Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

LoneApothecary I had an idea of what to expect going into this movie. I was familiar with the reputation of the Guinea Pig series, and I'd read a little bit about the film, but I got more than I expected.The story is simple. A painter finds a mermaid in a sewer, notices that she has an infection, and brings her back to his house to nurse her back to health as well as to paint her. What follows is a slurry of blood, tumorous flesh, and worms. So many worms.The effects are well done, and they're downright repulsive at times, but if you have a strong enough stomach, and an amply twisted mind, you may appreciate it. If the thought of worms being pulled out of pus-oozing sores grosses you out, steer clear. If you're hunting for more gross-outs, then dig right in.The acting and the sound design were wonky, but I don't think the movie is worse off for it. In fact, I think it makes the movie better, because of the hilarity that ensues. The movie as a whole has a darkly comedic air to it, which I really enjoy. The questionable subtitles I had made it even funnier.This movie is a wonderful mess, and those who can appreciate it may very well love it. You'll laugh, you'll get grossed out, and then you'll laugh some more. If you ask me, it's a work of art, and it deserves an 8/10.

Crispfan846 The film's cinematography is done in a way that induces thoughts of soap operas. You know, that "overly polished, but attempting to look like real life" style. It is quite a change from the typical "movie" style that the opening credits are done in. I'll have to give it another watch to see how I really feel about that.The plot of Mermaid in a Manhole is that a lonely man, simply called The Artist, has recently lost his wife and is seeking inspiration for his paintings. His secret place is a sewer which used to be a lush river, whose banks he used to hang out on during his childhood. One day, his beloved pet/animal friend is dead and he frantically seeks to use it (I'm not sure what the animal was, by the way… it looked too big for a rat, but too mangy for much else) as artistic inspiration, when he encounters a mermaid. He becomes enthralled and obsessed with said mermaid, and decides to take her home – you see, she has some sort of funky flesh-eating infection, and he believes he can cure it. Also, by taking her home with him, he can just sit and paint her all day.Mermaid in a Manhole is a very quiet film. I mean that in a couple ways – first, while there is a lot of dialogue in parts, in most parts, there is silence with only the environmental sounds as the backdrop to the scenes. It's quite nice, and adds to the realism that the film was going for. The cast is very small, which also aids to the quiet of the film. In fact, you don't really see more than those four characters until the end.Now, with the above stated, I have to say that the amount of over-acting in this film is astounding. Most of the over-acting comes from The Artist (Shigerui Saiki). The man can overdo it with the best of them. The nosy neighbor does her fair share, as well. The Mermaid (Mari Somei) and The Artist appear to communicate telepathically – actually, The Mermaid appears to do all of her communicating telepathically and hams up her voice-overs just as well as the other two. In fact, I think the only one who doesn't ham it up in this is the boyfriend/husband/brother (their relationship is unclear) of the nosy neighbor – and this is possibly because he has so few lines.Though Mermaid in a Manhole is included in the Japanese splatter library of film, it's really not as gory or disgusting as you would think. Sure, it's not for the weak-stomached, what with its bleeding/worm spewing flesh eating mermaid virus, or the pus paint in seven colors. But, I certainly have seen much worse.If you want something that is extremely cheesy and fairly entertaining, with subtitles, I would recommend it. It's certainly not a bad film, but it definitely isn't good.

runthehills-1 This is the story of a man. Not any man, but a painter. He lives a happy life in Japan, painting pictures, but he goes into the sewers, and what does he find??? A mermaid. A beautiful mermaid, asking him to draw, and paint a picture of her. But she gets some infectious disease that literally starts eating away at here body, and in the end she dies.Now it sounds great. And don't get me wrong, it was good. But not that good. I am 14 years old, and i saw this movie, and i was surprised. I've been told that these movies are some of the most "disturbing, morbid, and macabre" movies available. While there were some "interesting" parts, there were none that surprised me, or even shocked me. I come from a family were horror movies are around everywhere. Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Hostel, Saw, Friday the 13th, Halloween. But i've always wanted to dip into Asian horror movies as they are said to be for only the strongest of stomachs. The only scene that was somewhat "intense" was the bugs/ worms, because i hate insects. Not my greatest interest at all.The moral is the man who loves his mermaid, ends up killing her to save her from the pain, little does he realize is that he is schizophrenic and it is his wife with her 8 month old fetus child, still in womb. This is sad, as he is also said to have loved his wife, but he thought she was already dead. It was also very dark.The story was incredible... Bad. The story was just long, and boring, the only thing that will keep ya going is the effects.Know, the effects were wicked awesome. The blood, and the Tumors, everything was cool.Acting: as this is a low-budget horror movie, don't expect any Russel Crowe or Tom Cruise performances. The main actor, the painter, some of his expressions were more funny than serious. But maybe thats Japanese culture that I'm just unfamiliar with.Overall: A decent horror movie, if there was a better story, would've won Oscar (just joking), the effects are really the only thing that'll attach you, and the dark depths of the story might entice you as well. My greatest would have to be a 6/10!

Golgo-13 Need a disgusting fix? An artist who uses a sewer for inspiration finds a mermaid there on his most recent visit. Despite her having a small infection on her stomach, he takes her home, puts her in his tub, and paints pictures of her. As time goes on, she becomes more infected with boils and such all over her body. Needless to say there is much blood and pus (which doubles as paint, wouldn't ya know?). There's even a strange twist at the end. Anyway, the SFX are done fairly well for being a cheapie and are sure to disgust many viewers at one point or another. It wasn't a great movie by any means but was interesting to watch.