American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon (2017) review

You may have previously read my review on American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore, and Stephen Biro from Unearthed Films has relinquished upon us another imagining of horror nightmare with this instalment. If you’re unaware the original Guinea Pig films were an extreme series of Japanese horror films which aimed to shock the audience with graphic violence, torture and then some out and out just bonkers shit. What the AGP rebirth of the Guinea Pig series is trying to do is convert all those aspects originally presented with new storylines and depictions, yet still staying true to extreme horror through the use of out there ideas and special effects that will make your stomach churn. And The Song of Solomon really does have moments that leave you praying for it to end.

Mary is a young and hopeful girl, who has been taken hostage by a demon or perhaps The Devil himself. Her family just want their daughter back and therefore enlist the help of numerous men of the cloth to help exorcise the evil out of her, and make sure that she returns to the Godly world. This task set upon every sacred man proves to be almost impossible, as the entity that dwells within her has a fight that even the strongest faith can’t seem to destroy…

Our protagonist is Mary herself, even though she seems to have been long abolished from the body that the demon now inhibits. There’s not much left of her inside the carcass that is being devoured from the inside out, which means the performance given really needed to embody how evil would manipulate a woman’s body against the clergymen. Beloved scream queen Jessica Cameron (Truth or Dare, Camel Spiders) delivers what should be considered as her most outstanding performance to date; she is absolutely horrifying. From the way she speaks in tongues and mimics the religious readings to how she growls with menace and seduces with her eyes, she really does come across as if she were possessed. Over the years there have been an extortionate amount of demonic possession films, and being able to really convey how the Devil or demon would use a body as a puppet master in terms of mind and soul isn’t an easy feat, but Cameron is a natural in this role. 

In such a film that deals with demonic possession and priests trying to fight it through exorcism, there has to be a good amount of blasphemy and especially when it comes from Biro. There’s no holding back in The Song of Solomon and we are privy to the brutal deaths of nearly every clergyman that enters that room. These men of the faith aren’t just murdered in simple ways, they are gory and violent deaths that although happen at their own hands, are forced to happen by the spirit of evil that is residing within those four walls. As the film progresses we are given this example of just how great the evil is in this possession because not a single priest can seem to summon the devil out of Mary. However, in the background there’s a slightly more complicated story happening, with every priest being visited by a dark figure who seems to have temptation on their lips. Even though The Song of Solomon is essentially designed for gore and to shock, it does try to deliver something more in terms of storylines and characters.

If you know of Unearthed Films, then you’ve most likely come to them for outrageous gore and visceral, which is absolutely what you get with this film. There are a handful of scenes in this film that really made me feel sick to my stomach, including the infamous poster picture of Mary regurgitating her own organs, only to consume them once they’ve been deposited outside of her body. Admittedly it’s a little over the top and doesn’t necessarily add to the storyline, but it delivers the goods in terms of the shock factor and making the audience feel exceptionally uncomfortable. Who knew that vomiting your large intestine would be such heavy experience? There’s a galore of blood spurting from multiple orifices, bones snapping, muscles tearing and faces concaving… It’s all there in every bit of delight possible. 

There are times within the film that seemed to be unneeded, and were added for the purpose of fleshing out the film a little more. There were some slightly lesser performances in the film which divulged from the amazing ones, but fortunately weren’t shown too often. Also at times the religious aspects seem to drag too much, which on one hand is needed otherwise it becomes just a gore fest, but on the other shouldn’t have been forced too much. But overall these are minor bug bears that don’t do too much to take away from the overall perturbing deliverance of this film.

The Song of Solomon is The Exorcist on crack… If audiences back in the 80s thought that William Friedkin’s film was the most terrifying demon of blasphemy then they should give Biro’s vision a watch. 

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5