Evil Dead Trap (Subtitled) (Wide Screen) (DVD)

...thing about eyes and videotapes. Evil Dead Trap must surely be the most popular one yet then, because this movie has both. Suffice it to say that, having watched this, I should strongly advise against opening any anonymous mail that is sent to you from Japan.

Evil Dead Trap (crap title, don't you think?) really is a very bizarre movie - a perfect example of the wacky and, in all honesty, rather perverted imagination of the Japanese ...
...Without giving too much away, Evil Dead Trap is like a combination of My Little Eye, Saw, Alien and Hallowe'en - and if that all sounds a bit too much, it probably is!

Toshiharu Ikeda has a flair for the subject matter. At times, Evil Dead Trap is visually very effective, with little flourishes of a sinister imagination peppered around the place. Darkness is briefly illuminated by a camera flash. Dark. Flash. Dark. Flash. Something ... more

When television journalist Nami Tsuchiya is anonymously sent a video cassette through the post, her curiosity is immediately aroused. The tape seems to contain a genuine "snuff" movie and to Nami's horror, a young woman is brutally murdered before her eyes. Prior to the murder scenes, the film maker has given clear directions to where the incident has taken place and, armed with this information, Nami consults her editor to see if he will support a visit out to the infamous location. He is uninterested, telling her that the tape is more than likely just a hoax sent in by pranksters, and tells her to forget all about it.

Nami, however, is unable to do so and convinced that she has the story of a lifetime, she persuades her production crew to drive out to the isolated building and investigate what has happened. After some persuasion, they all agree and soon Nami and three colleagues are on their way. When they arrive at the location shown on the tape, they find it to be an abandoned army base, and in order to see what they can find, they split into groups and start to explore. They are, of course, unaware that their arrival has been seen by a mysterious figure, hiding in the undergrowth and as the young friends wander round more and more of the building, there is a growing unease that they are being watched. The abandoned base holds some very unpleasant secrets and soon, Nami and her colleagues find themselves fighting for their lives.

It seems to me that Japanese horror film makers have a thing about eyes and videotapes. Evil Dead Trap must surely be the most popular one yet then, because this movie has both. Suffice it to say that, having watched this, I should strongly advise against opening any anonymous mail that is sent to you from Japan.

Evil Dead Trap (crap title, don't you think?) really is a very bizarre movie - a perfect example of the wacky and, in all honesty, rather perverted imagination of the Japanese film maker. At times, it could have been a carbon copy of countless American horror films, but as the film twists and turns still further it rather sets itself apart from convention. Unless I was missing something fundamental, sadly, it doesn't really make an awful lot of sense either and is definitely one of those films that is good when it's good, and bloody awful when it's bad.

Produced in native Japanese, the film is subtutled for English viewers which, by definition, makes it slightly hard work to watch. Nonetheless, it is pretty clear from the outset that the film is going to push the boundaries of taste and decency when a half-naked young woman is tied up and has a razor-sharp knife plunged into one of her eyeballs. It's pretty much downhill from there to be honest, with further brutal stabbings, torture, explicit sex, decapitation, a (particularly unpleasant) rape scene and various scenes of deformity and body collapse. Wholesome family entertainment, this is not! Without giving too much away, Evil Dead Trap is like a combination of My Little Eye, Saw, Alien and Hallowe'en - and if that all sounds a bit too much, it probably is!

Toshiharu Ikeda has a flair for the subject matter. At times, Evil Dead Trap is visually very effective, with little flourishes of a sinister imagination peppered around the place. Darkness is briefly illuminated by a camera flash. Dark. Flash. Dark. Flash. Something scuttles across the room. What was that? Dark. Flash. It's gone. And so on. Blurry, hysterical, black and white filmwork is interspersed with the full colour to indicate a different perspective and whilst at times it's all a bit "arty", it is still visually quite exciting. The setting is perfect too - a grotty, dirty, dank old warehouse, full of darkened corners, a labyrinth of disused rooms and treacherous corridors leading to who knows what. The climactic set piece is also rather stylish, adding to the overall insanity of the proceedings.

Although filmed in 1988, the film is also surprisingly technically competent too. The murders are imaginative, gruesome and really quite convincing. The use of make-up is generally very effective and although the story is VERY far-fetched, the film doesn't look shoddy or amateurish, until probably the last fifteen minutes or so, when the whole thing simply goes doolally.

And sadly, this where Evil Dead Trap's appeal rapidly wears off. Nothing makes a great deal of sense to start with but by the time the film has finally played out, it is just a load of nonsense. The concept of a manipulative, malevolent figure luring people to their death was quite engaging - the truth behind the killer's identity is rather less so and it soon becomes quite obvious that Ikeda started to make it up as he went along. Genetic and mutations always make for hard work and when you don't have the biggest budget going, they are also probably best avoided. It also means that the original tone and feel of the film (sinister horror) falls away to fantasy horror - and each is at odds with the other.

Another downside to the film is the silly, popcorn soundtrack that churns away piped music at the most inopportune moments. It seems rather offensive for such a jolly little track to be playing away whilst someone is being slaughtered. This aside, it is also rather irritating and whilst some viewers will put this down to Japanese quirkiness, I just wanted to put it down.

I find it quite difficult to give a critical view of actors of certain nationalities because cultural difference mean that what is considered to be powerful, meaningful acting in one place comes across very differently in another. I don't generally find Japanese actors / actresses to be terribly convincing, simply because they seem to be rather extreme. As such, I found Miyuki Ono's Nami (the heroine) rather lacklustre and unconvincing. She spends half of the film with her eyes wide open and the other half screaming. She doesn't really do what common sense would dictate either. Whilst this may be an essential pre-requisite for your average horror film, it does still make you cringe. Her fellow victims are equally uninspiring, particularly the sex-craved fella of the piece who is about as sexy as a rock. Appreciation of Japanese movies would rarely be focused on the cast, it has to be said.

So, what's the overall verdict? It's very difficult to say. Evil Dead Trap was a lot better than I expected it to be and it is quite a good horror movie. That aside, it does all go a bit silly and I rather thought it was spoilt.

Watch it but don't expect to be blown away.

(Note: There are two sequels. If I get really bored one night, I might watch them and tell you about those ones too, you very lucky people.) 

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