Hey there, flapjacks! I hope you’re ready to dig in to my latest Short Stack. I’m keeping the “Bloody” title theme going, but don’t worry. I picked a decent movie to review so I could cleanse my palate of the lackluster Bloody Wednesday, and I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did because I’m serving up something bloody delicious (pun intended) with the Japanese movie Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell!
The film opens with a flashback where a woman refuses to allow the man she is obsessed with to marry another woman. A scuffle occurs and she is stabbed and killed. So what does any man do in such a situation? He hides and buries the body underneath the floorboards of course! What could possibly go wrong? I’m sure it’s not going to be important later.
Shinji likes dead lifts and slaying deadites.
Fast forward to the present and we meet our hero: Shinji, a currently unemployed guy who spends his spare time pumping iron. His “not” photographer girlfriend calls him up because she needs photos of spooky looking places. She has one such place in mind and it’s Shinji’s father’s old house. The two head there with a psychic to inspect the place and take pictures, however the house is the same one from the opening, and the man that buried the woman under the floorboards was Shinji’s father.
The psychic senses a spirit’s presence and tries to call out to it. Not the best idea as her spirit possesses him and uses his psychic powers to trap Shinji and the lady inside. Carnage ensues as the two battle the possessed psychic, but even dismembering the body isn’t enough it reassembles into absurd amalgamations of random body parts that continue the attack. Will the two survive, defeat the spirit, and escape to freedom?
Hail to the emperor, baby-san.
This film is often referred to as the “Japanese Evil Dead” and for good reason. There is plenty of awesome low budget practical effects here with plenty of blood thrown around, so the title doesn’t lie. The fused body part monstrosities are quite creative and clever, not to mention a joy to watch. Plus, there is plenty of Claymation used just like in Evil Dead’s finale. It also embraces the slapstick violence of Evil Dead with the characters being tossed around and abused like poor Ash. It uses some nice cinematography, employing many quick cuts and closeups like the film that inspired it. Similar to Professor Knowby in Evil Dead 2, the dad briefly reappears as a ghost in a TV to help the protagonist. Heck, the film borrows catchphrases like “groovy” and “come get some” from its inspiration. Shinji even finds a shotgun in the basement. The score enhances the mood, being creepy at the right moments and ramping up when the action intensifies. Although, some of the score sounds oddly similar to some of the music to the early Resident Evil video games. Maybe that “bell toll” sound bite was a commonly used clip amongst media back then.
Hey, they even use a weird necklace like The Evil Dead!
Now there are a few minor issues, and let me stress minor. First, the aspect ratio is 4:3, although I’m sure this is just because of the medium used for filming. There is a graininess to the film which affects the quality of the picture, and I imagine this was the equipment used for filming too. But neither of these issues impacted my enjoyment of the film. The film only comes with Japanese audio with English subtitles. But hey, if you’re reading this, I’m sure you won’t mind reading during this fantastic movie. I’m used to reading subtitles from Italian films anyways.
Overall, this is an amazing film with a simple premise that is worthy of the “Japanese Evil Dead” moniker. I find it difficult to rate low budget films like this though. They clearly lack the big budgets, experienced cast and crews, and the finest equipment to make something spectacular like mainstream horror classics. However, the passion that those involved invest in the film clearly shows and there is a certain charm about them. Films like this deserve the high regards of other more well-known horror films but should not be weighed solely on their technical merits in comparison to said films. They made do with what they had, which is good enough for me. This film stands as proof that you can imitate or rip-off another film and still deliver a fun, entertaining and excellent experience.
After watching this, I now want to see Ash and Shinji together for a crossover, battling deadites and evil spirits together. I’m sure it would be easier to make that happen than to get Scary Perry out of that gas station bathroom across the street and over here to record a podcast episode. Or to have Delores take your order. I wish that gas station would blow up again. Maybe with Delores inside it this time. I’ll catch you later, flapjacks.
Overall Rating: 5 Pancakes
