Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell Blu Ray Review (Visual Vengeance)
Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (aKa The Japanese Evil Dead) is a 1995 low budget horror film written, acted, produced, edited, and directed by Shinichi Fukazawa (Violator). Trapped inside a haunted house, a body builder (played by: director Shinichi Fukazawa from Violator) must survive a blood soaked night of insanity to save himself and his friends from a demonic ghost that is hell-bent on revenge!!!!
Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell definitely lives up to it’s crazy name/title! This is a wild low budget splatterfest that stayed obscure from Asian cinema, it deserves a resurrection on home video thanks to the great folks at Visual Vengeance. The way it’s shot, it’s a non stop journey into hell with this lead character. This independent production used their budget wisely on it’s fx which dominates this small shot on video horror feature. It’s a nice mix of early J-Horror with the zombie sub-genre.
It’s loaded with gore, kills, and creepy looking flesh eating monsters. Director Shinichi Fukazawa pretty much handled everything when it came to Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell. He was the creative force behind this bloody Japense zombie dark comedy. The Evil Dead influence is all over the place with this one. If you are a fan of the iconic horror franchise then you will appreciate this cheap entertaining Asian version. Shinichi Fukazawa even throws in some funny one liners for it’s brutal finale. This is my personal favorite from the current batch from Visual Vengeance, RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Visual Vengeance. This 1080p original full screen (1.33:1) transfer is sourced from the archival 1995 SD master from the original tapes. This was originally shot on 8mm film and then it was transferred to video tape for editing. It’s better than what you would expect for type of low budget production. It’s definitely the best it’s ever looked on home video. I did some research and compared it to some older releases. This new Visual Vengeance version blows them all away. It has a few audio options that includes the Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 and Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. They both come with optional English Subtitles. The audio is decent here especially considering it’s original source material. I think the music stands out the most here when it comes to sound. This is a region free release so it can be played everywhere around the world!!!!
Let’s discuss the special features from Visual Vengeance. It has an “Audio Commentary” with directors Adam Green and Joe Lynch. It has an “Audio Commentary” # 2 with Japanese film historian James Harper.Both audio tracks are completely different here when it comes to the approach and information so you get some nice variety between these two. You get a brand new 4 minute “Interview” with director Shinichi Fukazawa. He chats about his influences including Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, and Army of Darkness. He goes over his 15 year struggle to get this one finished.
Lots of behind the scenes material here that includes 2 minutes of “Outtakes”, 2 minutes of “Special Effects”, “Trailers”, 4 minutes of “Behind the Scenes Images”, and 3 minutes of “Image Galleries” from the film. It has a variety of “Trailers” for other Visual Vengeance releases. It has a limited edition slipcover with exclusive artwork, two different reversible artwork covers, a booklet, a mini poster, a fake video rental card, and a set of retro stickers. The packaging on these Visual Vengeance home video releases are top notch. This is definitely a boutique label for collectors. This is available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!