Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell

This is exactly what you'd expect from a movie called Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (AKA Japanese Evil Dead).

The first half drags a bit, but the second half is so much fun. Never has a movie felt so much like it got incrementally better as it went along, as quite literally every scene was better than the last.

There are obviously technical flaws and limitations aplenty, but most add to the charm of the movie. And while the first half is comparatively show compared to the second, at least it doesn't stretch those tamer 25-30 minutes to 45-50 in order to get this in the more traditional 80-90 minute range.

I hope Sam Raimi's seen this, too. He'd probably really like it. And while it is derivative of Evil Dead 1 (and 2!), it does just enough to make it feel like its own thing. And being filmed before Ringu, it did a creepy scene with a tv first.

Also: the very last shot was surprisingly kind of unnerving.

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.

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 titular body-builder, his girlfriend, and a ghost-whisperer find themselves trapped in a house possessed by the vengeful spirit of a young woman killed a generation earlier by the bodybuilder's father. After a dull 15-minute buildup the carnage begins, and by the end of the brief running time, the set (the director's parents' house) looks like a bomb went off in a Ragu factory. With a gleeful disregard for physics, anatomy, shotgun mechanics, and subtlety, the amateurish film plays homage to iconic splatter flics such as the 'Evil Dead' (1981), 'Hellraiser' (1987) and 'Re-animator' (1985) as well as 'haunted house' and Ahnold films in general. The film delivers on what the title promises, and for this honesty, I have rounded my rating up. Taken in context, the line "There are some parts missing..." is a splatter classic.

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995) is a Japanese Evil Dead remake that I recently watched on Shudder. The storyline follows a body builder whose father committed a gruesome crime long before he was born. When his father dies he is left an old house he never knew about. The body builder and his girlfriend visit the house where they become trapped and haunted by the sins of the body builder's father's past.

This movie is written by, stars and is directed by Shinichi Fukazawa, in his directorial debut. This also stars Masaaki Kai, Masahiro Kai and Aki Tama Mai.

This is a movie that's obviously low budget, doesn't take itself too seriously and is much more entertaining than it is "good." However, there are some awesome horror elements. The background music is tremendous and reminded me of an 80s/90s video game. The horror elements are all over the place with some great blood splatter, gore, action scenes and special effects. I enjoyed the use of claymation for some scenes (much like the original). There are some really bad scenes, like the message from the dad; but coverall, this is a lot of fun. I would score this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.