Evil Dead Trap (1988)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Please don't spend money on this.

How sad is this?

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

If I had seen this sooner then, I would have definitely added this to my top 50 best slasher movies of all time, so I think an update is long overdue. After viewing this masterpiece my mind was just totally blown away. I mean rarely have I ever seen a horror movie that just gets everything this right, it just works on every level and should be better known.The plot is very intriguing where a reporter Nami who hosts a TV show called 'The Late, Late Show' which is basically a mix of 'You've Been Framed' and 'America's Funniest Home Videos', gets sent a video tape which shows a young girl whose chained up getting brutally murdered, and at the end shows a picture of Nami, so instead of alerting the police, she decides to go with her crew to investigate, which leads them to a very creepy abandoned warehouse, and once there they split and start to get picked off one by one by a mysterious hooded killer.'Evil Dead Trap' perfectly combines a mixture of other genre styled horrors such as 'Italian Horror', 'American Slasher Movies' & 'Japanese Horror' and makes something quite unique and even puts some of those to shame. It has stylish direction with a lot of eerie tension and a genuine creepy tone. Even when the characters wander around the building, the atmosphere is full of dread and the setting with its long and dark dingy corridors looks excellent and the director makes perfect use of this location. Even the score is very riveting and despite being used throughout the film no matter what situation it is, it totally works and very catchy.Even the first murder which was nasty and very brutal, it also comes as a total surprise as you never expect it to be that fast, and even the other deaths remain well and truly mean spirited with some brilliant effects that are well staged with a savage tone. Plus we have a great heroine in Miyuki Ono who plays Nami brings a childlike innocence to the role and even without saying anything she can express her feelings with just her facial expressions which was very subtle and well done, and it's nice not having every character explain what their feeling all the time, it made her feel very human.While each of these scenes are awesome, they all happen within the first 45 minutes, and the 2nd half of the movie does struggle a bit without the same momentum, but then at the final scene we do get a well and truly shocking twist that does totally take you off guard, and while it may seem a bit too bizarre for some, I personally found it brilliant and it did kinda make sense in a way, as there were unexplained things going on throughout the movie such as the killer just standing there while arrows and flairs are being fired, a tin can falling down the stairs seemingly on its own, and so on, and while the killer's identity wasn't a surprise at all, it's what comes after that which is the real shocker and almost takes on feels like a different genre altogether, kinda supernatural in a way, which was totally bizarre and my gripe with it is that it's never explained, but I guess that is what makes it so unsettling.Another minor gripe with this is that there's a whole other subplot involving the killer's assistant which just went nowhere and was only there to add to the bodycount, but honestly that didn't spoil my enjoyment of this, although I would have liked to have known more about it. This is still a great movie that's very unique and gives you that feel that anything can happen at any time and the viewer is constantly on edge and although I did say that the 2nd half leaves little to do, it never gets boring and doesn't drag either, but it could have been slightly better structured.So all in all 'Evil Dead Trap' is a definite must see for any fans of slasher movies, sure it's a little different to them but that's the beauty of it, it's definitely not generic in any way whatsoever and with stylish direction, gruesome bloody and inventive kills and decent performances, this is definitely a lost masterpiece that deserves more recognition.

I think this is one of those (relatively) unheard of movies that was a bit ahead of the curve so when you do finally stumble upon it it's like a really cool time capsule. This movie was released when I was two, so i'm kinda glad I didn't see it till a bit later in life! Some foreign movies are just so painful to watch with subtitles that we don't give them a chance. Give this 'baby' a chance. It will blow your mind.Like many other people mentioned it's very 'Fulci'or giallo-esque for a few reasons, including music transposed from Goblin ((thank you those who clued me into that in advance I can totally see myself having been wondering what the hell it was - distracting me in the process.)) One cool thing E.D.T. do better than most Giallos is effectively keeping you guessing what or who exactly the antagonist is. Not in a stupid M. Night Shyamalan ((blechhh)) type of way, one that will most likely surprise and freak you the heck out.The deaths are creative as hell and out of control in the way only our Japanese friends can so awesomely pull together when we least expect it. The surface plot may trick you into thinking the movie will play out predictably. It does not. Just as this movie borrows a small bit from the genre; there are plenty of things in this movie I can see certain people have taken a nod from (James Wan) came to mind first.It's probably scarier to non-Japanese viewers because we can't even tell if the actors are good or bad, you don't question their motives as much subsequently. For all I know any Japanese Historian Filmmmaker might say this is an absolute abomination of trashy exploit cinema (That would only make it even more awesome)Make sure you get the uncut original version so you don't miss any of the extra punches it packs. If you say you saw the end coming - I'm glad i'm not in your head ;)

First of all let me just say for all of the " Evil Dead " fans in the world that found this film a slap in the face. evil dead was what i like to say that" devilishly delirious " ,and i must say that it had just amount of gore into their film. even throughout 2 of the sequels.Now to the bad sickness of the filthy Japanese movie move known to the world called " Evil Dead Trap " or as i like to call it " DEADFULLY DISTURBING". If i've had to pay someone to delete every las sequel to this lack of acting but full on gore-than ....litterly. i will pay them mega buck.to beat the living daylights out of this director I'm going to impale that person to a chair just like in the film.now to the people who are thinking about seeing this film just because it cool looking, just say " NO" to this film.if i was you i would watch " Ich the killer" it's much better.

Shiryo No Wana, or Evil Dead Trap as it's more commonly known amongst Western audiences, starts at a Japanese cable TV station called Network 3 where extreme reality TV hostess Nami Tsuchiya (Miyuki Ono) receives a videotape in a parcel from a viewer. Nami plays the tape & discovers that it shows the brutal assault & murder of a young woman, thinking she may be onto a big story Nami gets permission from her boss (Shinsuke Shimada) to investigate the origins of the tape. The tape helpfully contained footage of how to get to the location it was shot in so with a few volunteers, a sound engineer Masako Abe (Aya Katsuragi), make-up artist Rei Sugiura (Hitomi Kobayashi), script writer Rya Kawamura (Eriko Nakagawa) & assistant director Akio Kondou (Masahiko Abe) Nami sets out to find her story. The location turns out to be an abandoned military facility, as they split up & search for clues Rei is brutally murdered. It's not long before the rest of the group discover Rei's fate & realise they are next! A sicko game playing killer stalks the dark damp corridors...This Japanese production was directed by Toshiharu Ikeda & is a bit uneven. The script by Takashi Ishii starts brilliantly, the opening mystery surrounding the snuff tape, the location & who's behind it is very effective & gripping as it builds. Unfortunately it cannot maintain this as Shiryo No Wana descends into complete lunacy with one of the silliest, lamest & most unsatisfying climax's ever. I was hoping for more but the last thirty minutes really let all of it's good work to that point down. It's also one of those films that never knows when to quit, just when you think that's it something else totally ridiculous happens. The character's are OK except for Nami, I mean there is some unidentified psycho running around an old abandoned military base & this smartly dressed mysterious guy (Yuji Honma) just happens to be there without any sort of reasonable explanation, seems to turn up just after a murder occurs & seems very relaxed when he finds a severed head. Would you not be even a little bit suspicious of him? I think I would. The film rapidly goes downhill as it progresses. Shiryo No Wana drags a little in places but there are some nice ideas here & it's certainly watchable especially when compared to the unoriginal teenage American stuff being churned out on a conveyor belt.Director Ikeda likes nice long shots which I do too, no ultra fast quick blink & you'll miss it editing here. He likes to place his camera above people looking down on them & their surroundings as well, the tension & atmosphere through the first two thirds of the film is excellent but that stupid ending really kills everything dead. The gore scenes are spread out but are very effective & quite brutal, the opening murder of the victim in the snuff tape is nasty with her eyeball being pierced with a knife in extreme close-up & from varying angles as liquid oozes out, ouch is all I can say! Someone is impaled on metal spikes, various stabbings, a severed head & another nasty bit when someone gets a huge blade implanted in the side of their head. There is also a fairly graphic & wholly unnecessary rape sequence.Technically Shiryo No Wana is OK if basic & somewhat economical. Did anyone else think the music ripped off Day of the Dead (1985)? I haven't got a clue about the acting as I can't speak Japanese but it seems alright, the UK DVD which I have has a few dumb grammatical errors in the subtitling including spelling mistakes, duh!Shiryo No Wana is a decent watch, it plays like a Japanese Friday the 13th (1980) type slasher that tries to be clever with it's ending. I liked it & it's memorable but not entirely satisfying, however it's still worth a watch.