Not quite as good tale of a girl granted visions of hell in the hopes that she will warn people into being good. Similar to the 1960 film Jigoku (Hell) this film shows us what happens to various bad people once they get to hell. Watch a cult leader kill hundreds, watch a child molester kill young girls then watch them tortured in hell, on and on with little variation.One of the problems with the film is its so matter of fact. It starts, we are put into the basic situation which is just repeated over and over again. Its so matter of fact that there is no emotional involvement, there is no connection. The effects are just middling with any effect in the viewer borders on laughter since they often are more silly rather than horrifying. If you compare this film to the original you see the opposite. You get an emotional involvement and a sense of horror, despite the quaint effects, because of it. For all its flaws the original is far superior to this film.Rental the original and skip this remake.

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.

This is a rare low budget gem that fans of Asian splatter will likely get a kick out of. Gory eye candy is on display for much of the running time, and includes some great graphic dismemberment as well as other forms of mutilation. Like another reviewer pointed out, the middle portion of the film goes on too long and could have been shortened to make for a better paced and more enjoyable watch. The whole cult angle is a bit over played but the movie pretty much redeems itself.Bottom line: If you like stuff such as the guinea pig movies or Story of Ricky then this will be an entertaining flick. There is tons of weird imagery, extreme gore, and the monsters are cool to watch. You may have a hard time finding it, but there's usually one or two available on ebay.

First up, I haven't yet got round to seeing the original 1960 Jigoku, but I imagine it's something like The Holy Mountain crossed with Kaidan, which sounds great to me, and I'll be picking it up as soon as I can. What I did get was this freakish thing, the 1999 remake, which you will adore if a lightly pornographic old-testament remix of Monkey Magic sounds in any way appealing. I don't think there is a plot spoiler in this, as there isn't a great deal of plot to spoil, but just in case i do, I excuse myself here. It loosely follows what I understand to be the story of the first Jigoku : sinners go to hell and are tormented and tortured for their crimes on earth. In this version, the sinners are based on real-life criminals from Japan's recent past, most prominently the cult behind the Tokyo subway gas attack in 1995. Also, the woman who poisoned her family with curry !However, in this dayglo remix, the hell they go to is, frankly, hilarious and looks like a hugely endearing place to be. Populated by naked interpretive dance girls (!?), puppets of dragons, living He-man figures, a likable matriarch representing Satan and a cute winking guide in a shimmering dress. The backdrop looks like something you might see at a local drama group version of the Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe, which this also somehow reminds me of. Having spent all the minuscule budget on the costumes, the gore in the punishments are highly amusing in a DIY "Story Of Ricky" kind of way rather than at all disturbing. This is no Itchi The Killer, so if you're looking for something extreme this isn't your chap, but it is great fun (main criticism is that the Cult's story goes on way too long), silly, inventive, sexy and completely bargain basement. The more I think about it, them more I love it to bits !