Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (AKA The Japanese Evil Dead)

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Shot and edited over in Super 8 over several years, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell, also known as The Japanese Evil Dead, is one of the most memorably titled films to have come out of the SOV boom. That’s probably why Wild Eye chose it as the first release from Visual Vengeance, an imprint devoted to obscure SOV films. As it turns out, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell didn’t wholly exist when I had first heard about it. Although the project began in 1994, post-production wasn’t fully completed until 2010. It was self-released with a run of 100 burned DVDs in 2012 followed by official Japanese distribution in 2014. Its first international release came from the UK in 2017, and it has finally made its way to the US in 2022. Further photo documentation from within the house would really help with her research… Shinji agrees. The two reunite and arrange to visit the old abandoned property, accompanied by a professional psychic (Masaaki Kai).

But this house harbors a dark, blood-soaked secret. Once inside, they will discover hell, as they find themselves tormented by a relentless ghost with a 30-year grudge.Interestingly, the production had a minuscule crew, and every member exerted an enormous effort in the creation of this film – commitment self-evident from all crew performing their duty eagerly from a restricted budget. Shinichi Fukazawa taking on the majority of the filmmaking process himself must have been a colossal task to undertake; however, with help from the rest of the skeleton crew, he has still managed to produce a magnificent piece of cult cinema. The continuity kept over the course of 15 years of reshoots and re-edits is seamless, hardly showing the length of time the film was under production. Furthermore, it also retains the charm of an 90’s aesthetic – enduringly popular as a nostalgic era as of late. But Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell isn’t just a collection of gory scenes. There are some genuine laughs to be had, such as Naoto’s realization “The shotgun isn’t my weapon, my muscles are!” followed by Incredible Hulk style clothes splitting and flexing. An impalement with an barbell is preceded with his frenzied attempts to loosen its collars and get the weights off the bar. Anyone who has used an old style home weight set knows that struggle all too well. I knew literally nothing else about this film before watching it. Let’s see what I was letting myself in for. Made over a period of more than a decade by writer, director and star Shinichi Fukazawa, 1995’s Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder In Hell is unofficially known as ‘The Japanese Evil Dead’ and for good reason, as Fukazawa’s sixty-three minute no-budget epic definitely does wear its influences very plainly on its gooey, gory sleeve.

Although BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL is mostly inspired by THE EVIL DEAD and EVIL DEAD 2, I think Shinji’s exaggeratedly macho attitude in the finale tells us that they’d seen ARMY OF DARKNESS by this point, and heard the line “Gimme some sugar, baby.” It also shows that they were starting to get the hang of the camera and the lighting, because they have some pretty good shots, possibly inspired by the one where Ash opens the door to the shed.Apparently, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell spent years languishing in distribution limbo before finally reaching an international audience over 25 years on. It makes me wonder how many other deranged masterpieces there are sitting on virtual shelves around the world, awaiting similar rediscovery. Verdict There are a few short featurettes included on the disc as well, starting with a new interview with director Shinichi Fukazawa that runs just over four minutes and sees the man discuss the movie’s fifteen year voyage to completion, the influence of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and what his intentions were with making the movie. Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell is one of the dumbest, most amateurish films I’ve ever seen. And I kind of love it. Almost every aspect screams cheapness, and it looks like it was shot on a Speak & Spell. The acting ranges from wooden to psychotic, averaging out at bizarre. The makeup effects look like they were produced using a few boxes of plasticine and the contents of someone’s kitchen. It clearly cost about as much as a prawn sandwich, but energy and obsession will take you a long way. Season two of horror-comedy series “Shining Vale” is rapidly drawing to an end, with the penultimate episode, “Coven,” arriving this week. Ahead of the new episode, Bloody Disgusting can share an exclusive clip that teases maternal violence.

For the most part, though, the actors don’t seem to be winking at all, which I appreciate. This includes when their fights with the undead involve repeated punching in the face with exaggerated sound effects.After a surprise phone call interrupts his daily workout, beefy body builder Shinji agrees to meet his photojournalist ex-girlfriend to help with her research on haunted houses. Accompanied by a professional psychic, they visit an abandoned house once owned by Shinji’s father. But inside the house a dark secret lingers and they find themselves trapped and tormented by a relentless ghost with a 30 year grudge.”

Well before the remake or Ash vs. Evil Dead, I distinctly recall reading about unofficial Evil Dead installments on web forums to sate my appetite while waiting for the franchise’s long-gestating fourth entry. There’s the La Casa series in Italy, wherein unrelated movies (including House II and House III, but not the original House!) were marketed as Evil Dead sequels, and Japan’s Evil Dead Trap, whose similarities to Raimi’s work begin and end with the title. But the one movie that always eluded me was The Japanese Evil Dead. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S: From Game to Big Screen– Feel the frights of Freddy Fazbear’s come alive as the film recreates the game’s world with immersive environments and wild surprises that’ll haunt longtime fans and newcomers alike. This is The Evil Dead (a low budget film itself) on a budget, with some of the J-horror elements thrown in to incorporate the unique Asian feel.Vern- a lot of the effects, especially the mask you mention looked to me to be papier mache or something similar. The version streaming on Shudder is similarly poor-looking and full of artifacts, I suspect it’s because the guy had to pay for a ton of digital correction to match up reshoots (in a similar vein, I think that’s why there are weird bits of stills/animation combos – to fill gaps for which he had no footage). Shattering all-time records at the box-office, Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, the haunting new horror film based on the video game series created by Scott Cawthon, will be available with never-before-seen bonus content on Digital November 28, 2023, and 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on December 12, 2023, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.