Friday, July 27, 2012

EVIL DEAD TRAP (1988)

A female news reporter receives a snuff film in the mail. She recognizes the highway and building on the tape, so she does what every normal person would do: gather up some friends and goes to investigate it for herself. Road trip!

Once at the abandoned industrial site, the group decides it'd be best if they break up. Good thinking! It only takes a few minutes for the killer to start fucking people up. And fuck them up he does! The first few kills were awesome and creepy as fook, but it slows down quite a bit by the time we get to the Final Girl...then right when you're starting to get bored it hits you with an ending that's so fooked up that you'll have just enough time to yell "Holy cricket testicles!" before your brain explodes.

Twenty-something years later EDT comes across as kinda dated, but I'm sure at the time of it's release it was probably pretty shocking and maybe even revolutionary. It borrows some of the best bits of Fulci (eye-stabbing, loud maggots) and Argento (camera angles) along with a Goblin-sounding music and then adds it's own unique style. I have no proof of this, but I'm convinced that whoever made those SAW movies saw EVIL DEAD TRAP years ago and just re-vamped it.

It's not a great film and it'll probably never get the recognition it deserves, but if you're into horror and horror movie history then EDT is a must watch.

Part 2 - Evil Dead Trap 2