Shiryô no wana (1988) Online

Sitting down and watching my newly bought EVIL DEAD TRAP DVD I was blown away at the scenes that unfolded before my eyes. This movie has gained a huge status over the years and now that it is available on DVD we won't need those crappy bootlegs anymore. I had heard much about the film's reputation and can say I was really impressed. The story is intelligent and well-thought out while the execution was played just perfectly. Evil Dead Trap contains an especially delicious array of gory delights including sliced hands, gouged eyeball torture, impalement by spear contraption, cranium cracking, and neck breaking. This is quite the twisted film and this is ONLY the beginning! The first half is your basic stalk-n-slash story (Japanese style) with one freaky looking killer dressed in a black raincoat. Later, the movie progresses into something a bit more complex, some would say silly, but I enjoyed the move the film made. Let's just say it's something you wouldn't have seen coming. I loved the final showdown between Nami, and...wait I won't tell you, but in my opinion it's one of the best scenes in horror history. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. After all, like most have already said, the director takes a strong influence from veteran Italian horror-meisters like Argento and Fulci and even has some Evil Dead-like camera angles thrown in there. You could even say there's a bit of Cronenberg's genius in here as well ;-) How can you go wrong?

It's true that Evil Dead Trap director Toshiharu Ikeda blatantly rips off Italian genre greats Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci for this outrageous piece of late 80s slasher craziness, but he does it with such aplomb that only the most sour of horror purists would bother screaming 'plagiarist'. Let's face it, how often do you get to see what the bastard offspring of a giallo and a Japanese splatter pic would look like? I sure can't think of any other films that provide that opportunity.

Ikeda's movie begins with TV presenter Nami (Miyuki Ono), the host of a late night home-video show, receiving a tape through the post which appears to show real footage of women being tortured and then killed (be prepared for a particularly nasty Fulci-style eye slicing during the screening of this tape). Rather than immediately contact the police like any normal person would do after receiving a snuff movie in the mail, intrepid Nami seizes the chance to prove her worth as an investigative reporter and decides to locate where the video was made.

Accompanied by her equally dumb crew (four women plus one horny guy to allow for the obligatory sex scene), Nami follows visual clues on the tape, ultimately arriving at the site of a derelict factory where a masked killer waits patiently for the group to (in time-honoured slasher fashion) split up and investigate the building.

After several elaborate death scenes, including a juicy impalement on metal spikes and a splattery machete-in-the-head booby trap, only Nami is left alive. Help is seemingly at hand, however, in the form of enigmatic stranger Daisuke, who knows of a subterranean passageway that leads to safety.

So far, so predictable, but in the film's final act, Ikeda stops following the recognised slasher rules and suddenly enters Cronenbergian territory, introducing his audience to Hideke, the murderous parasitic child with telekinetic powers that lives inside the body of Daisuke! At this point, any semblance of logic and predictability vanishes, and madness reigns: Hideke makes fireworks explode around Nami as she tries to escape, the little fellow erupts from his brother's body to attack Nami in person, and Daisuke attempts to destroy the creature by forcing it back into his torso and setting himself on fire.

This combination of bloody stalk and slash and bonkers biological horror proves to be quite irresistible, and although Ikeda definitely isn't on a par with Argento, the director he attempts to emulate the closest (just check out the primary coloured lighting and Goblinesque score), Evil Dead Trap does manage to be solid entertainment from start to finish.

Very very minor spoiler.

Plot summary: A TV crew get lured to a disused military installation and get stalked by….a killer.

After being introduced to Ikeda-san's work by his abysmal 2001 effort "Shadow of the Wraith" I had zero expectations for this, especially after I found out he also directed one of the later Meiko Kaji-less instalments of the "Female Prisoner Scorpion" series.

How surprised I was then, to see just what a solid film "Evil Dead Trap" is. The film certainly doesn't mess around; introducing the characters and setting up the plot in about fifteen minutes, all perfectly spliced around a videotaped Fulci-esquire eye slicing scene. The plot, initially owing much to Videodrome, takes a back seat as the TV crew get down to the business of walking backwards, running further into darkened warehouses when they should be going outside and having sex when they should be watching out for the psychopathic knife-wielder.

The ripped off plot and horror clichés aside, the film scores its points with an array of violent, gruesome and inventive deaths, with an abundance of blood, nudity and maggots. Whenever I thought the film was regressing into conventionality, it always surprised me by turning back on itself, usually with an aforementioned brutal killing. However the ending was what most shocked me; what seemed to be a conventional explanation for the "mystery" of the killer eventually culminated in a horrific gorefest that probably got David Cronenberg wondering if he'd misplaced a script.

This is mainstream 80s J-horror at its best, taking influence from the greats such as Cronenberg and Fulci. It makes up for its shortcomings with a shocking amount of violence and gore, the occasional graphic sex scene and a brilliant conclusion.

A must for all gorehounds and horror fanatics.

Now before you ask that question, this is NOT associated with the Sam Raimi classics. This is a pretty whacked Japanese horror movie of evil monster fetuses with bad attitudes. Not a really outstanding movie by any means, but I kept feeling like I was watching an older Italian slasher flick, especially with the GOBLIN-esque musical soundtrack pumping in at the action sequences. If you've ever seen any of Dario Argento's impressive horror movies, then you'll know exactly what the impression is I'm referring to. I also kept thinking to myself that there's just something strangely odd about the girls in this flick. And come to find out, they were actual AV Idol Pornstars. WOW! Japanese pornstars in a horror movie getting naked and getting "offed" in glorious deep red ways...Well, it makes this worth the money already!

Toshiharu Ikeda's "Evil Dead Trap" was really popular in Japan,spawning at least two sequels.Nami(Miyuki Ono),a late night TV show host,receives a strange tape.It shows the brutal murder of a young Japanese woman.Nami launches her own investigation,taking four of her crew to an abandoned Army base.However somebody,or possibly something is waiting for them..."Evil Dead Trap" is obviously influenced by the works of Dario Argento,Lucio Fulci,Sam Raimi and David Cronenberg.It has even Goblinesque soundtrack which reminds me Argento's "Suspiria".Still the film has some wonderful surprises-it's atmospheric and very gory.The death scenes are pretty graphic and gruesome,so gorehounds won't be disappointed.I really liked the use of booby traps to kill some of the victims.The ending is also very surprising.All in all I enjoyed this film and you should too,if you're a fan of Japanese extreme horror!

After seeing The Evil Dead Trap, I'm not surprised at all that it has a rather strong cult following; as despite the fact that the plot is rather ludicrous and the film isn't particularly well thought out, it makes up for these problems with a plethora of special effects and a bucket of gore; and the result is a brilliantly fun piece of Japanese horror. The influence for this film is clearly far reaching, but the most obvious is probably the Cronenberg masterpiece Videodrome, though the oeuvre of Lucio Fulci seems to be an influence and of course the English title is a clear rip-off of a very popular early eighties horror film. The plot focuses on a late night reality TV show hosted a young lady named Nami. The show receives a videotape that includes apparently real snuff tape footage. This leads the team to go and track down the origin of the tape, and they arrive at an old warehouse. After gaining access to the facility, it's not long before the group begin being picked off by an unseen assailant.

The film could easily be seen as a slasher flick, but actually it's much more ambitious than that. The snuff footage at the beginning of the film sets the tone for the rest of it; the violence is extreme, but also rather realistic and that is carried on throughout. One of my favourite things about it was undoubtedly the atmosphere; director Toshiharu Ikeda makes best use of the location and the fact that the central characters are isolated from the outside world. The violence is often shown and extreme and this is what makes the film entertaining. It's also rather inventive and the film offers much more than merely another man with a knife. The problems regarding the plotting and character are somewhat condemning; I do feel that if a bit more time and attention were given to these areas then the film could easily have been a masterpiece. But even so, if you want a good gorefest then you really can't do better than this film! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to all horror fans.

SPOILERS

Nami Tsuchiya is an ambitious young reporter who hosts a late night public access show. One day she returns to her office to find a mysterious tape sitting on her desk. She watches it only to see the directions to an abandoned factory where someone kills a young woman. Nami recruits several friends to go to the factory in effort to finally get the news story she's been needing to become famous. Once they arrive at the factory someone, or something, systematically picks off all of Nami's friends without mercy in a game of cat and mouse. Nami then meets a mysterious stranger that claims to be looking for his brother and knows the way out of the maze-like factory.

The first half of this film is outstanding. The gore is great, the plot is great and the pacing is great, but then after all of Nami's friends are killed and she meets the stranger the pacing just sort of dies up until the climax. It goes from being one of the best horror movies I've ever seen into a film that becomes, well, boring. There are several long sequences, of like three or four consecutive minutes, where we just have Nami walking around in a field sulking over her dead friends. I rarely say this, but The Evil Dead Trap would have really benefited by cutting about ten minutes off the runtime. Then it picks back up at the end for a rather twisted ending very reminiscent of the work of Larry Cohen, in sort of a mix between It's Alive and God Told Me To.

As I mentioned, the gore in this film is excellent. The opening murder scene features an example of eyeball violence and brutal close-ups that rival even the best of Fulci. As soon as the television crew arrives to the factory you get the feeling of a great 1980s slasher film, containing both spine chilling suspense and good gore once the killer makes his move.

Overall this was a great film surrounded by a decent amount of material that didn't need to be there. Had the pacing of the whole film been what it was in the first half then this would go down among my all time favorites, however it gets too dull and pointless to earn that honor. Instead, in my opinion it goes down as a good slasher film that I am glad I purchased but didn't live up to my expectations.

MY GRADE: B

EVIL DEAD TRAP is a pretty solid J-horror film with several cool elements. It starts to taper off and get kind of dull at the end, but overall a pretty strong film...

EVIL DEAD TRAP starts off with Nami, a late-night TV show host, receiving a strange package in the mail. She opens it up, and it turns out to be a VCR tape. She pops it in and watches what appears to be a pretty rough snuff film of a chick getting cut up and poked in the eye with a knife (in true graphic "Fulci" fashion...). The "killer" filmed the drive to the location where the "snuff-film" was made, so Nami, smelling a hot story, packs up her film crew and heads out to check it out. Of course there are some strange goings-on at the abandoned facility where the snuff-film was shot, and the crew members start getting picked off one-by-one in pretty gruesome fashion. This leads up to the finale of Nami "unmasking" the killer and the completely off-the-wall ending...

All-in-all, EVIL DEAD TRAP is a good film. The story is interesting, there are some novel gore scenes, and the photography, acting, and locations are all very good. The only real problem I had is with the pacing, which started off pretty hot and heavy, and slowed down noticeably in the second half. I actually fell asleep twice trying to watch this film - but that could have been the bourbon...The ending was also completely strange and unexpected - but anyone who watches a lot of this type of J-horror won't be too surprised by that fact. It seems that these films can never have a straight story-line, that they all have to feature some sort of super-natural or just super-strange element to make them work, and although the eyeball scene was rough and there were a few other notable kill scenes, I personally was hoping for a little more of the red-stuff...Definitely recommended for anyone who likes more underground J-horror. 8/10

Toshiharu Ikeda's "Evil Dead Trap" seems to start out as an effective, ultra-violent slasher. One can clearly see where the Saw franchise may've gotten a few ideas. But, once most of the victims have been eliminated, this film takes a Mondo Bizarro turn and definitely left this viewer's jaw dropping a loud thud to the floor. Television station late night talk show host is sent what appears to be a snuff video recording where a female victim is mutilated by a knife blade, ripping her flesh, stabbing into her eyeball. Nami Tsuchiya(Miyuki Ono)wishes to pursue the one responsible(..she doesn't take the recording as serious, actually making funny to her director about boosting rating if she were killed by the psycho on assignment), who left a way of travel on the recording to an abandoned military installation, fallen to ruin, but her employers haven't the budget to fund such an expedition. So Nami's television crew, opt to join her, not knowing that a serial killer lies in wait, ready to butcher them in various ways, setting traps they'll unfortunately walk into. Nami meets a mysterious, handsome, quietly enigmatic man who tells her to be careful as he pursues his brother Hideki. This man knows more than he's telling and will meet up with Nami once again, after she loses her friends, who fall to the killer one by one. The major twist which is certain to floor a few folks if they haven't read up on this film is exactly who Hideki really is and how *he* will effect her life forever.

As I mentioned at the very start, Ikeda sets up the film following the usual patterns well established in the slasher genre. A group of young adults enter into the hunting ground of a hidden psychopath, dying in gruesome ways. The first to die had just finished having sex with her boyfriend, who was the show's assistant director. Eventually, the characters separate, converge together, then walk into traps set by the killer. Like in numerous slashers, dead bodies surprise victims who only realize just what their up against after witnessing them. Wooden spikes stab through a female victim. One female victim, who actually makes it out of the warehouse, is attacked by the killer's *servant*, who subsequently sexually molests her while gripping her throat, strangling her just enough to keep her at bay as he forces himself in her as she struggles mightily to escape. Before he's executed with a metal pike rammed through his face and out his mouth, this deviant informs her(..but, more importantly, us)that the *two* killers are actually one. She hopes to free herself, but is dragged over the roof of the company van by a wire noose slamming head-first to pavement. Another is bound by tape, as Nami trips a wire which sends a swinging blade into the side of her face. But, these elaborate death sequences(..including the opening snuff kill which certainly informs the viewer what you're up against)pale in comparison with Nami's introduction and on-going battle with Hideki. That is certainly the show-stopping finale(..including what happens to Nami at the very end when she believes she had finally rid herself of Hideki forever)I never saw coming. The very definition of "the rug being swept out from under you." For the exception of Ono and her mysterious *assistant*, the rest of the cast(..like in your common slasher movie)are disposable victims.

A VERY difficult to take film, one must have a strong constitution but if you do you will be rewarded. It is an intelligently brutal film. It doesn't just provide senseless gore (although there is plenty of it) it creates brutality in its situations. It's a film that wont let you go..it stayed with me for days afterward.

Although MERMAID LEGEND is my all-time favorite Ikeda film, EVIL DEAD TRAP, a derivative but fierce and violent shocker, is deserving of distinction.

It's a catalog of gory set pieces inspired by Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, Sam Raimi (of course), John Carpenter and Jess Franco.

Long before THE RING kick-started the "haunted videotape" craze, there was EVIL DEAD TRAP.

What distinguishes a lot of Japanese horror from American horror is brutality and explicitness. It's not that American horror hasn't been brutal (Texas CHAINSAW, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and FORCED ENTRY all tip the brutality scales), it's just that there's been a cultural shift against movies of this type (read: political correctness) in the West whereas the Japanese film industry hasn't caught that particular cancer.

EVIL DEAD TRAP is confused by itself at times and its ending is beyond silly, but you do get several gleefully gruesome deaths, a rape/strangulation highly deserving of an encore, several ingenious methods of murder and a cloying, brain sick atmosphere.

The electronic score serves the material nicely and the film's primary location, an abandoned government facility, has a great Texas CHAINSAW stink.

Nice, juicy effects, too.

Avoid the wretched EVIL DEAD TRAP 2.

This started out interestingly enough, but man did it run way to long after most of the characters had already been slain. Still it was rather good here and there, though I am not sure why the English title for this was Evil Dead Trap cause really there are no zombies or anything like that. The trap part of the title is appropriate cause the whole premise of the movie is sort of a trap. A trap to ensnare a reporter and her colleagues by luring them in with a tape showing the directions to an old abandoned military base and a brutal murder of a woman. The group heads out to the factory and does the exploring thing and then they begin to get killed in very unpleasant ways...killed very quickly I might add as we are left with only one of the group left and a mysterious man. I had no problem figuring out the secret, but that is because the stupid inside of the DVD had a picture that pretty much ruined the one revelation and helped you figure out the other quickly too. So in the end you are left with one of the longest confrontation scenes ever in a horror movie that isn't all that exciting to watch. It just went on and on, then death, then attack, another apparent death and attack till they finish off with a rather gory ending which is okay, but nothing I haven't seen before in a Lucio Fulcio movie. Still though it has some upside to keep you entertained a bit...I just would have preferred a bit more explanation on some points and less in other areas.

Japanese Toshihara Ideka's SHIRYO NO WANA aka EVIL DEAD TRAP (1988) is easily among the most remarkable horror films of the 80's. It stars Miyuki Ono as Nami, a night host for a radio station, who receives a mysterious envelope during one night. Inside it, she founds a video tape which she inserts in her VCR. A horrible "snuff film" is on that tape and Nami starts to investigate with the help of her crew what's behind all this. Soon they discover there are things which should not be there, which should not be in existence at all.

This film simply blew me away years ago when I first saw this. I really had to decide whether I'll keep on watching it after the beginning or not. It is that bad, or more precisely, effective. The film has elements from Dario Argento films, like gorgeous camera use and music, which is composed by Tomohiko Kira and his soundtrack is very close to Goblin's PROFONDO ROSSO for Dario Argento. The music and soundtrack are easily the greatest elements in EVIL DEAD TRAP and they are the ones which stayed in my mind long after the first (and subsequent, too) viewing(s). There's much more than just music on the soundtrack: there are whispers and menacingly unknown sounds and "breathes" very similar to Argento's SUSPIRIA by Goblin. All these films are great examples to show what kind of a power can be achieved by soundtrack in cinema.

Now I've seen TRAP several times and the film hasn't lost its power at all. Of course it won't leave me as breathless as it once did, but its cinematic magic and visuals are still there as powerfully as then when I saw this for the first time. The cinematography is wonderful combination of fast forwards, black and white, zooms, twisted camera angles, long takes without edits and so on. The atmosphere is mainly created by the director's usage of photography and music.

The actors are very talented and never do anything irritating or unbelievable. They are real and especially Nami becomes a person easy to feel sympathy for, and the scriptwriter is no less than Takashi Ishii, the man behind Japanese modern masterpieces like Gonin (1995) and Freeze Me (2000). He wrote TRAPs 1 and 3, which were both directed by Ikeda, too.

What really happens in the movie is extremely paranoid and schizophrenic to say the least. The ending, when a character gives birth to his own split personality, really tests the sanity of the already stunned viewer, and it all goes even further in the sequel EVIL DEAD TRAP 2: HIDEKI, directed by Izuo Hashimoto. The ending in the original TRAP is something never-before-seen and it was just developed even further by the sequel, so it all got its birth with this original. And what kind of a "birth" that is, is left for the viewer to be discovered in amazement.

The gore effects and terror filled mayhem is pretty graphic, but also so graphic, it isn't meant to be seen as a realistic depiction of violence and murder. The film is so insane and close to surrealism, the acts of horror are also symbolic and thus "not from this earth of ours." But still I don't wish anyone un-willing to see gory scenes goes watching this, because there are brutal scenes which won't unfold to some viewers as anything else but sick depiction of graphic violence. Since this film is pure fantasy and nightmare, the scenes are not to be connected to our world and life. They are mostly elements to make the atmosphere and movie's world itself even stronger.

EVIL DEAD TRAP is the kind of film which will probably punch every viewer under the belt, especially those who aren't too experienced with the abilities of Cinema. Of course TRAPs 1 and 2 definitely should be seen on big screen because they lose so sadly much of their power when watched on video, VHS or DVD. These films simply demand big screen and any other way to watch these films just distantly gives a clue of what it would be like to see them in a big theatre, alone and in the dark.

I give EVIL DEAD TRAP 10 stars out of 10. Films like this make cinema nearly as powerful as it can be in this genre, and it's not a surprise it's coming from Japan, the land of many great cinema artists during decades. EVIL DEAD TRAP is most likely something only they can invent. At least I haven't experienced anything quite like this from any other country's cinema. I'd really like to see more from Ikeda, and hopefully someone releases a legitimate version of TRAP 3 at some point.

I am using this quotation to refer to overzealous critical opinion. The film itself suffered a budget cutback in the sound and fury department.

I had the misfortune to live through this with a friend at the Fant-Asia Festival in Toronto in August. I was laughing by the end as the film just got stupider and stupider without ever really passing through a scarier and scarier phase. The finale is a riot of derisive laffs.

The film's stylishness -- what there is of it -- is all stolen. The soundtrack is ripped off from one or more of Goblin's old scores for Dario Argento. Teller of Penn & Teller said on the box the other day (in a special about magic) that imitation is *not* the highest form of flattery. It's just theft. Teller rarely speaks, but when he does he's right.

The film *is* gross; I'll give you that. Personally, the infrequent carnal delights were really the only thing I found in its favour.

I gave this film a bad rating at that time; I in fact had to create this IMDb page first, plus 4 other Ikeda pages. Back in August, there was only one Ikeda page: Kagi. But I didn't bother to review the film since, hey, who's ever going to see it? But now it's popped up in an ad in Asian Cult Cinema, so now I have to warn the WORLD. Just like Kevin McCarthy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I do feel some qualms since ACC is backing it -- I would award the magazine a high rating if given the opportunity.

I have had an unusually high opinion of Oliver Stone for a long time. I'm in a minority, so what. I like him not for his commercial instincts, or for his disregard for historical accuracy, but rather for his willingness to take on challenging topics in mainstream films. But I don't know what to think since seeing his high praise for this film. Perhaps his comments were taken out of context. Or perhaps there's a kernel of truth in those scurrilous exposés.

Without a doubt, "Evil Dead Trap" ranks amongst my favourite Asian horror titles. Last night, I decided to give my treasured Synapse disc another whirl. It had been a good while since I last watched the film - would it still hit the mark with repeated viewing? The answer is an emphatic "Yes." There's been a lot of references to Argento and Fulci when people come to write about "Evil Dead Trap". It's not difficult to understand why. The film features impressively violent set pieces like the Italian masters, has a Goblinesque soundtrack and has a vivid use of colours like "Suspiria" or "Inferno". It's simply a delight to watch. Although the soundtrack is compromised (mono only), it's a good one and its repetitive nature will ensure it lingers in the subconscious after you've turned the television off.

I love the whole premise of the film. A female reporter on a late night television show is sent a gruesome video featuring the bloody dispatch of a young woman who looks the spitting image of her. Hooked by curiosity (Is it an elaborate practical joke? Is it a snuff movie?), the reporter and her colleagues set out to investigate the tape, following deliberate directions left on the video itself. The path leads to a deserted factory and that's where the fun starts.

The film is gripping stuff. It's simple and delivers its shocks efficiently (like a bizarre "Friday the 13th" film). In the last 20 minutes of the film, the weird switch is turned up a notch and we enter a Cronenberg-like state of affairs. Curiously, the first time I watched "Evil Dead Trap", I felt the film lost its impact towards the later stages. Watching it again in the early hours of this morning, I've changed my mind. The film works really well as a whole. It's a journey from the logic and organisation of a television company to the strange nightmare world we find ourselves in before the credits have rolled.

In terms of acting, the performances are excellent. I've read that Asian softcore porn actresses were cast in some of the roles which might explain some of the scenes (including a protracted and unpleasant rape sequence). The central character, Nami, played by Miyuki Ono is believable and someone you root for. As in the majority of Asian movies, the ladies are easy on the eye.

This is probably the perfect introduction to Asian cinema as it's atmospheric, gory (some of the traps are executed so fast that you don't see them coming and the outcome will satisfy most gorehounds), has a decent soundtrack and a few scenes of "t & a". It also has an eyeball abuse scene that I believe tops the one in Fulci's "Zombi 2".

Excellent.

Ikedas influence by Argento's "Suspiria" is very evident but he does it with such skill and intelligence that his film is truly one of the best of its kind. It is unceasingly brutal but not at a cheap "lowest common denominator" way. His use of location, editing and sound results in a movie that grabs you by the back of the neck and holds your head underwater until you're gasping for breath. It will stay with you for days afterward.

Evil Dead Trap raised the bar for horror films. The film is full of sick and twisted images. Some scary others insane. The eye popping scene is beyond words. I wish all horror films were on this level. But alas Exorcist and Omen are the norm and very boring. The other reviewer said he had to laugh at the ending. Some people laugh when they are scared. I say he couldn't handle evil dead trap. This movie may be a bit depraved but the best horror is. What I can't stand is big budget horror that doesn't pay off. People can learn something from the masters of horror... the Japanese and the Italians. Films like Blood and Black Lace, Deep Red Hatchet Murders, Demons, Entrails of a Virgin, Evil Dead Trap should be looked at as textbook horror by modern film makers.

A cross between THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and THE X-FILES (with a pinch of PSYCHO thrown in for flavoring), it's a great improvement over the later American versions in this genre that...no pun intended...have lost their edge. This film, which I saw at home on DVD, held my interest throughout. When I thought that the tension couldn't grow anymore, I was surprised to note that I was only halfway into the movie. And, although the ending is telegraphed early into the film, it has an unusual style that wouldn't let me look away.

The film is unusually graphic. I was reminded of some of the Fulgi excesses (such as ZOMBIE). Yet, those scenes certainly add to the overall impact of the film.

"Evil Dead Trap" is a notorious Japanese horror film known for its heavy violence. It's a uniquely grisly Eastern take on the slasher flick, with an ending that abandons that for Cronenberg-like body horror.

Nami is a struggling reporter who gets a supposed "snuff film" in the mail. It features perhaps the most horrific eye-gouge I have ever seen in a movie. Fulci's "Zombi" has nothing on it.

Nami, being perhaps not very bright, decides to gather her equally foolish team of helpers and check out the abandoned warehouse where the 'murder' was apparently filmed. There, in time-honored slasher film style, they decide to "split up and check it out", whereupon, yes, they begin getting picked off one by one, apparently by a masked assailant, though most of the deaths involve traps set beforehand.

There are then some tedious, lengthy dialogue scenes and I admit I stopped really paying attention. None of the violence in the movie tops or even equals that opening eye-pop scene, and the movie takes a truly bizarre detour into the realm of body horror which made no sense to me.

It left me wondering: is the bog standard slasher just too simplistic and dull for Japanese audiences? Is that why they felt they had to tack on the garbage at the end? What you end up with is a passable slasher which moves too late into weirdness and just loses the audience completely.

Toshiharu Ikeda's 'Evil Dead Trap,' which was written by Takashi Ishii, who would go on to direct the great Yakuza flick 'Gonin' (1995) and the arty rape revenge 'Freeze Me' (2000), has the set-up of Nami being the presenter of the TV show 'Late Night With Nami.' She requests viewers send in video's to play, and receives one hell of a submission; David Cronenberg's 'Videodrome' (1983) comes to mind as a woman is seen being tortured and ultimately murdered, edited in such a way that it is meant to be Nami. The power of montage. When discussing whether they should use the video on their program, a producer says "if we give attention to it, we'd only be encouraging sick behaviour." Indeed…

Regardless, Nami is given 'unofficial' approval to go and investigate. The video leaves clues as to how to find the scene of the murder, and the girls and their chaperon too easily discover a deserted military base that doesn't appear on any maps. The killer is clearly waiting for them. Black and white style Sam Raimi 'Evil Dead' style tracking shots indicate an evil presence, and the obvious source of the film's title.

As is the logic with these exercises, they break up into small groups; Rei goes with the male in the group, Kondou. Rei observes the buildings have the appearance that "everyone suddenly left without warning." Masako takes pictures and goes with Rya, who is the most likely 'final girl' as she wears pink. 'Sensibly' Nami goes off exploring by herself.

The film starts off visually with the daylight horrors of Dario Argento's 'Tenebre,' and Nami makes a point of saying it's 1pm when they arrive. Rei finds maggots falling from the ceiling straight out of Argento's 'Suspiria,' and being the first to have sex, is also the first to die. Rya, being a sensible 'final girl,' suggests they should leave after Nami lets on that she thinks the video was an 'invitation' to them.

Masako, being a photographer, cleverly dies by camera flash (and knife), dispatched by a suitably hooded 'Giallo' figure as the film quickly goes about disposing of the cast. However, Rya isn't a 'final girl' after all, on the verge of escape a killer (not faceless at all), states he prefers his victims to die slowly and makes her endure a prolonged rape where he goes on at length about his girlfriend who had her eyes cut out by these 'evil two who are one.' Rya doesn't die, she fights back, is about to die, then the rapist is killed and bleeds all over her… then she walks into a noose, and still THAT isn't what kills her, she struggles, falls over and breaks her neck. It is a noteworthy sequence as is doesn't drive the narrative but exists for its own nastiness. The film then veers off the slasher film trajectory and moves into a stranger land indeed; one that shows the influence of such disparate films as Frank Henenlotter's 'Basket Case' (1982), as well as Ridley Scott's 'Alien' (1979).

"Hideki, it's time for you to go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Not again! You went out. You're like a kite with a broken string."

The killer removes his mask, in a very 'un-Giallo' move, however then enters a 'Giallo' yellow room. He has cat like whiskers painted on his cheeks, reflecting Argento's cat obsession. In the final act, the basic elements of fire and water take over as all bets are off regarding narrative logic, as celebrity obsession meets with umbilicus cords and floating fetus'!

The long takes, tricky camera angles and less is more editing are influenced by Argento's stylized baroque cinema, and the music is clearly influenced by 'Deep Red.' Composer Tomohiko Kira is lead guitarist in the group 'Zabadak,' who took their name from the song by 'Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich,' whose song 'Hold Tight' features in Quentin Tarantino's episode of 'Grindhouse' (2007), which has a few Argento references of its own. An Asian film with no Asian reference points, but clearly familiar with the work of Argento. It somewhat joylessly riffs on the Argento style, and opened the door for the J-Horror tsunami to come that use atmosphere, more than the shock tactics of 'Evil Dead Trap.'

If Dario Argento, David Cronenberg, and Lucio Fulci had gotten together to create a horror movie then this is what the result might me. Shiryo no Wana/Evil Dead Trap(1988) would be responsible for ushering a new era in Japanese horror that would become big during the 1990's and early 21th Century. This is one of the films that help make Japan the top foreign market of horror features. Its about a reporter who goes to investigate an empty warehouse after receiving a snuff film. It has nothing to do the Evil Dead movies except for a few camera effects. The first half of the movie is in the tradition of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. The second half dives into Cronenberg territory.

Toshiharu Ikeda emerages from the feature film as one of the best directors of the Japanese gene film. Shiryo no wana(1988) is a mixture of European style and Japanese Philosophy. There are four scenes that stand out. First, the murder and torture scene at the beginning of the feature. Second, the murder of the young woman by impalement. Third, the revelation of the murderer and the secret that the person contains. Fourth, the shocking ending.

The death scenes have the elaboration of an Argento murder sequence with the gory and violent outcome from a Lucio Fulci movie. This is the best film that David Cronenberg never made. I wonder how long it will take before Hollywood will remake this into a waterdown American version. The film is a Japanese take on Argento's Profondo Rosso/Deep Red(1975) and Opera(1987). The eye violence seen at the beginning of the movie recalls the infamous eye penetration sequence of Lucio Fulci's Zombie(1979). Some parts of this motion picture echoes David Cronenberg's Shivers(1975), The Brood(1979), and Videodrome(1981). Shiryo no wana(1988) is an example of why horror films from aboard are superior to most horror films made in America.

What I enjoyed about Evil Dead Trap are the awesome camera movements, cool visuals, and heavy atmosphere. It was written by Takashi Ishii who would later direct the "Beat" Takeshi Yakuza vehical Gonin(1995). This is probably the film that opened the floodgates for such features as The Wizard of Darkness(1992), The Ring(1998), and The Ring 2(1999). I have a feeling that Kevin Williamson must have seen this movie when writing I Know What You Did Last Summer(1997). The outlook of the killer looks as if it would play a major influence on the appearence of the fisherman from IKWYDLS. Its a Japanese giallo with supernatural overtunes. The film also deals with the relationship between Parents and their children in Japanese culture.

Sure, the soundtrack borrows from Goblin, the ending is pretty nonsensical, and there ain't much plot, but it's definitely one of the best slashers I've seen. There's a lot of good camera work, plus some of the goriest, most brutal kill scenes ever. The eyeball bit makes me squirm every time. The film takes a turn for the worse at the end when a supernatural element is introduced, but I just laugh.

Gorehounds will appreciate the bloody kills, but this is purely an exercise in style over substance. Enjoyable cult movie if you're in the right frame of mind...

I loved this movie ! An over the top horror flick that starts out like a slasher movie, but then turns the story into a mad gory fantasy so beyond realty that to tell you more would compeltely ruin it for you. All you need to know is that a news reporter receives a videotape showing a young women being tortured, and her eye ball slit open by an unknown figure off camera. The reporter and her crew trace the tape to an abandoned factory, where once there a mad killer huntsthem down one by one. Sounds like you've heard it before, and you have but the weird plot twist in this film, and it's gleeflully sick ending will make you wet your pants, if you love oddball horror films you'll love The Evil Dead Trap, enjoy!

After getting a special scoop, a news reporter trying to make her big break finds a potential sensation tracking down a possible snuff film delivered to the studio and heads to the factory where it was filmed only to find the area home to a deranged lunatic killing them off one-by-one.

This was quite an enjoyable if somewhat flawed slasher. One of the more enjoyable aspects of this one is the rather stark and brutal kills that are frequently employed throughout here. It starts at the very beginning with the torture and mutilation of the one victim that's shown in graphic detail and then carries into the rest of the various kills here. These are mainly graphic and brutal in execution as well as concept, where the victims are subjected to some pretty gruesome concepts throughout here. Full of some stellar makeup that gives the scenes a punch when they occur, there's plenty to like about this section as well with the kills generating plenty of fine shocking moments when they strike. As well, this also leads into the stellar series of traps and confrontations with the killer who has made the area into a slew of sharp impalements ready to spring out and pierce people which has a fine amount of shock jumps here as well as setting up the great tension within here. This runs the gamut from the shocking shorter traps to the longer, more agonized setups here such as the first effort that traps everyone in the building or the surprise ambush at the car that count as shorter shock scenes. Longer setups from the approach of the friend tied to a chair with the arrow set to fire at her or being speared by multiple poles being shoved through the floor while in the shower offer some solid lengthier sequences which add a much more energetic tone and presence to the film. Even the never-ending final battles with the killer offers some fine points, giving this one a great rousing conclusion that adds to the relentless assault by the killer with the badly burned and deformed being launching everything from human assaults to the demonic creature plaguing him and forcing the rampage in the first place, all of which enhances the stellar makeup effects as well. These here are what manage to hold this one up over it's few minor flaws overall that hold it back. Among the few flaws to be had here is the film's rather bland and overlong pacing. This one really bungles the atmospheric approach it's going for and instead stretches things out to the point of needless padding as this one is way too long for this kind of simplistic story. The scenes of the crew going around investigating the empty and abandoned location at the beginning are stretched out to bland portions as the lifeless manner in which they walk around through the dirty, decrepit rooms or looking for the various places for camera setups just makes for a rather dull time here. That as well leads to the film's other big issue in that it's just way too long for its own good as there's no reason for a film like this with this kind of simplistic, straightforward story to have a length like this. Partly due to the extensive amount of time it takes to get going but also for the exceptionally long scenes of them sitting around waiting for the killer to strike as the various people come into play that may or may not be the killer. These here are what really keep this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Language and a Rape Scene.