Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell – aka Jigoku no chimidoro Muscle Builder and The Japanese Evil Dead – is a 2009 Japanese supernatural horror film written, directed by and starring Shinichi Fukazawa. It also stars Masaaki Kai and Asako Nosaka.
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.
However, inside the house a dark secret lingers and they find themselves trapped and tormented by a relentless ghost with a thirty year grudge …
In the UK, the film is released on DVD on 24 April 2017 by Terracotta’s Asian horror label ‘Terror Cotta’.
Special Features include a step-by-step artwork gallery by Graham Humphreys (The Evil Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street), original Japanese trailers, an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery and two ‘making of’ video clips.
Reviews:
“Gore is splattered across the screen throughout […] frequently delving into stop-motion animation for it’s more elaborate splatter sequences. Many horror comedies fail because they cannot find the correct balance between scares and laughs. Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell sticks to The Evil Dead blueprint by punctuating its comedic situations with buckets of blood.” Ken Wynne, Attack from Planet B
” …a showcase of talents, from Fukazawa’s budget-wary thrills and genre-awareness, to the quality and volume of the effects. Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell is an extended short film, or a feature film missing reels, either way it feels like the kind of thing that used to hide on the top-shelf of your local video store, which is no easy feat.” Scott Clark, The Forbidden Room
“This movie is very much a product of the late 90’s when it was filmed, the stop-motion effects are actually very good and there is bloody aplenty to go with the gore. The acting is fine too and you do get the feeling that the two leads still have feelings for each other.” David Creed, UK Horror Scene
Trivia:
The film was shot and edited in 8mm, then digital video, over a period of fourteen years!
