In the spring of 1945, Japan established a secret base, Unit 731 in Manchuria, where many innocent Chinese, Korean and Mongolian people were killed in grotesque experiments. An idealistic young doctor , Morishima, is horrified by the experiments being performed in the camp and when his fiancée arrives disguised as a Chinese prisoner he sets out to liberate the camp. A docudrama sequel to the notorious Men Behind the Sun, which pulls no punches when it comes to delivering the shocks!
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Reviews
The first Men Behind the Sun marked the beginning of the Category III (CAT III) movies, the extreme graphic violence and the historical theme made Men Behind the sun going to the highlights, apparently, it grossed enough money for make a "sequel".Men Behind the sun II is directed by Godfrey Ho (remember Ninja Thunderbolt ? Ninja Terminator ?), the greatest Hong Kong B-movie director.This is more a remake than a sequel, with the only difference is that we don't see the cadet's "point of view".Men Behind the Sun II is the most violent and nasty (at least in my opinion) of the whole Man Behind the sun Quadrilogy, it includes the most disgusting autopsy scene ever filmed.The special effects are realistic, shocking and gross.The English dub is cheesy.Many people complained at the time that T.F Mou made Men Behind the Sun just for make some cash on this sad story, actually, i think that the guy who did this is Godfrey Ho, compare the original with this sequel/remake, you will notice that there is something "lacking": the historical content and the philosophy and the message.
Even though I swore to myself I would never lay eyes again on 'Men behind the Sun' or any of its sequels, I am now reviewing part 2. Go figure! I guess the call of the extremes just was too irresistible. At least now I clearly recall why I took this pledge . These films are almost unbearable. The 'Men behind the Sun' franchise might as well be the most controversial and shocking series of films ever made (maybe a tie with the 'Guinea Pig' series, though) and handles about despicably explicit experiments performed on prisoners in a Japanese army base during WWII. These unfriendly Japs are developing germ-bombs to disable their enemies and a whole lot of other sick stuff involving nitroglycerine etc There's an ultra-thin wraparound story about a young soldier who's sent to serve in the camp against his will but that's of minor importance. This second chapter is less repulsive than the original, but still contains more than enough sequences to make your stomach turn. Luckily the make-up effects are often cheesy and unquestionably fake. The acting is weak and the directing (by Hong Kong B-movie legend Ho) is atrocious. This is a film without any values. The only reason why it is made is because the DVD looks good in a cult-collection like mine.
I honestly don't understand how someone could like Men Behind the Sun but not like this film. Although inferior in some ways, it is extremely devastating. We are treated to brutal extended autopsy, Arms being stripped of flesh,an autopsy on a living guy that looks suspiciously real(they remove his heart as it beats and when they cut him open it bleeds for real, exuding out of the fat and tissue layers)decapitation, dismemberment and more. I have read reviews for Guinea Pig:devils experiment wherein the reviewer states that he believed it to be real snuff, come on now.This flick has more realistic slaughter than the first Guinea Pig. This film uses real corpses for all the effects and the living autopsy scene is brutal. the only way i figure they did it without actually killing a guy is if they filmed a heart surgery or cleverly slaughtered a pig disguising it as a human. Don't believe the bad reviews. This movie is sick and deserves more credit.
"Laboratory of the Devil" is one of the sickest movies ever made, though it's not as bad as its predecessor. It also lacks the sense of realism that "Men Behind the Sun" had because it replaces documentary style filmmaking with stylish camera work. It also goes for plot and character development instead of just showing the horrors of the camp. This is not to say "Laboratory..." isn't violent; it's just that the violence does not have the impact of that in "Men...".The plot follows a man who is enlisted in the infamous squadron 731 in Japan. He is also forced to leave behind his fiance, and due to the secrecy involved with the location of squadron 731, he cannot have any kind of contact with her or any of the outside world. As he is forced to kill the Chinese, his mental state begins to deteriorate. "Laboratory..." has many scenes of various inhuman deeds being performed, which include the "skin-ripping" seen in the first film, a VERY detailed "autopsy" on a living person, and people being given lethal injections just to see how long it takes to kill them. All of these scenes are extremely realistic, and are bound to sicken even those with the strongest stomachs.Had "Laboratory..." had the documentary style of "Men...," it easily could have surpassed it. Godfrey Ho's direction is once again very solid, and the special effects are almost too realistic, which really adds to the film. The acting is also very good. Like "Men...," this film also suffers from terrible dubbing (It sounds like those dubbing the film are talking through a mouth full of food). Like the first one, this film is not all about violence; it has a very strong message about Japanese WWII war tactics (They kidnapped numerous Chinese off the streets and killed them inhumanly in experiments. The Japanese have not apologized to this day for their actions against the Chinese.).This film is for those with strong stomachs who want more than just violence in their films and also is for gorehounds. My rating: Seven out of ten.
