Hell – original title: 地獄 Jigoku and also known as Japanese Hell – is a 1999 Japanese horror feature film written and directed by Teruo Ishii. It is a loose remake of the 1960 film of the same title. The movie stars Mutsumi Fujita, Hisayoshi Hirayama, Michiko Maeda, Yôko Satomi, Kenpachirô Satsuma, Kinako Satô, Ryûji Takasaki, Tetsurô Tanba.
Sixteen-year-old Rika wants to leave a murderous cult but she is sent to Hell where she meets demons and souls who have committed heinous and outrageous crimes…
Reviews:
‘Though indeed graphic in its depiction, there is very little either haunting or life-like. This includes the huge styrofoam mallets wielded by rubber-suited demons, the jello-mud bath apparently symbolizing molten lava, the nude interpretive dances by bare-breasted girls intended to convey the convulsions of hell zombies (etc etc etc). Despite the many flaws, however, this film is indeed entertaining…’ Scott Futz, SaruDama
‘At this point in his career Ishii was working totally independently on absolute shoestring budgets, so the painfully bad special effects, set design, and acting provides a comic counterpoint to all of the severed limbs […] There are many out there who’ll take Jigoku as an opportunity to spend a night laughing out loud at a bad B-movie…’ J-Film Pow Wow
‘Unlike in 1960, we quickly move to Hell early in the film – but it’s a tiny set with painted walls, a handful of extras, and only a few demons with inexpressive masks on – the monsters look more like 1960s Ultraman cast-offs. Also, the gore looks unconvincing and home-made.’ Black Hole
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