Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell
- 1995
- 1h 2m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Trapped inside a haunted house, a body builder must save himself from a gruesome ghost hell-bent on revenge.Trapped inside a haunted house, a body builder must save himself from a gruesome ghost hell-bent on revenge.Trapped inside a haunted house, a body builder must save himself from a gruesome ghost hell-bent on revenge.
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I'm checking out Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (2012) purely because of the catchy title and how the movie marketing itself out to be The Japanese version of Evil Dead so naturally, as a big fan of low budget horror movies like I am this movie seems like it right up my alley and after 60 minutes I can tell you guys that this movie freaking deliver what it promises. The movie makes me smile every time I see a homage scene to Evil Dead 2 and how deadpan the characters look when they see how crazy stuff happen but not one time that I think it just a cash-in on the Evil Dead name because the movie doesn't force the slapstick comedy down your throat so when it needs to be tongue in cheek it works and when it needs to be creepy the movie can legit make your heart jump with the distorted Image of the ghost and the old VHS look of the movie. The practical gore effects are there and it may look low budget some time it still very impressive in my opinion
I'm not sure where or why people really compare this to Evil Dead, that is a comparison that raises expectations way too high in my opinion. It's a short little movie that feels like a group college aged horror enthusiasts put together in a weekend.
2 younger people end up trapped in a Japanese(aka really small) house where a demon tries to kill them. They fight back resulting in several "It's dead, it's all over" moments only for the exact same demon to return for them to fight.
The effects and gore are mostly pretty low quality. As is the filming and shot quality. Lots of super close ups since every room was 6 foot by 8 foot at largest. You can blatantly tell it was put together by a bunch of horror fans wanting to have a bit of fun making the whole thing a bit charming though all around unremarkable.
I don't exactly recommend this one but at least it is short which makes for a decent draw on a bad movie night where you will likely talk over it.
2 younger people end up trapped in a Japanese(aka really small) house where a demon tries to kill them. They fight back resulting in several "It's dead, it's all over" moments only for the exact same demon to return for them to fight.
The effects and gore are mostly pretty low quality. As is the filming and shot quality. Lots of super close ups since every room was 6 foot by 8 foot at largest. You can blatantly tell it was put together by a bunch of horror fans wanting to have a bit of fun making the whole thing a bit charming though all around unremarkable.
I don't exactly recommend this one but at least it is short which makes for a decent draw on a bad movie night where you will likely talk over it.
This short film was made during the early period of 90s Japanese straight -to-video entertainment, but never got released until 2012. It's full of campy fun, obvious references to Evil Dead series and the character of "Ash" to a Japanese body builder.
It's also can be been seen as a pre-Grudge (or J u-on) film since the villain is Hell bent on a grudge toward the living! It worth of look, for earl attempts on Japan V-cinema -- at the beginning of directors like Miike.
It's also can be been seen as a pre-Grudge (or J u-on) film since the villain is Hell bent on a grudge toward the living! It worth of look, for earl attempts on Japan V-cinema -- at the beginning of directors like Miike.
Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder In Hell definitely deserves more attention. It feels like a bunch of collage students watched the first two Evil Dead films and collectively thought "we could do that' and they did. The film starts with a wife trying to kill her husband. The husband gets the upper hand and kills her only for her to return from the grave. The film cuts to thirty years later were a body builder, some sort of physic priest and a news reporter are visiting the old house were the events took place thirty ears earlier. From 12:48 to 23:17 some of the shots of empty hallways, rooms and staircases are generally unnerving before every thing kicks into a fun and cheesy gore fest. The blood, guts and gore of the film looks like its made of play dough and red jello but it still has lots of low budget charm. The low quality camera only adds to the fun and adds a grindhouse type quality to it. There is a lot of fun stop motion in this film that reminded me of Basket Case. In conclusion Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell should be more recognized for its low budget charm.
It's so rare that we get to see independent features from around the world, especially from any time before the Internet made it easier to make one's work widely available. This title readily betrays its nature from the moment we start watching, from the grainy and lo-fi production values, to the small cast and crew that sees filmmaker Shinichi Fukazawa taking on multiple roles himself, to the relatively modest effects. One can see the kinship this shares with similar titles we may have seen, contemporary or otherwise, and while the presentation is somewhat unrefined, none of this is a criticism. If anything, it speaks well to Fukazawa that he made 'Bloody muscle bodybuilder in hell' at all, and that despite limited resources it nevertheless looks as good as it does - this is a lot of fun!
The storytelling is comparatively simple and direct, perhaps, but it's all that it needs to be to provide fuel for a cheeky horror romp, including dashes of clever humor in just the right places and ways. There's a lighthearted mirth seen even in Shinichi Okuda's photography as he lets his imagination take hold, and it's immediately apparent that the cast is having an absolute blast with all the ridiculousness - while turning in performances that are genuinely admirable, befitting the wild tone of the movie. Wearing hats as writer, director, producer, editor, and chief star, Fukazawa was able to exercise substantial creative control to bring his vision to life, and the result is a joyously over the top extravaganza of blood, gore, action, and comedy: everyone is here just to have a good time, and by Jove do they.
Moreover, this wears its influences on its sleeve in most every regard, and the fact of it just makes the picture even more enjoyable. That extends not least to the effects - for while it's undeniably true that Fukazawa was working with limited means to bring this to fruition, it's also obvious how much care went into the blood, gore, and violence. The tale, of a man trapped in a house with a vengeful spirit, provides ample opportunity to see just how bombastic the whole could be within its tenor, and the filmmaker went all out, including even stop-motion animation amidst the reverie of crimson and viscera. Even at their most low-grade the effects only ever embrace the vim and vigor of the project, and it's impossible not to get swept up in the silly, freewheeling carnage.
One could easily nitpick, and stand this beside big-budget monstrosities and show the insufficiencies - but to do so is entirely missing the point. 'Bloody muscle bodybuilder in hell' is an exercise in genre film-making purely for the raucous joy of it, and there's no disputing the earnestness and hard work that went into it, nor the skill and ingenuity that are constrained only by how much cash Fukazawa had to make it. The name alone is eye-catching, the premise is promising, and I assumed I'd like it, but when all is said and done I'm sincerely impressed. We can quickly catch onto the type of feature this represents, and it has no illusions about being anything more than it is and is happy to play in that space. With all this in mind, the enthusiasm of those involved is handily passed on to the audience, and 'Bloody muscle bodybuilder in hell' becomes a fantastic, endearing horror flick that deserves much more recognition. If you're a fan of horror, you owe it to yourself to check this out!
The storytelling is comparatively simple and direct, perhaps, but it's all that it needs to be to provide fuel for a cheeky horror romp, including dashes of clever humor in just the right places and ways. There's a lighthearted mirth seen even in Shinichi Okuda's photography as he lets his imagination take hold, and it's immediately apparent that the cast is having an absolute blast with all the ridiculousness - while turning in performances that are genuinely admirable, befitting the wild tone of the movie. Wearing hats as writer, director, producer, editor, and chief star, Fukazawa was able to exercise substantial creative control to bring his vision to life, and the result is a joyously over the top extravaganza of blood, gore, action, and comedy: everyone is here just to have a good time, and by Jove do they.
Moreover, this wears its influences on its sleeve in most every regard, and the fact of it just makes the picture even more enjoyable. That extends not least to the effects - for while it's undeniably true that Fukazawa was working with limited means to bring this to fruition, it's also obvious how much care went into the blood, gore, and violence. The tale, of a man trapped in a house with a vengeful spirit, provides ample opportunity to see just how bombastic the whole could be within its tenor, and the filmmaker went all out, including even stop-motion animation amidst the reverie of crimson and viscera. Even at their most low-grade the effects only ever embrace the vim and vigor of the project, and it's impossible not to get swept up in the silly, freewheeling carnage.
One could easily nitpick, and stand this beside big-budget monstrosities and show the insufficiencies - but to do so is entirely missing the point. 'Bloody muscle bodybuilder in hell' is an exercise in genre film-making purely for the raucous joy of it, and there's no disputing the earnestness and hard work that went into it, nor the skill and ingenuity that are constrained only by how much cash Fukazawa had to make it. The name alone is eye-catching, the premise is promising, and I assumed I'd like it, but when all is said and done I'm sincerely impressed. We can quickly catch onto the type of feature this represents, and it has no illusions about being anything more than it is and is happy to play in that space. With all this in mind, the enthusiasm of those involved is handily passed on to the audience, and 'Bloody muscle bodybuilder in hell' becomes a fantastic, endearing horror flick that deserves much more recognition. If you're a fan of horror, you owe it to yourself to check this out!
Did you know
- TriviaFilmed in 1995. Released in 2012 on DVD-R. Theatrical release and DVD in Japan 2014. The first official international release in 2017 in the UK by Terra Cotta. In 2022 Visual Vengeance released it on Bluray in the US.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Horror Geek: The Greatest Evil Dead Clone You've Never Seen! (2022)
- How long is Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Japanese Evil Dead
- Filming locations
- Japan(location)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 2m(62 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3
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