Evil Dead Trap (Japanese: 死霊の罠, romanized: Shiryō no wana, lit. 'Trap of the Dead Spirits') is a 1988 Japanese supernatural slasher film directed by Toshiharu Ikeda and produced by Japan Home Video. The film stars Miyuki Ono, Yuji Honma, Aya Katsuragi, Eriko Nakagawa, Hitomi Kobayashi and Masahiko Abe, follow a television team enters an abandoned building to track down the source of a mysterious videotape before they are pursued by something unseen.
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Plot
Late-night TV show host Nami asks her viewers to send in home movies; she receives a snuff film shot at a disused military base. The film ends with a superimposed image of herself, which disturbs her. Nami and her production crew—Rie, Mako, Rei, and Kondo—are granted permission by their studio to investigate and they believe their discoveries would help them regain their lost viewership.
When the crew arrives, the base appears empty and they split up to explore. Nami encounters a mysterious man, Daisuke, who advises her to leave. Rei and Kondo have sex in an abandoned machine shop. Rei then wanders off and discovers the corpse of the woman from the snuff film. A masked killer suddenly kills her by impaling her with several poles.
Unaware of Rei's murder, Kondo meets Nami and Rie, where Nami admits her curiosity in knowing more about the killer. Mako alerts the rest of the crew about the building where the snuff film was filmed in. They enter and see Rei's corpse being suspended on a ropeway. The crew panicks and are trapped after their escape routes are destroyed by an unseen force. Rie, however, manages to escape but is ambushed by the boyfriend of the snuff film's victim, who was also held prisoner for several days. He reveals that the killer promised him freedom if he killed any trespassers and that the killer is "two in one". The man rapes and suffocates Rie but the killer shoots him with a bladed object before choking Rie with a garrote, killing them both.
Meanwhile, Nami makes her way to the rooftop and meets Daisuke. Daisuke reveals Kondo's death, who was decapitated off-screen, and tells Nami that he used to live with his brother, Hideki, at the base. Daisuke senses Hideki's presence and tries to confront him but is attacked by a crossbow bolt. Nami goes after him but stumbles upon several TV sets, where Mako pleads for help. Nami is guided to her whereabouts but accidentally triggers a booby trap, killing Mako.
Daisuke gives Nami his gun and she makes her way to the killer's hideout. Nami discovers that the killer is Daisuke, who apparently suffers from split personality disorder and is guided to kill by Hideki, his other personality. Daisuke confesses that "they" wanted to meet Nami, who is seen as their "mother", and allows her to shoot him, having grown weary of killing under Hideki's orders. Suddenly, Hideki, who is revealed to be a parasitic twin with psychokinetic powers, sets the room on fire and bursts out of Daisuke's chest. Hideki wraps his umbilical cord around Nami's chest but Daisuke saves her by stabbing Hideki, which also kills him. Daisuke's corpse comes alive but Nami stabs him with a glass shard, causing him to fall out of a window to his death.
Recovering in the hospital, Nami is met by a detective, who is skeptical of Hideki's existence. Later, Nami airs a tribute to her deceased colleagues to great acclaim. Nami receives a gift from an unknown sender, which is revealed to be Daisuke's cigarette lighter. Hideki, who has found a new vessel, bursts out of Nami's body and calls her "Mommy".
Cast
Miyuki Ono as Nami Tsuchiya
Yuji Honma as Daisuke Muraki
Aya Katsuragi as Mako Abe
Eriko Nakagawa as Rie Kawamura
Hitomi Kobayashi as Rei Sugiura
Masahiko Abe as Akio Kondo
Shinsuke Shimada as Harada
Hiroshi Shimizu as the captive man
Noboru Mitani as the detective
Mari Shimizu as the voice of Hideki
Terumi Niki as the voice of Hideki's mother
Kyōko Hashimoto
Production
Special effects were by Shinichi Wakasa who would go on to a career as a monster-suit maker for several Godzilla films.
Hitomi Kobayashi who plays the supporting role of Rei Sugiura was a top star for Japan Home Video (JHV) under their adult video (AV) label Alice Japan. JHV financed the film as a vehicle for Kobayashi. However, director Toshiharu Ikeda, unsure of Kobayashi's acting ability, instead put Miyuki Ono in the starring role.
Release
Evil Dead Trap was released theatrically in Japan as 死霊の罠 (Shiryō no wana) on 14 May 1988. It was later released in Japan on VHS on 25 September 1988 and as a DVD on 23 June 2000. On 7 November 2000, the film was released on DVD in the United States by Synapse Films. The release included the original theatrical trailer, and audio commentary 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 ending.
Jon Condit from Dread Central rated the film a score of three out of five, highlighting the soundtrack, story, and cinematography as being reminiscent of Dario Argento's giallo films. 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's Mark Dinning gave the film four out of five stars, praising 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 cinema, while also noting Argento's films as obvious inspiration.
Legacy
Evil Dead Trap was followed by a loose sequel, Evil Dead Trap 2 (also known as Hideki: Evil Dead Trap 2), directed by Izo Hashimoto and released in 1992. The film follows a theater projectionist, Aki, who sees visions of a ghostly boy named Hideki and thinks she might be a serial killer that targets women.
The 1993 film Chigireta ai no satsujin, directed by Evil Dead Trap director Toshiharu Ikeda, was released internationally under the title of Evil Dead Trap 3: Broken Love Killer. In the film, a policewoman investigates the apparent suicide of a college student. The film has no connection to the first two in the series.