Some films are easy to review. Some films you decide to pick over while writing about them, hoping that inspiration strikes, or you're able to communicate your personal connection to whatever has played out onscreen. Some films are harder, they make you sweat a bit as you summarise some of the plot or the people involved, circling around until you find your way into the main body of the review. And then there's something like Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell, a film that almost defies any proper criticism.
As many horror fans may already know, and it will certainly be obvious to anyone who has already seen it, Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell is a riff on the Evil Dead movies. That's really all it is, although it doesn't seem to work on any proper lore or background to the madness unfolding onscreen. What you get is a group of people turning up at a haunted house, being trapped there, and being subsequently terrorised by terrible entities. And, as the title suggests, one of the trapped people is a body builder (Shinji, played by writer-director Shinichi Fukazawa).
Clocking in with a runtime of just over an hour, Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell certainly doesn't waste too much time in diving into madness. There's a prologue that delivers some action before you get introduced to the main characters, then it's attempted creepiness and horror for most of the time that our leads are inside the haunted house.
Making his feature debut here, and he hasn't written or directed anything else after this, Fukazawa shows an enthusiasm and passion that makes up for the many failings. There's no obvious decent budget to work with, the effects are cheap and crude, but also admirable, and everything has a surprisingly enjoyable feeling of being both derivative and boldly inventive. Viewers know what movie Fukazawa is replicating, but he has such limited resources that it becomes mesmerising to see what he can come up with in each scene as he tries to match the standard of that classic. Does he ever come close? I'll leave that up to you to decide.
As for the cast, they're overshadowed by the bloodshed and insanity. Fukazawa works alongside Masaaki Kai, Masahiro Kai, Aki Tama Mai, and Asako Nosaka, and the best I can do for all of them is just to namecheck them here. Nobody appears to have gone on to any other acting jobs, but they all prove themselves admirably game for whatever Fukazawa needs them to do.
Bonkers, bloody, and refreshingly brief, Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell is a cult film that many will enjoy. It's almost impossible to hate, as long as you know what kind of film you're about to watch, but I'm not sure how many people will absolutely love it. The sheer madness of it all works both for and against it.
6/10
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From the title I thought it might be a sequel or remake of "Bloody Pit of Horror" that starred body builder Mickey Hargitay (the father of the star of Law and Order SVU) as a former "muscle man" who terrorizes models in a castle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw that film some time ago. And strangely enough . . . gave it the same rating.
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