EVIL DEAD TRAP: Now before you ask THAT question, this is NOT associated with the American cult favorite SAM RAIMI / BRUCE CAMBPELL horror classics. This is a pretty whacked Japanese horror movie of evil monster fetuses with bad attitudes that like to murder people in very nifty ways. Written by "provocative subject matter" maestro, TAKASHI ISHII (of FREEZE ME and GONIN fame) and directed by TOSHIHARU IKEDA, I have to say that it's not a really outstanding movie by any means and, in my opinion, didn't live up to the hype I had long heard about it (I've read that it's sequel is much better, we can only hope). Honestly, I just kept feeling like I was watching a homage to an older Italian slasher flick, especially with the ARGENTO stalker-styled murders and the (Italian horror soundtrack band) GOBLIN-esque musical soundtrack pumping in at the action sequences. Who knows, maybe that was their goal to begin with. And if it was, well, they certainly got it right. So if you've ever seen any of spaghetti-land based DARIO ARGENTO's impressive horror movies, then you'll know exactly what the impression is that I'm probably referring to. And if you're a fan of his movies (me personally, I can take 'em or leave 'em, I prefer splat-master LUCIO FULCI myself), then you positively can't go wrong here. As for the story itself, it's about a woman reporter who investigates the origins of a snuff tape that was sent to her by an unknown source. She gathers a group of her colleagues and away they go to an old industrial warehouse area where they start to get killed one by one until she finally figures out the real truth that's tainted with supernatural forces. Now don't get me wrong, it doesn't sound that bad (it's really not either) but maybe I was expecting something totally different I guess? Or the "word on the street" hooked me, I don't really know for sure but I will say that in it's favor (being a Japanese AV Idol collector), I just kept thinking that there's just something strangely familiar about the girls (well, better worded, about their sex scenes anyway) in this flick. And as I would come find out later, most of them that had sex in the film (whether it was a love-making scene or a mock rape) were actual AV Idol Pornstars (from the REAL business that is). WOW! Beautiful Japanese pornstars in a horror movie getting naked, actually trying to act, and getting "offed" in glorious deep red ways... well hell, forget about everything else that I said, this makes it worth the money right there!
-Steve