Charlie Sheen Called the FBI Because This Horror Movie Was Too Disturbing
Sheen contacted authorities because he was convinced the film was real.
updated on
Horror movie history is full of fun lore. Learning more about the genre will unearth delicious morsels of trivia like the fact that Star Wars (1977) and Carrie (1976) held joint auditions or that John Larroquette was paid one (1) joint for his voice work reading the opening narration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). A particularly funny piece of horror lore is that Charlie Sheen once contacted authorities because he confused a Japanese splatter movie with a snuff film.
What movie was Charlie Sheen watching? It was Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985). Shocking, transgressive and extremely gory, Guinea Pig 2 is about a man who kidnaps a woman and takes her to his dungeon where he dismembers her (which is shown in gruesome detail). Intentionally created to resemble a snuff film, Sheen reported the film to the FBI because he was convinced it was real.
For the record, Guinea Pig 2 is a fictional narrative. Additionally, the existence of a single snuff film has never actually been verified. There are plenty of videos which capture people dying or even murders caught on tape (the infamous banned subreddit “r/watchpeopledie” comes to mind). The difference is that a snuff film is by definition commercially produced, intentionally made for the purpose of entertainment and profit.
Still, the FBI supposedly launched an investigation into the horror movie. They were given a copy of a behind-the-scenes video explaining how some of the gory special effects were filmed and closed the case. There are some sources that say this whole story is an urban legend, while other sources provide details that make it plausible.
Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood is too extreme to recommend for the average horror movie fan, and should be avoided at all costs by viewers who prefer lighter horror movies with little to no gore.
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