BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL (2012) is a Japanese indie horror flick that's pretty much the Japanese version of EVIL DEAD 2; the whole story is littered with references and copies of various scenes from that movie. It was actually made two decades previously so has that low-fi analogue 1990s shot-on-video look; if you're looking for glossy and professional then go elsewhere! The story is simplicity in itself; a bodybuilder and two friends visit an abandoned murder house and are attacked by an evil spirit that has the power to reanimate the dead...
There's a little atmosphere and the creepy run-down house reminded me of the one in the GRUDGE films, but the rest is lost in a welter of gore and primitive stop motion effects. There's some offbeat humour to enjoy, but the film is never quite as wacky or inventive as I was hoping. Our hero gets to shout "groovy" and copy Bruce Campbell's performance in every way imaginable, while severed body parts attach themselves together before attacking and there's even a riff on the famous scene in HELLRAISER where a skeleton grows meat on the bones. It's all very cheap and cheerful, but at just an hour in length I'm not sure I'd want to pay full whack for the DVD; thankfully Terracotta have uploaded their print to Amazon Prime for us to watch for free.
There's a little atmosphere and the creepy run-down house reminded me of the one in the GRUDGE films, but the rest is lost in a welter of gore and primitive stop motion effects. There's some offbeat humour to enjoy, but the film is never quite as wacky or inventive as I was hoping. Our hero gets to shout "groovy" and copy Bruce Campbell's performance in every way imaginable, while severed body parts attach themselves together before attacking and there's even a riff on the famous scene in HELLRAISER where a skeleton grows meat on the bones. It's all very cheap and cheerful, but at just an hour in length I'm not sure I'd want to pay full whack for the DVD; thankfully Terracotta have uploaded their print to Amazon Prime for us to watch for free.