Long before either Evil Dead Rise or Evil Dead (2013), Sam Raimi's seminal The Evil Dead already had its best remake, but from an unlikely (and wholly unofficial) source. First released in 1981, The Evil Dead became a cultural phenomenon, earning praise from publications like NME and Fangoria, as well as a rave review from Stephen King (which saw New Line Cinema secure distribution rights to the film). However, the graphic content in The Evil Dead was met with significant controversy. It was one of the highest-profile films to be labeled as a "video nasty" in the United Kingdom and received an X rating from the MPAA in the US.
Nevertheless, The Evil Dead's combination of controversy and critical acclaim led to it becoming one of the most influential horror movies since the 1980s. A number of filmmakers across the world made remakes/sequels of The Evil Dead, dubbed "requels", including Raimi himself with Evil Dead 2. Many of these films, including the infamous Italian La Casa franchise are completely unofficial. The Evil Dead would finally receive an official remake in 2013 with Fede Álvarez's Evil Dead. However, perhaps the best remake of The Evil Dead was made in Japan in 1995: Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell, otherwise known as Japanese Evil Dead.
The Japanese Evil Dead Was Already A Great Remake
Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell parallels Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead to an uncanny degree, not only in terms of images and gross practical effects but also through its drawn-out and troubled production history. The Japanese Evil Dead was an incredibly low-budget production, like Sam Raimi's original The Evil Dead, and almost entirely crewed by a single man: director, writer, star, and editor Shinichi Fukazawa. The film began production in 1994, but editing was not wholly completed until 2010. It then took an additional 12 years to see a release in the US, where it is now available on Shudder and Tubi.
Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell establishes itself as both an homage and (unofficial) remake of The Evil Dead from practically the first scene. A character is stabbed, with some truly gratuitous arterial spray, in less than a minute of runtime. The murderer, dressed uncannily like Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams, then dumps her body down a trapdoor into the cellar, just like Cheryl in The Evil Dead. Fukazawa injects Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell with almost as much energy and slapstick comedy as Raimi did in The Evil Dead. He manages to perfectly capture the atmosphere of Raimi's original movie, something that modern Evil Dead movies have completely avoided.
Why The Japanese Evil Dead Is Better Than The Modern Remakes
Despite not having the production value and gloss of Evil Dead (2013) and Evil Dead Rise, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell manages to truly capture the oddball tone of Sam Raimi's original movie. Evil Dead (2013) and Evil Dead Rise both have significantly darker tones than The Evil Dead. They lean heavily into the horror aspects of the story, removing the low-budget charm and slapstick entirely. Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell, while not having any canonical connection to The Evil Dead, is the only one of these movies to truly recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle atmosphere of Sam Raimi's debut feature film, thanks to its ambition and incredibly low budget.
