Customer Reviews

Evil Dead Trap

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Warning their are scenes of intense violence contained within in this movie. However if you can stomach the gore this movie has a lot more to offer than you're standard hack and slash effort. There is a wonderfully intense atmosphere pervading the whole movie. The deaths are immaginative and are handled extremely well. The influnces although obvious (Argento, Ramai and a brilliant tribute to Fulci), Japanese director Toshiharu Ikeda adds his own twist to the procedings. If you are fed up of limp offerings that fail to deliver the goods then check this excellent film out.

Late Night talk show hostess Nami receives a mysterious videotape that shows the brutal killing of a young woman. It also describes the way to a remote industrial area, where this snuff videotape obviously was filmed. Attracted from what she saw, Nami and her television crew drive to the area to investigate the background of the video. Now the horror starts, as one after another is killed in unbelievably sadistic fashion. Who (or better: WHAT) is the killer?

This film can be called the "flagship" of Japanese splatter horror movies. Filled with style and sadism only possible in Japanese genre films, it brought new life to the genre. The gory special effects are ultra-realistic and remind of the notorious "Giniipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana". Actress Miyuki Ono, talented and beautiful, delivers a superb performance as Nami.
This DVD version isn't really better in terms of picture quality than the older Dutch release, but has better subtitles and features extras. And there's a strange difference between the two during the opening credits: Here they are white on black ground, in the dutch version they are green.

Before Ringu made Japanese horror films mainstream in the west, there was Evil Dead Trap...probably the most well known Asian horror film of its time. A late night news program recieves an apparent snuff film from an obsessed viewer. Hoping this will be the big story she has been looking for, anchorette Nami and her crew decice to investigate. Once the bodies start to drop though, it becomes clear to Nami that there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

This is a great Japanese horror film from the 80's with an ending reminescent of early Cronenberg. Any fan of the genre should be more than pleased.

This is a very bizzare and I won't hesitate to say - one of the best Japanise horror flicks I've seen. First if your opinion on Japanise horror tradition is based on such titles as "The Ring", "Grudge" and "Dark Water", you may forget about them - that is to say the latest Japanise wave. In 1980-s it was by far different. "Evil Dead Trap" has some supernatural elements as well, but it's made in a totally different style. I'd call it Japanise-Italian style no mater how funny that may sound. This movie reminds of giallo films in general and of some particular works by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Everything is done here in Italian manner - cinematography, music, camera angles, ghastly murder scenes. I'm far from thinking it was the director's intention but sometimes I got the feeling I was watching some tribute to Italian masters of horror. I'm sure there were scenes imitating the ones from "Suspiria" and "Phenomena" for example, and eyeball-slitting scene was a flat-out homage to Fulci's "The New York Ripper". And music - if I heard it while my eyes were blindfolded and was asked what it is - I'd say it's Goblin's soundtrack to some new Argento movie.
"Evil Dead Trap" (apart from having a stupid title) is at times absurd, surreal and strange but without a doubt very stylish, original and fresh although as I said is reminiscent of many Italian horrors. That's a very pleasant fact considering it was made in 1988. I'm not sure you'll like it if you have just a shadowy idea about Japanise horror, but if you are an aficionado - I bet this movie would be interesting for you.

Evil Dead Trap is a dark, gothic, and gruesome cult classic. If you are a horror fan, you will notice alot of familer scenes and styles that the director adapted for the great look of this film. The film starts out fast and slows down halfway through. The first 45 minutes we are witnessing multiple gruesome murders at breakneck speed then the film slows down and follows the lead character Nami. At this point, the film uses fear and style to keep the movie rolling. Some scenes will almost seem like rip-offs such as fast moving perspective shots (a la Evil Dead) and a scene with maggots falling from a ceiling (Suspiria) but I think these scenes are done out of tribute and respect before plagerism. I did enjoy this movie and I do recommend it to serious horror fans but I did dislike the ending. Others may like the ending and it sort of reminds me of Dario Argento's style of twisting the story out of control at the last minute but here it is just a gooey way of bringing a final shock. Some of the violence in this movie is a little over the top for me too but that is a personal preference. I usually have a high tolerance towards gore but I had a hard time watching the first murder on the videotape sent to Nami. I also wasn't fond of the scene where Rya gets raped and then drug over the top of the car and dropped on her neck/head. Besides these small things, there was still alot to enjoy here and it had the potential to be a classic but only falls a few millimeters short so I still recommend it.

Toshiharu Ikeda's "Evil Dead Trap," a.k.a. "Shiryo no Wana," quickly became one of Japan's highest grossing horror films. The film was so successful, if essentially unoriginal, that it spawned at least two sequels. I have seen a few Asian horror films in my time, perhaps not as many as other fans of the genre, but enough to enter into the whole thing with a few immutable conceptions about the genre. "Evil Dead Trap" nicely fulfills all of them. First, you just know the gore will achieve nausea inducing levels, and this movie definitely accomplishes that quite nicely. Second, you know that there is usually some "message" buried under the heaps of blood and guts, and there definitely is such a lesson in this movie. Third, something weird and unsuspected will almost certainly occur in the course of the film, and the conclusion of "Evil Dead Trap" definitely falls within the parameters of weirdness. So I expressed little surprise over the contents of Ikeda's film as the final credits rolled. The only thing that took me back was the 1980's type clothing worn by the main characters, especially the women. It's sort of funny in a way, but it makes the film look dated.

Made in the 1980s on an obviously shoestring budget, "Evil Dead Trap" tells the story of Nami, a television personality whose show airs videotapes sent in by its viewers. The voyeuristically inclined show, like all media, looks for tapes with that certain something that will boost ratings by thrilling the audience. When a strange tape showing a particularly brutal murder taking place in an abandoned military installation arrives at the station, Nami's curiosity gets the better of her. Assembling an investigative team, the "journalist" and her compatriots retrace the route shown on the videotape in the hope of getting to the bottom of the mystery. They do indeed find the location shown on the tape, a creepy, desolate series of buildings that could hide any number of gruesome horrors. Predictably, and in the fine American tradition of horror films, the crewmembers split up to investigate their surroundings. Within a matter of minutes, we learn some guy roams the grounds of the base gussied up in leather boots and a rain slicker. You just know our fearless team of journalists is in for a ripping good time, a fact proven by the increasingly gory killings that take place in the first half of the film. Through a series of ingenious traps and slash and stalk murders, the crew falls prey to punctured eyeballs, machetes slicing through heads, and a nifty pin cushion effect that would probably work really nicely as a new ride at a theme park.

Nami, predictably, survives while those around her fall to pieces. The poor girl is in a world gone horribly wrong as she wanders through the byzantine network of tunnels and hallways of the military base. Matters take a turn for the worse--or perhaps the better--when Nami meets a seemingly normal stranger from time to time also roaming through the sprawling complex. The guy appears to fear for Nami's safety, constantly telling her to get out of the area because his brother is a dangerous person who poses a threat to her safety. Nami learns exactly what her predicament is when she meets the "brother" of this man in a conclusion sure to confuse. Amidst mysterious explosions of sparks and light (where did those come from, anyway?) and lots of gluey gore, Nami uncovers the mystery she and her companions so desperately sought. We also learn why the brothers chose to send the videotape to Nami and why they wanted her to come see them. What started out as an effective slasher flick turned into, by the conclusion, an enigmatic supernatural film that made little sense. Oh well, I have seen better films take much worse turns than this one did.

I think the value of "Evil Dead Trap" comes not from its by the numbers slasher elements or the strange conclusion, but from director Ikeda's camera techniques and the use of very convincing gore. The killings all look realistic and nasty in their implications. It seems, although I have little proof, that Ikeda borrowed elements from such masters of the grotesque like Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento to construct his own brand of onscreen violence. And why not? If you want to make a gore film, you should consult those farmers who have plowed the field before you. Even more interesting than the gore is the director's intriguing camera work. I had to recheck the date of "Evil Dead Trap" because many of the techniques seen here are standard fare today: the use of quick cutting, hyperzooming, and negative photography all look as though Ikeda lifted his style from the late 1990s or early 2000s. This may be the earliest use of such cinematography I have seen. If it is not the first, it is one of the earliest. This aspect of "Evil Dead Trap" makes for a captivating viewing experience even as the plot disappoints.

Synapse Films brought us the DVD version of "Evil Dead Trap," which is not surprising considering the offbeat movies this company releases. This release has a commentary from the director, some trailers, and a widescreen presentation. The picture quality is a bit of a mixed bag, as I thought some of the scenes looked slightly soft and a tad grainy. On the other hand, scenes shot in semi-darkness looked good. You can clearly see all of the gore scenes, which is the most important thing for this type of film. If you enjoy ghastly Asian cinema, add this one to your list.

I cannot claim to be an expert on Horror films, and although I know the name, I have never seen "Suspira" or many of the other oft-referenced flicks featured in other reviews. That being so, this review may be helpful from the viewpoint of a casual viewer, and is hopefully taken as such.

I watched "Evil Dead Trap" on a whim, hoping to see a Japanese horror flick around Halloween time. I must confess, I wasn't prepared for the sheer brutality of some of the scenes, including the aforementioned injury to the eye motif. Not quite a slasher film and not quite a psychological horror film, there are elements of both. Something along the lines of "Silence of the Lambs" combined with the gore and violence of a "Friday the 13th" movie.

The opening half is definitely superior for to the second, with the brutal videotapes captivating my attention, as well as that of Nami. However, the more the movie tries to explore the connection between the killer and Nami, the more obscure the plot gets, and the more difficult it is to stay interested.

All in all, it is not a bad film, but not a very good one either. The high level of explicit gore might be a barrier to casual horror film watchers, and the dense plot might be a barrier to those hoping for a good slashing. I don't think I will watch it again, but it was interesting to watch once.

Evil Dead Trap (Toshiharu Ikeda, 1988)

Man, this movie wears its Argento influence on its sleeve in a huge way. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing; a handful of directors have been able to take the Argento influence and really run with it (the most notable being Michele Soavi). Evil Dead Trap, however, uses the visual brilliance he's inherited from Argento to mask a shallow script with a predictable plot.

Nami (Miyuki Ono, who would show up the year after in Ridley Scott's Black Rain) is the hostess of a late-night TV show with an all-female production team. One day, she comes in to find a package on her desk. When she views the videotape inside, she finds what looks like a snuff movie, and in the spirit of investigative journalism, she and a camera crew head out to the abandoned military base where the movie was filmed to see if she kind find the body, or perhaps the killer. When the crew get there, they find a mysterious man who warns them away. Soon after, as you would expect, the crew begin dying.

Predictable, right? Like you wouldn't believe. Every plot twist you expect is coming, and if you haven't figured out the Big Reveal halfway through the movie, you haven't seen enough slasher films. I grant you, there's a pretty bizarre twist to this particular Big Reveal, but it's still a variation on a theme. You've seen this before many, many times. Still, it's all quite pretty, and if you're a gorehound there's more than enough here to keep you satisfied. Just don't expect a great script. ** ½

Evil Dead Trap is a Japanese horror film from the 80's that drew a lot of inspiration from Italian and American horror film's from that era, particularly Argento, Cronenburg and Fulci movie's. It's got all the color's, technique's, and beautifully staged murder sequences of Argento's best work, with the supernatural and bizarre element's of a Cronenburg movie, and the gore of a Fulci movie all blended into a strange, yet incredible horror film (even has a soundtrack that could be mistaken as lost Goblin music).
A newswoman get's a strange videotape of a girl being sliced up in an abandoned factory (including an eyeball slicing scene reminiscent of Fulci's New York Ripper) and she and her collegues decide to investigate the murder. It then turn's into a enjoyably confusing nightmare of gore and the supernatural. One after another they get murdered in very brutal and creative way's, and then top's it all off with a Cronenburg-like, sci-fi ending. This is one of the best Japanese (or anywhere for that matter) horror flick's ever to have been made, and I can't recommend this one enough.

Until its final (disappointing) reels, "Evil Dead Trap" is basically a slasher film with an intriguing premise: The hostess of a late-night TV show for Insomniacs solicits home videos from her viewers. She receives a tape that follow a van as it makes its way outside the city to an abandoned military complex. Inside, the faceless videographer appears to torture and then murder a woman. The TV show host gets a crew together to investigate - WRONG move. Someone or some thing lies in the shadows, ready to torture and murder Nami's crew one by one. What could he want with Nami?

The first thing you should know about "Evil Dead Trap" is that its violence is far more intense than your average US slasher. Fans of Dario Argento or Lucio Fulci (whose work "EDT" mines extensively) probably won't be shocked by the level of violence, but your casual viewer might be turned off by the sheer brutality of the carnage. Unlike say Jason or Freddy, the faceless killer of "Evil Dead Trap" isn't content to just murder his victims. Nope, this baddy wants to actually torture them in a series of highly sadistic and elaborate set pieces. The body count isn't especially high, but it does include intense, graphic scenes of eye-gouging, a cleaver to the head, a garote/neck-snapping, etc. Gorehounds will love it; casual horror fans might be seriously put off.

Aside from the brutality, what sets "Evil Dead Trap" apart for me is the stylish camera work and chilly atmosphere of the film. Corridors of the labyrinthian military base are lit with bold Technicolors. There's a gorgeous scene set in the fog-drenched woods outside. The soundtrack is unintrusive but effectively creepy. I'd never realized how much Japanese horror was incluenced by Italian gaillo and gore films, but fans of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci will recognize little stylistic flourishes throughout "Evil Dead Trap."

There are some plot gaps. For one thing, if I'd received a snuff film in the mail, my first response would be to contact the police - NOT to investigate the source on my own! Even assuming the film was fake, the kind of person who'd stage a mock snuff that features a woman getting her eye pierced by a large, sharp poker (in graphic, disgusting detail) is not the kind of person I want to meet. The first few minutes of the movie require some serious suspension of disbelief ...

And the ending is a letdown. "Evil Dead Trap" is so stylish that for the first hour or so I started to enjoy the fairly by-the-numbers predictability of it all. The last half an hour veers into some highly ridiculous Freudian psychobabble terrain that didn't seem to fit. I give the screenwriter/director credit for trying to do something different, but the ending is a serious departure from the rest of the film. The last half an hour or so seems to lag, and things get uninteresting once "Evil Dead Trap" tries to explain itself.

Anyway, all that said - ANY fan of Japanese or Eurohorror will enjoy the movie, and US horror fans who have a stomach for graphic violence should be entertained. "Evil Dead Trap" is uneven and flawed, but it kept me rivetted for most of the film.