Girl Hell 1999: The Uncut Edition (1999) | Region-Free (DVD)

Title: Girl Hell 1999 (1999)

Alternate Title: Shôjo jigoku ichi kyû kyû kyû

Genre: Horror, Exploitation

Plot Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Misaki endures a life marred by tragedy and abuse. Abandoned by her mother and forced to care for her bedridden sister, her home life becomes a battlefield of psychological terror, dominated by a father whose actions cross into the realm of the unthinkable. At school, Misaki finds no solace as her closest friend succumbs to the allure of degradation for material gain. The culmination of her suffering arrives through a series of brutal assaults, each encounter dragging her further into a vortex of despair, with only a mentally ill homeless woman offering a semblance of maternal comfort.

Cast and Crew:

• Director: Daisuke Yamanouchi
• Writer: Daisuke Yamanouchi
• Cast:
  • Natsumi Harada as Misaki
  • Yuusuke Kimura
  • Toshimaru Murai
  • Sheena Nagamori
  • Tsuyoshi Okuno

YouTube Trailer:
Girl Hell 1999 – Official Trailer

IMDb Link:
Girl Hell 1999 (1999)

Reviews from Letterboxd:

1. ELECTRICWIZARDx – ★★★☆☆
   “Girl Hell starts off as a standard weirdo pinku, and maintains that facade for about 15 minutes, but the moment Misaki takes an eternity of hesitation to unlock her own front door and walk inside, Daisuke Yamanouchi pulls the rug and you spend the next 50 minutes being assaulted by a depressive onslaught of nihilism and abuse.

   Girl Hell’s reputation precedes it, so I was fully expecting outrageous moments of shock, but what I wasn’t expecting was how cold and sad this was going to be, bleak doesn’t even begin to cover it. The subject matters are inherently bleak when played out like they were (barr a couple of small bits that went past the line of over-the-top and almost became funny), but Yamanouchi’s direction and framing of the barren, forgettable locations, coupled with the cheap, quiet synths make this far more of a miserable experience than a shocking one.

   Masaki is the only character with any redeeming qualities in this whole thing, and you’re forced to watch for 65 minutes as her and her innocence are dragged through the depths of cruelty into broken catatonia and forced back into the cycle of abuse.

   I’m not really sure as to what merits I should be using to rate this on, but competence is what I’m going for here, and Yamanouchi certainly manages exactly what he was going for.”

2. miilkytwine – ½
   “Maybe I’m in the wrong for not understanding what this film apparently attempts to convey, but I truly didn’t enjoy this at all. I don’t think the point is for the viewer to enjoy..? But even then, whatever story or lesson this film tries to present to the reader, I just don’t understand it. All this was to me was a compilation of bad things happening to the main character and it only gets worse, it really is a girl in hell. Some people calling this a masterpiece I really do feel concerned for, but idk maybe I’m missing the bigger picture, to me though this is just a sad, disturbing, and uncomfortable watch that I don’t really recommend to anyone.”

Meta Description:
“Girl Hell 1999” (1999), directed by Daisuke Yamanouchi, is a Japanese horror film that delves into the harrowing life of a teenage girl, Misaki, as she navigates a world filled with abuse, despair, and psychological terror.