Somewhere in the late 1970’s, a man murders his demon possessed lady pal, and said evil force enters a necklace… he then proceeds to bury her under the floor of the house they shared.
Enter Shinji: (Shinichi Fukazawa… a name you’ll be hearing a lot in this here revoltin’ review as he wrote, directed, produced, starred, and provided special effects for the picture) the now adult son of the aforementioned man (also played by Fukazawa) who travels to his pappy’s ol’ dreaded domicile along with his spritely pal Mika (Masaaki Kai), a journalist investigating haunted houses, as it fits the bill nicely for her research.
Along for the ride is a stoic Medium (Asako Nosaka) who immediately senses that the preternatural pad is balls deep in EvilSpiritville and it isn’t long before he ingests the noxious necklace and becomes host to the wicked wraith that haunts the locale!
This doesn’t sit well with Shinji who goes full-on Ash Williams on that monstrous menace as limbs fly, severed hands creep, and body’s explode into showers of gore. Also, there is a weight set involved.
To say Fukazawa was inspired by Sam Raimi’s masterpiece and it’s equally masterpiece-y sequels is a massive understatement… hell he discusses the matter openly in the included interview (more on those special features in a bit) and that is a wonderful thing indeed my cats n’ creeps! To see a fan make a labor-of-love, shot on video feature with a familiar aesthetic filtered through different eyes makes the entire production seem like a long lost side-story to Evil Dead while offering decidedly Japanese takes on the material (the blue faces of those possessed harkens back to the late ’60s and ’70s supernatural fare of the land, and the medium, with his school uniform and overly stoic manner is an anime character come to life).
The special effects on display are plentiful and beautifully hand-made, and while they are no-budget in execution the joy they’ll being to any old school gore-hound is priceless indeed my fiends and they arrive in dizzying fashion as there is little room to not get to the good stuff when your runtime is barely over an hour (that is a good thing if you are keeping score at home).
Don’t worry though, you’ll find plenty of bonus material to keep you hangin’ around for more!
Besides that interview with Fukazawa mentioned up yonder, those crazy creeps over at Visual Vengeance has also included: two audio commentaries; one courtesy of Japanese film historian James Harper that examines the film in the cultural zeitgeist of ’90s era Japan, and the other a more fan-based chat with filmmakers Adam Green (the Hatchet series) and Joe Lynch (Shudder’s Creepshow series), behind-the-scenes footage of the film’s special effects, two thrailers, two image galleries, outtakes, and a collection of trailers for other Visual Vengeance releases.
All of the above comes in a package containing a reversible sleeve, a collectible mini-poster, a retro VHS sticker set, a vintage-style video rental card, and liner notes from Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs.
Here’s a visual for ya:
An absolutely bloody bouquet of glorious gore, Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell is simply one of the best S.O.V. fright flicks I’ve seen, and I’ve seen fuckin’ plenty… and is an absolute must own for lovers of Evil Dead and D.Y.I. horror!
