Ruptured Review: The Rope Maiden

Country of origin- UK
Year of release- 2013
Director- Guy Pearce
Stars- Katsuhiro Chigira, Tomo Ishii, Spencer James

The Rope Maiden is one of those films that exists mostly as a whisper, or a dark rumour circulated online, it was a long time before I discovered where and who it came from. As it turns out it is the product of the brilliantly deranged mind of British writer/director/actor Guy Pearce. The film is essentially a bizarre mixture of an 80’s instructional video, and a snuff movie. The main focus of the films plot is a man called Guy (Played by the Director) who tells the audience that they are about to watch one of his home movies, and says that your welcome to “play along” at home. Guy then begins to explain that the object of this video is to show you how to create your very own rope maiden. This of course will involve an unwilling young woman, some rope, and somewhere to suspend her from. After this is achieved in what can only be described as a darkly comic festival of what the fuck, the real fun begins.

At only 17 minutes in length this short manages to pack a considerable punch with one or two scenes of fairly convincing pseudo snuff, some very black humour and a bucket load of gore. Overall I struggled to find a fault with this one, it certainty will not be for everyone because of its extreme subject matter, and its grimy no-budget delivery. Not to mention less than 300 copies of the film where ever made, so trying to find a copy could prove to be a little tricky. Overall this short acts a perfect homage to such underground pseudo snuff gems as Flowers of Flesh and Blood and Tumbling Doll of Flesh aka Niku daruma. I am going to give The Rope Maiden 8/10, if you ever get the chance to see it, do so at your own risk.