Japanese Hell (1999)
7/10
In hell, everyone can hear you scream...
11 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Part satire, part cautionary tale, and part exploitation that's destined to become a cult classic if it isn't already. The film follows Rika who, because of her path leading to possible damnation, is chosen to have a chance at salvation by carrying a message from the Queen of Hell, Enma. Rika is allowed passage into hell to witness firsthand the punishment of the wicked and pass that knowledge on. A child molester, for instance, is treated to a course of forever dismemberment and resurrection for the rest of eternity.

She is then shown her own life, where we enter into a satirical look at a cult she's involved with that has elements on par with scientology. The leader is worshipped without question, and every part of the leader's life is sold to his followers, from the bath water he bathes in, to his book on enlightenment. Even a device that puts his followers 'intune' with his own brainwaves much like the 'E-Meter' devices Scientology uses to bring people to enlightenment. The cult soon shows its real colors when an attorney refuses to back down in a case against them and they make him vanish. It was like watching Scientology mixed with the Manson Family.

After that, we are shown what will happen to the lawyers who defended the cult in a later murder trial (along with the eventual demise of the cult leaders in a different manner). They are lined up in hell, and their tongues pulled out, being stretched past their limits. One tongue rips out, another lies on the ground overly extended and worthless.

The hell parts of the film exist in the air of low budget effects, but that doesn't stop them from being fun to watch. The creature effects/masks/make-ups are neat, there's dismemberment, being eaten alive, tongue stretching, and much much more. I don't want to spoil too much. Not only that, but throughout the film there is a healthy dosage of breasts and ass shots, especially in hell where people are required to strip down to their underwear without any kind of braw support before they can proceed across the river Styxx where their eternal torment awaits.

The cult parts of the film give a nice, creepy vibe, with the leader being a long haired Christ figure who never seems to open his eyes and who turns into the biggest creep of them all. And topping it all off with an out of nowhere Samurai fight against demons of hell and an end credit sequence of a bunch of women praying to the sun in the nude.

The overall effect of the film is one that shouldn't be taken too seriously, but instead as a very fun low budget film.
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