''Evil Dead Trap'' (known in Japan as lit. Trap of The Dead Spirits) is a 1988 Japanese

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed by

Toshiharu Ikeda (23 February 1951 – 26 December 2010) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who worked in pink film and mainstream cinema. He won the award for Best Director at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Mermaid Legend''. Life and career Ea ...

and produced by

Japan Home Video (JHV) is a Japanese media corporation which produces and distributes film and video products and is also involved in TV programming and game software. It uses the label for its adult video production. Company history and finances JHV was estab ...

Plot

TV show host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

Nami asks her viewers to send in

home movies A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

; she receives a

snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

apparently shot at a nearby factory. Taking a camera crew out to investigate, Nami finds the factory deserted. As Nami and her crew begin to scour the factory, they are murdered one-by-one in grisly fashion until only Nami remains. She ultimately discovers that the killer is Hideki, a small, fetus-like man

conjoined Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

to his fully grown, naive twin-brother, who seems unaware of the killings.

Cast

Miyuki Ono is a Japanese actress and model. She is best known for her acting. Some of her work includes Black Rain, Evil Dead Trap, Fruits of Passion, G.I Samurai, Black Angel Vol. 1, and The Man Behind the Scissors. Biography Filmography ...

as Nami Tsuchiya *

Yuji Honma Yuji or Yu Ji may refer to: * Yuji Naka, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer * Yu Ji (painter), a Qing dynasty painter and calligrapher * Yūji, a common masculine Japanese given name * Consort Yu (Xiang Yu's wife) (虞姬; Y ...

as Daisuke Muraki *

Hitomi Kobayashi is an important early Japanese AV idol. One of the founding figures of the Japanese adult video, she has been called indispensable to any discussion of the AV. ''Mainichi Shimbun'' calls her "one of the icons of Japanese adult cinema history." ...

as Rei Sugiura *

Shinsuke Shimada is a Japanese comedian and television presenter. In 1991 he directed the film '' Kaze, Slow Down''. On August 23, 2011, Shinsuke Shimada announced his retirement after admitting to extensive ties to the yakuza, Japan's organized crime. The yakuz ...

as the TV producer * Aya Katsuragi as Masako Abe * Masahiko Abe as Akio Kondou * Eriko Nakagawa as Rya Kawamura * Mari Shimizu as the voice of Hideki * Kyōko Hashimoto *

Terumi Niki Terumi (written: , , or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese long-distance runner *, Japanese handball player *, Japanese women's footballer *, Japanese actress *, Japanese cyclist Ma ...

as the voice of Haha no Koe

Production

Special effects were by Shinichi Wakasa who would go on to a career as a monster-suit maker for several

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

films.

who plays the supporting role of Rei Sugiura was a top star for

(JHV) under their adult video (AV) label

Alice Japan was established on April 5, 1986, as the adult video (AV) label for Japan Home Video (JHV). Company information The early AVs produced by JHV went under the Penguin (ぺんぎん) label, the first title being the 30-minute-long softcore ''Asobi ...

. JHV financed the film as a vehicle for Kobayashi, but director

, unsure of Kobayashi's acting ability, instead put

in the starring role.

Release

''Evil Dead Trap'' was released theatrically in Japan as on May 14, 1988 and it was later released in Japan on VHS on September 25, 1988 and as a DVD on June 23, 2000. On November 7, 2000, the film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the United States by

Synapse Films Synapse Films is an American DVD and Blu-ray label, founded in 1997 and specializing in cult horror, science fiction and exploitation films. History Synapse Films was owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler a ...

. The release included the original theatrical trailer, and

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

by director Ikeda and special effects manager Shinichi Wakasa.

Reception

''Evil Dead Trap'' received positive reviews from critics, with praise highlighting the film's mixing of giallo and slasher film genres, cinematography, and special effects, while most criticism was directed at the film's weak ending. Jon Condit from

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

rated the film a score of three out of five, highlighting the soundtrack, story, and cinematography as being reminiscent to

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ...

giallo film In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, l ...

s. While calling the film "fun and well crafted", Condit criticized the film's weak ending. Niina Doherty of ''HorrorNews.net'' also criticized the film's ending, while commending the cinematography, special effects, and mixture of elements from slasher and giallo films. ''

Empire Magazine ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other title ...

''s Mark Dinning gave the film four out of five stars, commending the film's cinematography, gore effects, and style, calling it, "an effective and bloody slasher let down only by its last act". In their book ''Japanese Cinema: Essential Handbook'', authors Thomas and Yuko Weisser awarded the film four out of four stars, calling it the best of contemporary

J-Horror Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends ...

cinema, while also noting Argento's films as obvious inspiration.

Legacy

References

Bibliography

* * Weisser, Thomas. (1998). "Asian Cult Cinema Report: Film, News and Gossip", in ''Asian Cult Cinema'', #22, 1st Quarter, 1999, p. 4-6. (American premier of ''Evil Dead Trap'') *

External links

* * * * {{Toshiharu Ikeda 1988 films 1988 horror films 1980s slasher films Films about television people Films directed by Toshiharu Ikeda Films set in factories Japanese slasher films 1980s Japanese-language films Films about twin brothers Films about snuff films Murder in films 1980s Japanese films