2 out of 5

Director: Hideshi Hino

Yeah, meh, this guinea pig entry goes more for gross out effects than shock, but it’s another entry from Hideshi Hino, who helmed the more notorious second entry in the series. The GP films can be grouped in pairs – 1 and 2 are the snuffy plotless torture flicks, 3 and 4 are …comedies…, and 5 and 6 attempt to meld some fantasy and, lo, plotting with the blood and guts, making them the most, essentially, regular of the 6 films. Watched as all individual films, my take on these would vary, but it’s more sensible to compare them amongst themselves. In this sense, Mermaid – while more straight-forward than #5, the android of notre dame – it also feels like the most tedious of the group, as you’re probably (like me) watching these in order. Mermaid concerns an artist who stumbles across a fishy lady in the sewers and decides to paint her, even when she gets sick and starts bursting with gross buboes. And hey, let’s use the puss that pours from these sores as point. I almost rated this flick higher because the gross out gag – the bugs streaming out of the sores – becomes hilariously over-the-top, but similar to 5, which started with an interesting concept and then didn’t make any sense, Mermaid MAKES sense (in its own world) but quits before using that to make an actual movie.