Search - Evil Dead Trap on DVD

THE Japanese horror movie to own.

Serdar S. Yegulalp | Huntington, NY United States | 07/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Toshiharu Ikeda crossbreeds Daro Argento, Sam Raimi and Lucio Fulci for this gruesomely fascinating tour-de-force. Late-night TV show host gets a snuff film in the mail (which we see -- and be warned, it's appallingly realistic!), which she traces to an abandoned Army base. Horrific showdown with the forces of evil ensue, and the movie's final third is as much psychological horror as it is physical (or even metaphysical). Definitely not for weak stomachs. 16x9 remastered Synapse Video edition is a vast improvement over the rather soft-looking Dutch DVD that has been in circulation recently. Ikeda's "Dead Trap 2" and "Dead Trap 3" follow totally different directions; "2" owes more to the mystery-surrealism of David Lynch while "3" is more of a graphic Hitchcock style of story. All are worth owning."

Inteligent Horror and Graphic Gore

M. Roberts | Lord Froggy's Dungeon | 07/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Warning their are scenes of intense violence contained within in this movie. However if you can stomach the gore this movie has a lot more to offer than you're standard hack and slash effort. There is a wonderfully intense atmosphere pervading the whole movie. The deaths are immaginative and are handled extremely well. The influnces although obvious (Argento, Ramai and a brilliant tribute to Fulci), Japanese director Toshiharu Ikeda adds his own twist to the procedings. If you are fed up of limp offerings that fail to deliver the goods then check this excellent film out."

Injury to the Eye Motif

Zack Davisson | Seattle, WA, USA | 10/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot claim to be an expert on Horror films, and although I know the name, I have never seen "Suspira" or many of the other oft-referenced flicks featured in other reviews. That being so, this review may be helpful from the viewpoint of a casual viewer, and is hopefully taken as such.I watched "Evil Dead Trap" on a whim, hoping to see a Japanese horror flick around Halloween time. I must confess, I wasn't prepared for the sheer brutality of some of the scenes, including the aforementioned injury to the eye motif. Not quite a slasher film and not quite a psychological horror film, there are elements of both. Something along the lines of "Silence of the Lambs" combined with the gore and violence of a "Friday the 13th" movie.The opening half is definitely superior for to the second, with the brutal videotapes captivating my attention, as well as that of Nami. However, the more the movie tries to explore the connection between the killer and Nami, the more obscure the plot gets, and the more difficult it is to stay interested.All in all, it is not a bad film, but not a very good one either. The high level of explicit gore might be a barrier to casual horror film watchers, and the dense plot might be a barrier to those hoping for a good slashing. I don't think I will watch it again, but it was interesting to watch once."

Only after about 12 bottlles of sake will this make sense!

Zack Davisson | 11/24/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is nothing that hasn't been done before. It seems as though Ikeda watched a bunch of American and Italian films and decided to recreate his favorite scenes. He does nothing more than show us what we've all seen before with a bit of a Japanese twist to it all. Inside this film you will find The Fisherman from I Know What You Did..., killings straight out of Friday the 13th, Argento's music, Fulci's ocular fixations, and a completely over the top ending reminescent of the hallucinogenic Italian film Spider Labyrinth. Despite the other reviewer's assertions that this is similar to Evil Dead, I found no touches of Raimi in this film. It is never funny or slapstick like Ash and the zombies. There are no flying eyeballs or waggling hands in Evil Dead Trap. Eyeballs and hands are strictly poked and severed.
It is very graphic and scary at times. However, the suspense is totally in vain because the ending is lame. The protagonist starts off very scary and quite like an Argento character (we see black leather boots instead of black leather gloves), but by the end is reduced to a silly inexpensive haunted house beast. It's too bad Ikeda cheaped out like this. If he had left out the "supernatural" element, this truly would have been frightening. If you love Italian horror as I do, you should check this out. If you are looking for something original, stay away. I do recommend stocking up on a boat load of Kirin before you watch this. If you are not half in the bag you just may want to throw something at you tv in the final minutes."