EVIL DEAD TRAP (US Release)
Toshihrau
Ikeda�s EVIL DEAD TRAP (the Japanese title is �Shiryo no Wana�, which
literally translated means �trap of the dead ghost�) is one of the seminal
Japanese horror films of the last 20 years. It was made in 1988 but still looks
very modern today, and was one of Japan�s biggest horror movie hits to date.
It was also reasonably successful outside of Japan, at a time before films like
RING and AUDITION, when Japanese horror films were intended strictly for the
domestic audience (prior to this, the last really successful Japanese horror
films in the international market were films like Kobayashi�s KWAIDAN (1964)
and Shindo�s ONIBABA (1964) and KURONEKO (1968)). To date it has spawned two
sequels almost completely unrelated to the first film except by name. EVIL DEAD
TRAP II � HIDEKI (1991) was directed by Izo Hashimoto of BLOODY FRAGMENTS ON
WHITE WALLS (1989, AKA �Lucky Sky Diamond�, �LSD�) infamy, whilst EVIL
DEAD TRAP III � BROKEN LOVE KILLER (1993) saw Ikeda return to the helm. The
film has become one of the best known modern Japanese horror films, and now
Synapse have seen fit to release a fully uncut DVD of the film � the first
time that the film has been officially available in the US.
Nami
(Miyuki Ono) is a late night talk show hostess who has been encouraging viewers
to send her their home videos. She finds a tape waiting on her desk. Written on
the package is �for Nami and those with sleepless nights�. She plays it. The
video shows the view from a vehicle, traveling along a highway. Signs are
caught on camera, seemingly deliberately. The vehicle arrives at some sort of
compound with big gates. Cut to a girl bound to a wall. A hooded figure
approaches brandishing a knife. The killer cuts her up a bit before sticking his
knife into her eye in extreme close-up. Fluids rush out and the killer stabs her
in a frenzy. Nami is horrified. However, she is also intrigued, thinking that
this could be the big break she�s been waiting for. She convinces some friends
at the station to go with her, to try to find the place depicted in the video.
They head off in a big TV van and sure enough they find the main highway and see
some of the signs from the video. Arriving at the compound they split up (of
course!) and set off to investigate. After some distracting humour and a sex
scene, the killings begin. However, the film doesn�t exactly stick to the
rules of the slasher film, and I guarantee you�ll be surprised by the last
third of the film.
EVIL
DEAD TRAP is a relentless horror film, right from the snuff film footage at the
start to the absolute carnage at the end. Ikeda knows exactly what he wants to
achieve with this film; lots of murders and gross fx sequences. The famed snuff
footage is an amazing piece of special effects work, and still looks incredible
today. The eye piercing has got to be the second most effective in history,
after the great scene in Fulci�s ZOMBIE II (1979) � it�s not that the
effect isn�t as good, but the one in ZOMBIE is more squirm-inducing, whilst
the one on display here is more realistic and gross. All the effects scenes are
top notch and they really make the film, along with Ikeda�s excellent,
hyperactive direction. Aside from the gore, there is a sex scene, as tends to be
the case in this type of film. If anything, this is slightly unwelcome, spoiling
the mood somewhat and slowing the pace a little in the first third. There is
also a brief rape scene (a Japanese horror film without a rape scene? No such
beast�) but it is thankfully very tame and serves mainly to give the audience
some tantalisingly strange information about the mysterious figure in the
compound.
Credit
must be given to Ikeda for making so much of what could have been just another
routine stalk �n� slash film, Japanese style. His direction is inspired,
mixing all sorts of film techniques, black and white film, steadicams,
super-fast cutting, and generally frenetic camera movements, all of which really
fit in with the mood of the film. Many people have drawn obvious comparisons
between this film and the work of Dario Argento, and it is a very well known
fact that the Japanese worship il maestro more than any other country on Earth.
The music in the film is undeniably a rip-off of Goblin�s work with Argento,
and it has to be said that it really works to great effect here. David
Cronenberg�s name is also often brought up in discussions of the film,
probably more due to the body-morphing horror on display than to any real
stylistic comparisons. Ikeda is a well-known director in Japan, having made a
number of films over the last 20 years or so. His two entries in the �XX�
series (a series of films based on novels in which female characters are at the
centre of the action) are very well known, with his XX: BEAUTIFUL PREY often
(rightly) being cited as a little-known masterpiece. However, with this film he
is at his best and it�s surprising that more out-and-out horror films
haven�t been forthcoming from him to date. For this film, Ikeda worked with a
famous Japanese director/scriptwriter called Takahashi Ishii. Ishii is best
known in the West for his ultra-violent yakuza film GONIN (1995) and its
all-female sequel GONIN II (1995). However in Japan he is also known for a
number of very successful �pink� films, including several episodes of the
�Angel Guts� series. The central character�s name (Nami) in this film is
significant since Ishii always has a character called Nami in his screenplays
� it�s his signature, so to speak. Ishii teamed up with Ikeda once again for
Part III in the series, BROKEN LOVE KILLER.
This
is probably the most accessible of the more extreme Japanese horror films that I
can think of, yet it retains many elements that recur in this genre,
particularly the �body�/�tentacle� horror scenes in the denouement. It
has been pointed out that EVIL DEAD TRAP is effectively the first of the live
action �tentacle� films that would become very popular in Japan over the
next few years (in films like the EXORSISTER, LA BLUE GIRL, SEX BEAST TEACHER
and SEX BEAST ON CAMPUS films). Tentacle horror can also be found in most of
Japan�s manga films, especially the infamous UROTSUKODOJI series. In all of
these films however, the tentacles are there purely as phallic instruments which
can escape Japan�s strict censorship rules on genitalia. In EVIL DEAD TRAP
there is some suggestion of this, but they are there more out of weirdness than
anything else!
The
main criticism often leveled at the film is that it is a virtually plotless
gore film (unlike the many American slasher films, I suppose�). There
certainly is a plot, even if it is somewhat bizarre and not exactly central to
the film�s appeal. The problem with this mode of thinking is that it applies
Western feelings to a film that shouldn�t really be judged in this way.
Japanese horror films really are a different entity, and even the more
conventional works such as this (in terms of weirdness at least) are not subject
to the same rules as Western horror. This film was certainly ahead of its time
� I can�t think of any other 80�s Japanese horror films that compare to it
in terms of realism or violence, except for Gaira�s splatter-eros trilogy
(GUTS OF A BEAUTY (1986), FEMALE INQUISITOR (1987) and GUTS OF A VIRGIN (1988))
which was much more sexually-oriented. It�s interesting to bear in mind that
the film even pre-dates Shinya Tsukamoto�s TETSUO (1989), the film that really
defined the �body horror� genre. Another complaint I have read is that the
last third of the film really becomes a very different thing and doesn�t
really fit with the rest of the film. Again, this is assuming a much more rigid
and conventional structure than found in most Western horror films, though I can
see how it might bewilder those not accustomed to this type of film.
It�s
no secret that I love Japanese horror films and this film (along with the TETSUO
films) was the main reason for that interest. I saw a bootleg of it in the early
90�s and was intrigued by the absolutely over-the-top start and end sequences
and brilliant photography (the echoes of Argento mentioned earlier probably
helped too). A couple of years later I got hold of a subtitled copy, which only
made me like the film even more. As you can probably imagine, I was pretty
excited about this DVD and I�m pleased to say that I haven�t been
disappointed. I highly recommend the film to anyone that likes fairly nasty,
slightly surreal horror films and would like to get into Japanese horror films
without having to deal with the sicker aspects found in many of them. I know
quite a few people who don�t really like Japanese horror films but really like
this film. I like Japanese horror films and I love this film!!!
DVD Specification
Original year of release - 1988
Approximate running time - 102min.
Aspect ratio - Widescreen 1.85:1
System - NTSC (colour)
Rating - Unrated.
Sound - Dolby Digital Mono (2.0)
DVD release - Synapse Films
Region Coding - Region 0 (code free)
DVD Extras
Original
theatrical trailer
Audio
commentary by Toshiharu Ikeda and Shinichi Wakasa (FX)
| MAIN CAST | |
| Miyuki Oni | Nami |
| Yuji Honma | |
| Aya Katsuragi | |
| MAIN CREW | |
| Director | Toshiharu Ikeda |
| Screenplay | Takashi Ishii |
| Music | Tomohiko Kira |
| Cinematographer | Masaki Tamura |
| Special FX | Shinichi Wakasa |
DVD Ratings (out of 5)
Picture - 4
EVIL DEAD TRAP has already been
available on DVD in Europe from Japan Shock Video (it was their first DVD
release). Many people including me were disappointed with that release since the
picture quality wasn�t much better than a video. That release is now out of
print. Synapse�s DVD is much better � letterboxed at the correct ratio of
1.85:1 (like most Japanese films) with no anamorphic enhancement unfortunately
(though understandably). The transfer looks very good, and one can really tell
that it has been digitally mastered when one compares it to JSV�s disc. I
really don�t think I can complain about the quality of the image � there is
some grain to the deeper colours, but really it looks right for Ikeda�s style
and isn�t something major. A deserved 4 (and would have been 5 with 16x9
enhancement).
Sound - 3
2-track Dolby Digital mono. This film
has some extremely good sound effects and also fantastic music, so it would have
been nice to see a DD5.1 remix. However, this is asking far too much from a
small company like Synapse, who aren�t even likely to shift that many copies
of this release. Very clear, with no hissing or interference the soundtrack
definitely does the job, but isn�t as good as it could have been. Still, no
real complaints�
Extras - 4
Well,
I have followed the development of this DVD with great interest over the months.
It was first announced for release back in April and has been delayed
since then. Tantalisingly, an audio commentary was announced. I held my breath
but never really believed that this would materialise, especially when problems
were announced, and the commentary hadn�t been received by the release date.
However, it is on here. It was recorded in Japan without any moderation by
Synapse and Don May goes to great lengths to apologise for it on his site and on
the DVD insert. I was obviously expecting the worst after having my expectations
raised. Commentaries are more or less unheard of in the East, and are therefore
unusual on Western releases of Eastern films also (one exception is Tai-Seng�s
DVD of THE UNTOLD STORY, which features a very uncomfortable commentary track),
so it really is to Synapse�s credit that they managed to somehow arrange for
this recording. I had read a couple of reviews of the DVD on the net before
receiving my DVD and they seemed to suggest the worst in terms of the
commentary, so it was a pleasant surprise when I actually heard it for myself
and found it not bad at all! Sure, the quality's not brilliant, but it's by no
means terrible. I think that other reviewers have been referring to the
extremely wooden way in which the two commentators speak - this is somewhat
unfair since they are speaking a completely foreign language after all! It is
funny to listen to the way in which they interact though, I have to admit.
Anyway, they're very easy to listen to and manage to speak for a good proportion
of the run time. Some extremely interesting information is discussed and anyone
with a real interest in the genre will find plenty here to keep their interest
piqued. One very unusual claim that Ikeda makes concerns the screenplay for the
film. He says that Ishii and him fell out over a character's sandals (!!!) and
that Ishii left the production at that point, leaving Ikeda his version of the
screenplay in which the killer was revealed to be a messed up high school kid,
as per many US slasher films. Ikeda says that he then re-wrote the latter part
of the screenplay, adding all of the 'Hideki' bits himself. So, it looks like
you can blame Ikeda rather than Ishii for the ending, if you don't like it that
is! It's also interesting to note that Ishii wrote the screenplay to EVIL DEAD
TRAP III for Ikeda, so it seems rather unlikely that they had actually fallen
out over the first film... Ikeda also reveals that the film was shot on 16mm and
blown up to 35mm for theatrical display, due to the (relative) cheapness of the
16mm format.
Overall Rating - 4
A
good release of an excellent Japanese horror film. For me, the single biggest
disappointment about DVD is the almost total lack of Japanese films being
released. Obviously, some Kurosawa films are available (though at a price, since
we�re talking Criterion here), as well as a few Tsukamoto�s and Synapse�s
own ORGAN release. Other than that, there is very little aside from the odd
60�s/70�s title (WOMAN OF THE DUNES, KAWIDAN, AI NO CORRIDA, BRANDED TO
KILL, etc.) What the reason for this is, I cannot say but it is extremely
saddening. This makes a release like EVIL DEAD TRAP all the more welcome.
Japanese horror cinema is currently by far the most ambitious and successful in
the world, and its international profile is at an all-time high thanks to
films like RING, JUNK, CURE and Takashi Miike�s masterworks, to name but a
few. If you�d like to see what all the fuss is about then this is as good a
place to start as any and is more accessible to Western audiences than
Synapse�s ill-received ORGAN. Just sit back and enjoy, though don�t eat
anything whilst watching the opening scenes�
AKA
Shiryo no Wana (Japanese title, translates as 'trap of the dead ghost')
Alternative versions
The film was released on DVD by Japan Shock Video last year in Europe, but that
release was not very impressive to say the least. JSV also released a much
better transfer of EVIL DEAD TRAP II. Both are now deleted. The film has also
been available on VHS from JSV for quite a few years, and has been widely
bootlegged. Various Japanese language releases have also been around for many
years. Synapse's DVD features new subtitles by the Weissers (authors of the
'Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia' series and subtitlers of many Video Search of
Miami releases).