Japanese Hell | Masato Tsujioka, Chiho Yoshida | Watch It Only If You Are Desperate for a Horror...

Japanese Hell | Masato Tsujioka, Chiho Yoshida | Not the "Jigoku" you've heard about.

DVDs:

Japanese Hell

	Japanese Hell Masato Tsujioka, Chiho Yoshida Tokyo Shock, 2005 average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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From The King of the Japanese Cult Movie Teruo Ishii! A controversial film in which actual cases that roiled modern-day Japan, including the sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo Cult, are dramatized with gruesome detail, as the perpetrators of those crimes are forced to stand trial in Hell. An angst-ridden girl, Rika, is carried off to Hell by an old woman she meets in a neighborhood park. There she gets a first-hand look at the excruciating agony of those found guilty - by Lucifer himself - of committing heinous crimes during their time on earth?

Watch It Only If You Are Desperate for a Horror Movie

I am a fan of horror movies and I consider myself to be somewhat of a horror movie snob. That is, I tend to like horror movies that are actually good movies, not just because there is a lot of killing and/or mayhem.
I tend to turn up my nose at most of the current crop of today's American horror movies simply because they are bad movies. The real inspiration and genius in horror nowadays is in the realm of video games.
That being said, I have never seen a Japanese-made horror movie before, so perhaps I need to see more before I can sufficiently judge "Japanese Hell." Regardless, I will attempt to do so here.
On pure production values, this is most definitely "B movie" caliber. To put it another way, it is extremely cheap and cheesy, almost painful to watch.
Again, maybe I was expecting something that I shouldn't be. Maybe this is what all Japanese horror movie production values are like.
How about the story? "Japanese Hell" uses a well-worn plot, that of several vignettes, usually four, being played out for a viewer or viewers who discuss the person before and after watching the scene of his/her life.
Essentially, in each episode the main character, usually a bad person, is shown doing the misdeeds he does in life, then getting his comeuppance.
These movies are generally morality plays, and "Japanese Hell" is no different. A young girl is taken to Hell and shown the horrors that await her unless she changes her ways. I won't ruin it by going any further into her potential crimes.
The first episode is about a young man who lures little girls into his car, murders them, dismembers them and photographs the remains.
He is then shown in Hell on a table surrounded by assorted "demons" (guys either in really third-rate masks or makeup) and he is slowly dismembered himself.
After he is finally beheaded, ending his agony, the Queen of Hell resuscitates him. He thanks the Queen of Hell for her mercy, but, of course, his suffering is to continue in this fashion for all eternity.
So goes the rest of the movie. Hell looks like something from the original "Star Trek" series (a small soundstage with a red, shimmering background and some styrofoam rocks). The rest of the "special effects" are about the caliber of an episode of Dr. Who.
So, why do I give it a "2" rating? The story has been done many, many times before and usually much better. Generally, horror/sci-fi fans are willing to be forgiving about terrible special effects as long as the story is good (the aforementioned Dr. Who, the original Star Trek, any number of horror movies throughout the history of movie making, etc.).
Why not give it a "1"? Well, I suppose I have seen worse.
One last time, as this is the first and only time I have seen a Japanese horror movie, so maybe this is par for the course. Regardless, I wouldn't bother with this movie unless you are a fan of Japanese horror or just have to see every horror movie out there.

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Not the "Jigoku" you've heard about.

That would be Nobuo Nakagawa's strange and arresting 1960 classic, which is available on region 2 Japanese DVD and very much worth tracking down. That was a somewhat low budget film (lavish by Shintoho standards of the day), but it has enough style and visual imagination to make it something of a landmark.

While I haven't seen the '79 remake, this most recent version is absolute garbage - cheap, poorly made, exploitative, but not in any way that you can either enjoy or be really shocked by. Director Ishii has some critical standing for his 'Joys of Torture' series, which I haven't seen. This is just a boring, technically inept mess that attempts to capitalize on the Aum cult's noteriety. I watch a lot of Japanese movies, and I have rarely seen anything as amateurish as this production.

AVOID!

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