The country that gave the world Anime, Samurai, and Kaiju films, also has a fascination with all things horror. Horror is bigger than Karaoke in Japan. Though they have been successfully producing quality genre films for decades, their horror output has been generally weak. Japanese filmgoers have relied on imports for years, and distribution companies became wealthy distributing American and European horror films theatrically and on home video. But that all changed when an independent Japanese horror film called SHIRYO NO WANA debuted on the scene. SHIRYO NO WANA was a gory tribute to the works of horror greats, David Cronenberg, Lucio Fulci, and especially Dario Argento. The film sent shock waves rippling through the Japanese film industry and the fan scene as well, and was rechristened with the more exploitative title, EVIL DEAD TRAP for its international distribution (this film has nothing to do with Sam Raimi’s cult trilogy). The film generated several sequels, and proved that the Japanese film industry could produce superior terror flicks of their own. Soon, horror franchises were born, like the GUINEA PIG, RING, and ORGAN series, which solidified Japan’s presence in the world market. Now, Synapse films brings this film that started it all, to the North American DVD market, as only they can.

EVIL DEAD TRAP is directed by the prolific Toshiharu Ikeda, who can be considered the godfather of the modern Japanese horror boom. Ikeda has a large resume in Japanese exploitation films, including XX: BEAUTIFUL BEAST, ANGEL GUTS: RED PORNO, and SCORPION WOMAN PRISONER: DEATH THREAT. The script was written by Takashi Ishii, an accomplished writer/director in his own right. Ishii directed Beat Takeshi in the acclaimed GONIN, and also wrote/directed ORIGINAL SIN and BLACK ANGEL. The lead actress of EVIL DEAD TRAP is Miyuki Ono, who also appeared in Ridley Scott’s BLACK RAIN, an in Japanese genre films like TIME SLIP and BLACK ANGEL.

Nami (Miyuki Ono) is a young hostess of a late night reality TV show, that plays video cassettes sent in by viewers. One evening, a special delivery service drops off a VHS tape addressed to her. She puts it in a VCR, only to discover a videotaped murder appears, in which a naked young woman receives the killing blow to her eyeball. Nami is horrified, but she’s not sure what she is seeing is real. Due to her TV show’s sagging ratings, she convinces her employers and associates to allow her to investigate this incident. From visual cues on the videotape, she deduces the location of the murder—an abandoned ex-military base. She enlists her associates (who are also her friends) and her director, and leads them to this abandoned base in the middle of nowhere. When they arrive, the team of five split up to investigate the interiors of this dilapidated building, and looking for signs of foul play.

On the property surrounding this old military base, Nami meets a mysterious man who claims to be searching for his little brother on these grounds. Things suddenly turn ugly when one of Nami’s coworkers inside the base is skewered with huge spikes. Nami manages to gather the rest of her associates and inform them that they are not alone—but the masked killer makes his presence known. Besides scaring Nami and her friends to near death, the killer causes the floor of the dilapidated military base to give way, trapping them all underneath the complex. The future victims are all separated from one another, and each person must begin their personal trek to escape from this death trap. Nami meets up with that mysterious man, who claims to have been trapped down there himself. He and Nami team up to find a way out of the lower levels of the military base. She witnesses her traveling companion break into seizures and chase after shadows. She finally realizes all is not as it seems—someone or some thing has it in for her.

EVIL DEAD TRAP is a mean-spirited conglomeration of giallo and parasite paranoia. Stylistically, the film draws heavily from Dario Argento (and in the last act, David Cronenberg at his nastiest). There are also the occasional nods to Fulci (such as the eyeball violence). EVIL DEAD TRAP treads the same ground as the giallo, with some notable exceptions. The biggest one is the complete removal of the police procedural angle. Most giallos have heavy reliance of the police force or an investigator to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Scriptwriter Takashi Ishii totally removes the expected law enforcement element from EVIL DEAD TRAP and instead just drops bits and pieces of information on the audience from the various characters. As is common to most Japanese genre films (like TETSUO and ORGAN), there is not always a logical explanation for everything. Some things just happen, and leaves the viewer to conclude the meaning on their own.

Director Ikeda studied his mentors well, because this whole film looks like Argento and his crew flew to Japan to direct it. But Ikeda proves his filmmaking skills are just as good. Right from the very beginning where the first murder takes place (via skewered eyeball), Ikeda establishes a sense of urgency that flows throughout the entire film, without letting up. The tension and sense of dread is constant, until the outrageous climax that whacks the viewer over the head. Though the narrative contains a logical flow throughout most of the movie, the extended ending totally throws reality out the window—though this tends to strip the tension away from these gruesome final moments. Ikeda serves it all up with some stylish visuals and backlighting right out of SUSPIRIA or INFERNO. Ikeda uses some perspective camera tricks to make the viewer wonder if the murders are the work of a disturbed killer, or some supernatural force. Then, there is the aforementioned climax, where the filmmakers really throw a curve ball into the mix—and we get thrust deep into Cronenberg country. Through it all, Ikeda maintains a grim atmosphere of brutality, isolation, and surrealism.

The acting is very good by Miyuki Ono and the other Japanese actresses. Obviously a lot is lost in the translation, but the players convey their lines and emotions with more conviction than stateside TV actresses. There is a rape scene that is very effecting—this is attributable to the performances of the players (don’t worry, the rapist gets his comeuppance). The cast also put a lot of emotion into their painful death scenes. The realistic gore effects are very believable on this cadre of actors and actresses, who wince in pain as the dirty deeds are committed. The look in their eyes will linger on your subconscience for days.

- Tony Mustafa

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