Tumbling Doll of Flesh – 1998

Tumbling Doll of Flesh is one of those movies most of us just heard about. I think it’s usually ranked in the lower tiers in the iceberg of horror. There are a few different out there of course and some list it in tier 4 while others place it in tier 7. Of course, there are some iceberg charts where it’s not present. It also depends if you rate it for its obscurity or for its violence. Tumbling Doll of Flesh is undoubtedly a lesser-known film than the Guinea Pig Films for instance and in my opinion much more brutal. I haven’t seen all of the Guinea Pig films yet though. But I think that the first couple of films; The Devil’s Experiment and Flowers of Flesh and Blood are the ones that are most comparable to this anyway.

Thin plot

The plot is thin, very thin. A couple of adult filmmakers hire a man and a woman to participate in their new movie. They explain to the participants that they do highly customized movies and that they were hand-picked to suit the buyer of this particular movie, that it’s for a very niche audience, and so on. They also make it clear that once the filming has started, there’ll be no turning back. The filming will continue, if they like it or not. There’s no possibility to back down when the filming has started.

It is an adult movie and it starts off pretty normal. There is sexual intercourse in various positions. Since this is a Japanese movie all genitals are blurred out. And for once, I think that this is a good thing. I have no interest in seeing penetration going on in the early stages of the movie. I certainly have no interest in seeing it in the later stages either. It’s hard to say if there’s any enjoyment of the sex itself by the acting. I think that the female sounds and looks kind of the same when she’s really enjoying the sex and when she starts to feel like it’s too much for her.

BDSM

Even though, she has been told that there will be no stopping the film once it has begun she can’t handle the pain when it starts to become more BDSM. I’m certainly no expert but it seems to be pretty mild BDSM when she wants out. There is some candle wax dripping on her butt and she thinks it’s too hot. I don’t know how you would interpret the claim that it’s for a very niche audience. I would run like hell and never ever take part in such a sex movie. Especially when violence and BDSM come up in the discussion early on.

Blurring, Japanese Style

Let’s just say that at the point where she wants out, we haven’t seen anything yet. I mean that figuratively of course, since the Japanese blurring culture prevents us from seeing the genitals and penetration. I won’t post any pictures except for the cover art along with this review but you can rest assured that the sexual violence doesn’t stop at some molten wax. Now we’re really taken into a world of sick and depraved molestation. It’s bloody and sadistic to the core. There are limbs severed from the body and most of the time the filmmakers are mostly concerned with keeping her alive. Apparently, it is of utmost importance that she’s alive during the whole thing. Not that it really matters I think, she’s barely conscious anyway. There might be a little sound coming from her throat once in a while but mostly she just lay there.

The make actor is treated somewhat differently. After all, they need him to keep penetrating the female victim. Again, it’s blurred so you cannot see which orifice is being penetrated. Keep in mind that it might not be once to the natural orifices either as they puncture her guts and kind of disembowels her. You will have to picture the rest in your mind or seek out the movie for yourself.

Special Effects

The special effects are both good and bad I think. Some of the stuff going on is obviously fake. There’s no one being mutilated here. But the position of the body is very good and if the props were better made the illusion might have seemed more real. As far as the sex parts of the movie are real or not, I wouldn’t know because of the blurring. There might be real vaginal och anal probing, and there might not be.

I was highly revolted by seeing Tumbling Doll of Flesh, but not because the gore was over the top. What’s effective is the parts that you don’t see. the sadistic aspects of it. The movie depicts something I’m sure happens in the world today. People getting kidnapped and trafficked just to be part of perverted BDSM acts where the money talks and life is cheap. If it’s filmed and sold or if the “customer” is allowed to do the deem himself is another matter.

If the intent is to raise disgust Tumbling Doll of Flesh should get a very high rating. But if it’s for entertainment value and for it’s not that effective. I’m not glad I finally saw it, but I don’t regret seeing it either. I will probably never see it again. But at least now I have the experience to know what people are talking about when referring to this movie.