GUTS OF A VIRGIN

GUTS OF A VIRGIN (AKA ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN, AKA SHOJO NO HARAWATA) is the final part of Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu's infamous "splatter-eros" trilogy. It was made in 1988. The two previous installments (the films bear no relation to each other in terms of story or characters) in the trilogy are ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN (AKA GUTS OF A BEAUTY, AKA BIJO NO HARAWATA, AKA GUTS OF A VIRGIN II, 1986, also available on DVD) and FEMALE INQUISITOR (AKA GUTS OF A VIRGIN III: RUSTED BODY, AKA GOMON KIFUJIN, 1987). Gaira was also responsible for THE LIVING DEAD IN TOKYO BAY (AKA BATTLE GIRL, AKA BATORU GARU, 1992), THE MAN WHO INHERITED A STAR (AKA HOSHI O TSUGUMONO, 1990, Starring 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano) and XX:BEAUTIFUL WEAPON (1993). He was also the cameraman on Shigeru Izumiya's early splatterpunk/underground film DEATH POWDER (AKA DESU PAWUDA, 1986).

The plot is simple; a team of photographers and their models (three men and three women) are on a fashion shoot in some monutains. Intercut with the shoot are scenes of the three couples having sex (it is not clear whether these scenes represent fantasies on the parts of the males, or memories, or what). The team pack up and leave when it gets dark. As they drive away, the road becomes very foggy. Ominous music plays. We see a patch of what looks like leaves and mud at the side of the road. The figure of a man rises from the patch, covered in mud and foliage. The team stop at a house. They play some sex games. They pair off into three couples. The figure lurks outside. One of the men goes out to their car. On the way back, he is confronted by the figure, who is apparently a giant. He is killed. One of the other couples is outside. The girl runs off and the man catches up with her, lifting her up so that they can have a standing 69! The man cums and the girl drops to the floor, spitting out a mouthful of semen. She wanders off into the garden, and a huge phallic shadow falls across her. The giant lifts her up onto a wall and shags her. When he's finished, he leaves her, and we see a sign hanging above her by a thin wire. The sign drops, decapitating her. The man is looking for her and meets the giant. He is now wearing shorts and carrying a large spear. The two figures face each other. Time passes. The giant runs forward and throws his spear, which enters the man at his shoulder and exits at his side. He staggers about, the spear quivering either side of him, bathed in light from behind. Back in the house, the other couple are having sex. The girl from the first couple (who was unconscious) wanders outside and finds the girl's head. She goes back in and throws it to the couple having sex. The man runs off and gets a hook through his neck. The first girl goes back outside and finds the third man's dead body, which she gives oral sex. The giant appears and pulls off one of the corpses' arms and throws it to her. In the film's most infamous scene, she masturbates with the stiff fingers of the arm. The giant approaches and she gives him a blow job. He then shags her and cums weird goo all over her. He then puts his arm up her vagina and rummages about (we see his fingers and hand moving her skin), pulling out her entrails. The last girl hides in a shed, but the giant finds her. He rapes her in various positions, and then cums (this is shown from inside her body!) He then disappears. We see the girl, heavily pregnant, standing alone on a rocky hill. Flames burst up from the rocks around her and the picture freezeframes. The credits follow, then a brief coda, showing an evil-looking foetus. This description might seem somewhat incoherent, but the raison d'etre of this film is not the story line!

This film, though it might sound like simply another Japanese gore opus (like the GUINEA PIG or ATROCITY series), in fact rises far above the norm for the sub-genre. Gaira's comic-book (or, more accurately, Manga) sensibilities are very much at the fore throughout the film, and this helps keep the viewer entertained during some of the nastier scenes. The FX throughout are not technically brilliant, but are very effective. What really distinguishes the film from its lesser counterparts however, is the inventiveness of the murders and the sex scenes. Gaira uses some bizarre and fascinating imagery for the murders of the men. The first murder is quite unexpected when it comes - one of the men wanders back out to the car. On the way back he is confronted by what seems to be a huge man. We are shown them from a strange angle, slightly above the horizontal. The scene is held for some time, neither figure moving. The giant has a hammer, and he raises it. A succession of strange pre-death images fash across the screen. The hammer comes down on the man's head, splitting his skull and forcing his eyeballs to pop out of their sockets (this image is used rather provocatively on JSV's front cover for the DVD). The sex scenes are fairly boring and suffer from the same problem as most Japanese films of this type - fogging. Sadly, JSV have used the same fogged prints for their DVD's as were previously available from themselves on VHS. Fogging is a nickname for the process of digitising out genitalia, something all Japanese film fans will have come across at one time or another. Japanese law strictly prohibited the showing of genitalia (and pubic hair) in films up until very recently, and so you get this mixing of the pixels around the offensive regions! It is quite possible that no un-fogged prints of these films exist. Certainly, all the versions that I have ever seen have been fogged. Still, this is a pity, and means that the sex scenes are rather annoying. The sex scenes with the monster are quite inventive, though. We mainly see the shadow or outline of his penis, outrageously exagerrated. In the first sex scene with the monster for example, we are shown the moment of penetration from below, the girls' legs spread wide, and the huge penis entering her, all in shadow. The ending of the film in particular is a surprise - what exactly Gaira is saying is unclear, but it's nice to see an exploitative film like this end on a fairly inspired and aesthetically pleasing note. Although most of the scenes described above sound worse than they actually are, some of the scenes really are quite nasty, and will certainly offend anyone who is not used to this kind of film. One thing's for sure - I wouldn't recommend showing this to your girlfriend as a date movie!!!

It's interesting to note the mistakes JSV have made on the covers of their two Gaira releases also. Firstly, they insist on crediting the director of both films as one 'Toshio Sato', when (just about) everyone is well aware that Kazuo Komizu was responsible for them. A person called Toshio Sato does exist, he was a minor actor in Ridley Scott's BLACK RAIN and in CADILLAC MAN. However, he most certainly did not direct these films! Secondly, they've mixed up the plot summaries on the back covers of the two DVD's. So, rather confusingly, the summary on the back of GUTS OF A VIRGIN is that of GUTS OF A BEAUTY and vice versa. The last thing that the world of Japanese underground/horror films needs is more misinformation and it would be nice if small companies like JSV could make a bit more effort with their packaging, but I guess it's not too big a thing (let's face it - Anchor Bay couldn't even spell Profondo right on the inlay card for DEEP RED!). Also, it's nice to see that the JSV DVD's come with a couple of inlays - one is a sheet showing 4 posters (which you can order), and the other is a little booklet of JSV's releases. Better than nothing, I think.
Another point in JSV's favour is that the subtitles actually make sense - no spelling mistakes (or very few), and no major grammatical errors, which makes a nice change. Having said that, I find it particularly annoying when the credits for films aren't subtitled. Neither of these releases has any subtitles on the credits, so it's impossible to find out many details about the film's cast and crew. This would have been nice to have, as details concerning editors, producers etc. are very difficult to come by for Japanese films.

DVD Specification
Original year of release - 1988
Approximate running time - 72min.
Aspect ratio - Widescreen (1.85:1)
System - NTSC (colour)
Rating - 16 (!!!)
Sound - Stereo
DVD release - Japan Shock Video
Region Coding - Region 0 (code free)

DVD Extras
Japan Shock Video Trailers for the following films; EVIL DEAD TRAP, EVIL DEAD TRAP II - HIDEKI, GUTS OF A VIRGIN, GUTS OF A BEAUTY, WET ROPE and BEAUTIFUL GIRL HUNTER.
German subtitles.

DVD Ratings (out of 5)
Picture - 4
The picture is overall very clear and free from artificing. Colours are quite well-defined and blacks look black. It's difficult to see in the night time scenes, but I think that this was the way Gaira intended it to be, rather than being a result of JSV's mastering. On the back cover it states that the film has been 'digitally mastered'. Whether this is true is hard to say, but the quality of the picture is certainly acceptable, and is easily as good as I've ever seen it look (on the Japanese video and JSV's previous VHS release). Unless a US company picks this up (which isn't as unlikely as it sounds, I don't think), then this is undoubtedly the best you'll ever see the film look. The framing is correct at 1.85:1, and there's no anamorphic enhancement, not that you'd really expect it on a title like this. The subtitles are inserted on a black band across the top of the bottom matte bar, obscuring the bottom 1 cm or so of the picture.
Sound - 4
This was the biggest surprise for me - I expected mono, and was pleasnatly surprised to find that the DVD is stereo. Only ever having seen mono dupes of the film previously, the stereo sound was a very welcome addition. This is especially true since the music is quite ominous and atmospheric in places, and definitely adds to the mood. The track is clear from hiss or static and is generally very good. Well done JSV!
Extras - 2
A set of trailers for JSV's own DVD releases (presumably WET ROPE is next on their list. This is a nunsploitation film, Japan-style!) The trailers aren't particularly good - it would have been much nicer to have the original Japanese trailers (though some of these might be the original trailers - it's hard to tell). The quality varies - the WET ROPE and BEAUTIFUL GIRL HUNTER trailers are particularly good quality, looking crystal clear. All-in-all, not very impressive. They could at least have included some biographical detail on Gaira, who is a fascinating character by all accounts...
Overall Rating - 4
One of the most infamous Japanese films is given a deserved place on DVD. It has always been a difficult film to get hold of in a good copy, with subtitles, so JSV's DVD more than makes amends. Some biographical detail would have been nice, as would an unfogged print. The film itself is presented with a good clear picture and a nice stereo soundtrack. People who like this type of film will almost certainly be more than happy with the DVD. Anyone who's heard about the film but not seen it will probably want to check it out. Do be warned, though - some of the rapes and violence will most definitely offend those not used to watching this kind of film.

AKA
ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN (direct translation)
SHOJO NO HARAWATA (original Japanese title)

Alternative versions
Very few. There was a Japanese video release (label unknown), which was widescreen and optically censored.
There was also a previous Japan Shock Video VHS release, which was essentially the same print as this DVD.
The film has never been (and will never be) submitted to the BBFC. There is no way that this film would ever be granted a certificate, even cut by about 30 mins!