Japanese director Shugo Fujii pays homage to his cinematic idols in this sometimes effective, and often slight, horror flick.
The opening scenes show a crazed older woman Chiyo (Yoshiko Shiraishi) and her granddaughter Yuki (Naoko Mori) feeding on a family pet before killing a man and wife. Yuki escapes, and Chiyo is sent to an insane asylum for a year before she vanishes, too. Cut to a normal Japanese suburban family: Father (Hitoshi Suwabe) works in another town, and only comes home on weekends to his three grown children: older brother Ken (Kazuo Yashiro), wheelchair bound middle son Yasu (Hirohito Honda), and cute as a bug's ear daughter Mami (Rumi). The family gets some new house guests in the form of Chiyo and Yuki, who claim to be distant relatives. Everyone is inconvenienced, especially Yasu once the stun gun torture begins.
I cannot delve any deeper into plot points because the twists are impossible to reveal, and sometimes comprehend. Fujii has written a strange concoction of Brian DePalma and Robert Aldrich's "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," with shades of the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but not a whole lot of it makes sense. The cast is very good, if not over the top, especially in the final scenes. I really enjoyed Koji Tabuchi's musical score, it reminded me of early John Carpenter. The film does run rather long, I think a trim would have helped the pacing and suspense. The lack of tension throughout the film is noticeable. Yasu's open mouthed reactions to some relatively tame stuff is unintentionally funny. I could not get a grasp on what Fujii was trying to do. Is this a suspenser along the lines of DePalma's "Sisters," or an out-and-out bloodbath? The film cannot make up its mind, and both sides of the question suffer. There is SOME suspense, and SOME blood, but nothing this jaded reviewer would find particularly scary or revolting.
Fujii's director's commentary is self-effacing and honest, when he was not happy with a shot or sequence, he says so. The film was shot and edited in about two weeks' time, and the budget was around $100,000. This amount would be a lot to any independent film maker, but I remember how expensive it was to live in Japan, and Fujii confirms that everything there is much more expensive than when he used to live and film in the States.
"Living Hell" is not a total failure. Fujii was definitely one to keep an eye on. Subversive Cinema wanted to bring a Criterion-type presentation to edgier fare, and I thought that was a spectacular idea- their company logo was the most memorable since MGM's lion first roared. I received a snarky email from the company after I posted this review decades ago on another site, thanking me for my "rave" review. I emailed back telling them to send a better film next time. They walked back the first email, I never heard from them again, and I think the company folded shortly thereafter.
"Blackhole" (1994)
This short black-and-white film has a mysterious stranger (Sutomu Sogo) coming between a happy couple (Emma Nagata, Taro Hiruma) with deadly consequences. The photography is gritty, the music sad and appropriate, but I wish the idea had been fleshed out more. Released as a bonus on the "Living Hell" DVD release.
"Seesaw Game" (1994)
A man becomes obsessed with a woman he glimpses through a window, and becomes involved in a crime as soon as he invades her private life. While the film has plenty of visual interest, the story gets more convoluted as it goes on, and more weird. This would make an interesting character study if turned into a feature length film. Released as a bonus on the "Living Hell" DVD release.
"Grief" (1997)
A woman becomes obsessed with a man, and decides to off his inconvenient girlfriend. Yet another riff on all those "Fatal Attraction"/"The Crush" stalking obsession flicks, but for a few minutes I thought the stalker and the girlfriend were the same person- they look and dress alike. Released as a bonus on the "Living Hell" DVD release.
"Dead Money" (2001)
Director Shugo Fujii shows up in this color short film, as a found briefcase full of cash and a claustrophobic elevator bring out the greedy conscience of a regular guy. This was more fun than Fujii's other short films, with some dark humor that works. Released as a bonus on the "Living Hell" DVD release, also known as "Kan-Kin."
