturbed overall by the nature of the first Guinea Pig film, this one had me closer to just wanting to vomit. Beyond this, the plot of this film is the most engaging of the series: a man whose wife recently died discovers a mermaid in a sewer, whom he brings up to his apartment to paint a portrait of, which he continues to do even when her body is ravaged by an infection. The themes touched upon by this film are prevalent throughout Hino's career: places of waste and objects of destruction, death, and rot as a source for the creative process. In this tale he takes this concept to the level of the material for the creative process coming from the rot itself, as the painter uses the seven colors of pus from the mermaid's sores to paint her portrait. With its commentary on the creative process and less conventional, more inventive style of gore, this is the strongest entry in the series, thanks to Hino's skilled hand as an artist.