Japanese Hell – original title: 地獄 Jigoku – is a 1999 Japanese horror film written and directed by Teruo Ishii. It is a loose remake of the 1960 film of the same title. The film stars Mutsumi Fujita, Hisayoshi Hirayama, Michiko Maeda, Yôko Satomi, Kenpachirô Satsuma, Kinako Satô, Ryûji Takasaki, Tetsurô Tanba.
Plot teaser:
Sixteen year-old Rika wants to leave a murderous cult but she is sent to Hell where she meets demons and souls who have committed heinous and outrageous crimes…
Reviews:
‘Though indeed graphic in its depiction, there is very little either haunting or life-like. This includes the huge styrofoam mallets wielded by rubber-suited demons, the jello-mud bath apparently symbolizing molten lava, the nude interpretive dances by bare breasted girls intended to convey the convulsions of hell zombies (etc etc etc). Despite the many flaws, however, this film is indeed entertaining, if not solely for the effort it attempts in providing a moral message.’ Scott Futz, SaruDama
‘For fans of Ishii’s previous work Jigoku will be a real treat, albeit a very low rent version of his previous glories at Toei Studios. At this point in his career Ishii was working totally independently on absolute shoestring budgets, so the painfully bad special effects, set design, and acting provide a comic counterpoint to all of the severed limbs, rape, and implied child murder. There are many out there who’ll take Jigoku as an opportunity to spend a night laughing out loud at a bad B-movie…’ Chris Magee, J-Film Pow Wow
‘Unlike in 1960, we quickly move to Hell early in the film – but it’s a tiny set with painted walls, a handful of extras, and only a few demons with inexpressive masks on – the monsters look more like 1960’s Ultraman cast-offs. Also the gore looks unconvincing and home-made. The film seems more preoccupied in showing topless girls and unconvincing sex scenes. It also looks like a sly way of restaging and exploiting the sarin gas attack story without identifying the film as such.’ Mark Hodgson, Black Hole
IMDb | Thanks to Dave Jackson at Mondo Exploito for inspiring this post
