The Killers - I'm generalizing here since no one in this film has a name. These four enjoy kidnapping people, taking them to a forest, and hunting them down. However, their most recent victim turns the tables by becoming a powerful zombie of vengeance. Each of them are killed.

Down to Hell was one of Ryuhei Kitamura's first major attempt at film making, and is a sort of prequel to Versus. The main thing that makes this movie (and Versus) stand out is the sheer simplicity of it. And that simplicity is the real beauty behind Down To Hell. None of the characters' names are given, which was probably done on purpose. Not only does this lend a sense of realism to the movie, but it doesn't allow you to get attached to any of the characters. ("Because once you name it, you grow attached to it!") The end result is a concoction of The Most Dangerous Game with elements of a supernatural revenge tale. And the main (and only) drawback to reviewing this movie, is that it's quite hard to go into detail when explaining the plot, but here goes!

As the movie opens, we see a young man (Victim #1) running wildly through a forest, clutching at a bloody wound. We soon see that he is trying to escape from four armed men but alas, he fails and is murdered. Then it cuts to a city street late at night (no locations are given either, as I said, it's all simplistic) where Victim #2 is walking, probably on his way home from work. (Or he was just coming from the local gentleman's club.) Without any warning at all, he is nearly run over by a car. He runs for his life and dives onto the sidewalk for safety. Before he can escape though, his attackers knock him out and toss him in the trunk of their car. When morning comes, Victim #2 is yanked from the trunk and discovers that he's now in a forest. The killers then fill him in on their twisted game. The poor guy is too scared to move at all, and begs for his life.

Seeing that their newest victim isn't following orders too well, one of the killers decides to break the guy's index finger. Harsh reality sets in and the guy takes off into the forest, while his assailants gather together their weapons. They give him a ten minute head start and then begin the hunt. Victim #2 fares well at first and manages to not only beat up one of his hunters, but he manages to obtain a large hunting knife. He isn't so lucky the second time though, as he is murdered in cold blood (or more precisely he is stabbed in the hand and beaten to death with a chain). The victor of the "game" quickly radios to his friends that it's over. But his victory is short lived.

While he wasn't looking, the fresh corpse of Victim #2 had disappeared. When the others arrive they chide their friend for not killing the dapper victim. One of the them runs to the vehicle to prepare for their departure, while the other three search for the missing body. They split up but don't find anything so they decide to leave immediately. Once they're back at the car they eventually realize that the driver had a knife driven through the back of his skull. This was a great scene too! They all are terrified and disgusted by the murder of one of their own. However, they can easily disembowel an innocent person just for fun. This is when they realize that they are now the ones being hunted. They discuss what to do, but instead of leaving they decide to stay and finish the "game."

Soon they each meet up with the walking corpse of Victim #2. And this isn't your ordinary zombie either. This zombie has great strength and fighting skills and can't be killed with a simple blow to the head. So Killer #1 died offscreen in the car, so next up is Killer #2! He tries taking the offensive and battles the zombie one on one with less than stellar results. First, his intestines are ripped out; then he is hung with them! (Story of Ricky anyone?) His two compatriots find his body and they become even more frightened. The zombie soon shows up again and thrashes the last two killers. One of them tries to run away and ends up falling down a steep cliff. Though it appears that he's dead, he's only unconscious for the time being.

This leads to the final showdown between Killer #4 (I think he's actually the leader of the group) and the vengeful zombie. At first, the odds are against the killer and he gets quite a beating. But as the fight progresses, he manages to gain the upper hand and really pulverizes his undead opponent. In a final fit of anger and desperation, Killer #4 picks up the zombie and bodyslams it onto a pointy branch sticking out of the ground. Claiming victory, he painfully makes his way to the car. In the meantime, Killer #3 wakes up and stumbles through the woods. He comes across the zombie and gets down on one knee for a closer look.

Thinking that the supernatural creature is dead he pries his eyes from it and scans the forest for any sign of his friend. Once he looks back down, he is shocked to see that he is now staring at himself. The zombie seizes this moment to impale Killer #3 and suddenly vanishes. (So on top of being damn near invincible and super strong, the zombie can shape shift and teleport?! Craziness!) Meanwhile, the last killer finally makes it to the car, pulls out the dead driver, hops in, and starts it up. Thinking the worst is over he prepares to drive off, but he soon discovers that "There Is No Exit!"

Down to Hell is a very well made film and as I said, is completely simplistic. The character's have no names as I mentioned earlier, and the movie was completely shot in a forest (much like Versus). Even the music for the film was simplistic in sound and rhythm. The special effects used in Down to Hell aren't too flashy, but they are fairly effective, as is the fight choreography. For what is clearly a low budget production the few fight scenes between man and zombie are very impressive. The actors in this short film actually manage to put in decent performances, especially the actor portraying the zombie. In every scene he's in, he manages to keep a cold, hard stare without flinching at all (even in scenes where he's really taking a beating)! With all that said, you probably want to see this movie now right? Well it hasn't seen a legitimate release on this side of the world, but you can get bootleg All Region DVD-R's or even an imported copy on EBay.