Wall

Japanese film studio Shintoho was famous for its exploitation movies and this was its last production before declaring bankruptcy in 1961. The studio went out on a high with Nakagawa's influential horror film, stylishly directed on a small budget. Amachi plays the student who enters Hell after he's killed in revenge for the part he played in the death of a yakuza. Shocking (for its time), outrageous and innovative...

Rrreeeiiiddd

19Apr12

Great effects and editing. Totally surreal and chic.

Daniela

16Apr12

Crazy and definitely imperfect, but I loved it.

Zachary George Najarian-Najafi

18Mar12

The problem with Jigoku lies with its lack of narrative thrust. Japanese cinema of this era was divided so artistically and culturally that many films were hit and miss-there was not much of a middle ground. While the last third of Jigoku is visually stunning, and I love the depiction of the Buddhist hell, it was not very frightening because I did not care about the characters, nor was I given any reason to do so.

Valu2009

7Dec11

psyched-hellic. and yes, everyone is bad.

Nate B.

28Nov11

At first, a slow burn...and then WHAM, a disturbing sequence of Hell that is still spine tingling and disgusting today.

Drunken Father Figure of Old

13Oct11

For some reason, I can't disassociate this film from an unrelated nightmare I had months after seeing it where I had a terrible death/vomit/rotten tuna-fish taste in my mouth... I can't even look at screenshots without imagining the taste! What the heck?

Prabs

26Jul11

had its moments of brilliance but overall I found this film to be overtly pretentious for some reason. i dont remember much as this review should have been written 6 months ago when i saw the film, but that explains the situation. A good film is memorable, and this surely wasn't for me.

Justin Crowe

19Feb11

What a trip

Christopher Smith

20Jan11

The plot may be leaden with improbable coincidences, but it brims with a rich, bizarre atmosphere and striking psychedelic images - giving it a palpable dream/nightmare quality. A cult classic and a landmark of the horror genre.

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ARGIL

2Jan11

2 stars for the economic resolution of such a grand-scale theme and the creative, low-fi effects work. The acting is atrocious. I laughed --a lot-- at times when I wasn´t supposed to. (Yoko´s plunge to death for example. Hilarious) And what´s this thing with japanese fims of having characters run around constantly screaming each other´s names at the top of their lungs: "HARUMIII!" "SHIROOOO!" "TETSUOOO!!" "KANEDAA!"

Jorge

27Oct10

Interesting concept. Mediocre excecution (including the acting). Truly haunting and amazing visuals. Considering the decade it was made in, this is some bravura stuff.

Edwin N

1Jul10

This is plain brilliance.

Jennie

9Apr10

I really love how this film looks, but unlike many other films that I enjoy solely based on the way their world looks, Jigoku has a little more to it.

dBainy

1Feb10

8 realms of hell per buddhism. Well a rare depiction of non-christian hell. interesting-but confusing. My question is, like all emotions and feelings, if it is hot in hell- won't you get used to it and get numb? And think of all those "fun" people there. Could be a blast? The logic of heaven and hell just baffles me!!!

Bruce Dixon

10Feb09

I definitely enjoyed this one, yet another Criterion blind buy. The effects looked great and did a great job of illustrating the story. I couldn't help but feel like the main character got a little screwed by luck, and it confirmed my feelings when he shouted that his blood must be cursed. Definitely a good one.