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

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The arduous odyssey to completion would be challenging for a production of any size, but Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell‘s hurdles were compounded by the fact that it was practically a one-man crew; Shinichi Fukazawa serves as writer, director, producer, editor, special effects artist, and star. Upon learning that his father was planning to demolish his old house in Tokyo, the budding filmmaker opted to utilize the location for his 8mm love letter to the Evil Dead trilogy.

Although Shinichi admits to being heavily inspired by The Evil Dead, anyone expecting this to be a Japanese version of that film may be disappointed. To be fair, this is nowhere near as polished as Raimi’s cult horror classic. The film is best approached with a low expectations and the intent to just enjoy a bloody good time.The first two Blu-rays are announced for July 2022, a pair of ultraviolent cult films never properly available in North America: To the monster that was once Mizoguchi, Shinji says “See you in Hell, baby” and shoots it, splashing its blood onto both his and Mika’s faces. 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. The disc also includes just over two minutes of outtakes showing off some pretty fun gore effects, a two minute Special Effects Video that showcases some of the effects work used for the severed hand and the melting zombie, as well as two different original trailers for teh feature, a behind the scenes image gallery and a second image gallery of various promotional images and stills.

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. 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.” Inspired by the Evil Dead films, Shinichi Fukazawa started writing Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder In Hell on New Year’s Day in 1995. Beginning production soon after, Shinichi shot 10 hours of footage over the next 10 years using 8mm film. Editing of the film started in 2005. But due to several issues in post-production, it took another 4 years before the film was finally completed in 2009. 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.If the movie is light on plot (and it is), it makes up for that with a whole lot of infectious enthusiasm and love for genre. 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). I knew literally nothing else about this film before watching it. Let’s see what I was letting myself in for. Rabid Grannies is available to watch on Tubi . Demon Wind is available to watch on Tubi . Savage Harvest 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.

Trailers for a few other Visual Vengeance titles (Slaughter Day, Todd Sheets' Moon Child, The Necro Files) play before the main menu screen loads. Chapter selection is also provided. The upcoming slate of releases will span underground genre history including action, horror, and sci-fi titles – and will feature SOV, Super 8, 16mm and 35mm lensed movies – though its primary focus will be shot on video movies of the beloved VHS and early DVD era, when independent film output flourished. Shining Vale” stars Emmy Award ® nominee Courteney Cox (“Friends,” “Cougar Town”), Academy Award ® nominee and Emmy Award ® winner Greg Kinnear ( As Good as It Gets, “The Kennedys”) and Academy Award ® winner Mira Sorvino (“Hollywood,” “The Expecting”). Shining Vale” is executive produced by Jeff Astrof from Other Shoe Productions, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford (“Motherland,” “This Way Up,”) from Merman, Aaron Kaplan (“The Chi,” “The Neighborhood”) from Kapital Entertainment. Courteney Cox also serves as a producer. The series is co-created by Astrof and Horgan. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate Television in association with Other Shoe Productions, Merman and Kapital Entertainment.Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell is available to stream on Shudder and AMC+, or for free with ads on Tubi . Wither classic, the unspeakably great Planes, Trains & Automobiles. So grab a glass of wine or even some premature eggnog, and join us as we dive into an unmissable Thanksgiving/holiday favorite on this episode of NO NOTES. 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). The all-new bonus content for Five Nights at Freddy’s gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the iconic animatronics and recreating the immersive world of the game. A decade later, Shun’ya Itô’s Curse of the Dog God (1977) similarly evokes the Deadites that would torment Bruce Campbell and company only a few years later. Ito’s best known for his Meiko Kaji-led exploitation series Female Prisoner Scorpion, and Curse marries those films’ painterly imagery with merciless folk horror. Much of the film is a sprawling convoluted saga of wrathful spirits, accursed fates, dog maulings, at least one flying canine head, exorcism rituals, dark village secrets, uranium mining, and even a roving biker gang for good measure, but the final act is when any Evil Dead fan might start to get a dash of deja vu.

In a prologue, a woman catches a guy named Naoto cheating and tries to stab him, so he kills her and buries her under the house. Years later, the house is rumored to be haunted. The man’s son Shinji, who is introduced lifting weights with a Muscle & Fitness magazine nearby, has inherited the house, and agrees to bring his ex-girlfriend Mika there, because she writes about hauntings for a living. They bring along an uptight psychic named Mizoguchi for his expertise (though Shinji thinks he’s full of shit). years later, unemployed bodybuilder Wakabayashi (Fukazawa in a dual role) gets a call from his ex-girlfriend, Mika ( Asako Nosaka), a writer working on an article on haunted locations. Joined by stoic psychic Mizuguchi ( Masahiro Kai), they head to the allegedly haunted house that belonged to Shinji’s father. Once they’re inside, the angry presence of a young woman won’t let them leave, and it’s not long before she starts possessing them. Shinji blows up the possessed psychic using hairspray and the shotgun. It turns into a pile of red goo that later crawls onto a skeleton and becomes flesh. Now we’re talking! I love the goofy Play-Doh eyeballs and how it switches from rough claymation to a rubber prop.

Badass Studies

Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell is an ode to the cult classics that have come before it, full of the indulgence that made b-movie cult classics popular. The film is an enjoyable mix of gore and comedic energy, efficiently upheld throughout its entire duration. Fully deserving of its status among fans and critics alike, its use of lo-fi practical special effects as well as a cramped, confined set together with minuscule cast all work in the film’s favour, making for a truly entertaining experience. Although not perfect, the film is still a delightful romp to enjoy both alone or with a group of friends. 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.