House of Flesh Mannequins (2009)

AKA: –
Directed by: Domiziano Cristopharo
Starring: Domiziano Arcangeli (Sebastian), Irena Violette (Sarah Roeg), Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Sarah’s father), Roberta Gemma (The Wife)
Country: USA; Italy; Effed Up Italian Films
Language: English
Runtime: 01:40:49
Genres: Gore-Gruesome, Old-Young, Snuff, Torture, Porn-related, Domestic Abuse, Voyeur

Plot – Spoilers:
Sebastian and his camera are inseparable. He views his world through it, and this is mostly one of gore and snuff. His films are distributed by an extreme-porn producer with whom he shares an uneasy relationship. All this began with his father, for whom Sebastian was a guinea pig to further his medical research.

Sebastian is financially independent through rent collected from letting out rooms in his inherited house and spends his time shooting gore and getting high on it. That is, when he isn’t spying on his neighbour Sarah who lives with her almost-blind father. If this all feels very deja-vu, it’s because House of Flesh Mannequins is a sort of perverse remake of Peeping Tom – there’s even a poster of the classic on a wall in one scene.

Good gore and flashes of snuff-type extremities will keep most people happy in between the slightly surreal tone that reflects Sebastian’s state of mind. Apart from the notorious drill-through-a-woman’s-breasts scene, there’s a quite brilliant gory take on grape-stomping that makes blood-wine seem an appetizing drink.

The version here is the original release. In recent times, there’s been a newer release that’s about 6 minutes longer and marketed as Totally Uncut, though whether it’s more extreme, is debatable. I haven’t seen it, but those who have, say the additional time is more about the surreal.