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Evil Dead Trap
Synapse Films // Unrated // August 10, 2000
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
I hate to start off a review with such a cliched opening, but "Evil Dead Trap" is the best film Lucio Fulci never made. Surreal visuals, unflinching with gobs o' gore, and a plot that's really only there to distinguish it from other impressive looking, gory horror movies. It even has an eye gouging scene (in the first five minutes, no less), and isn't that really what Fulci's all about?
I guess I may as well summarize the plot, which, no, has nothing to do with Sam Raimi or the Evil Dead series. I didn't even notice anything approximating a Raimi nod in the film. Whatever. Anyway, "Evil Dead Trap" is the epic tale of Nami, the host of the late-nite equivalent of "America's Funniest Home Videos", and a snuff video she's received seems to be the solution to the show's lagging ratings. Apparently not content to sandwich the torture video between guys getting hit in the groin, it dawns upon Nami that maybe she can go to where the video was shot and unmask the murderer. Yeah, you know where this is going... So, Nami and her wacky crew head out to an abandoned warehouse and get knocked off one by one, Friday the 13th style. Is there an engaging plot? No. 100 minutes of graphic violence, brutal rapes, minimal dialogue, and an entirely, completely inexplicable ending? Absolutely!
Video: "Evil Dead Trap" is letterboxed to 1.85:1 and isn't enhanced for widescreen televisions, but it's my understanding that these are the best elements that Synapse could get their hands on. Although the image is really grainy, "Evil Dead Trap" is a marked improvement over the videos from the bootleg circuit, and given a choice between grainy, detailed video or a soft image, I'll gladly take the former. Some shots do seem too soft, but this was probably a problem with the source material too. Yeah, the video's not going to win any awards, but it's pleasant enough to watch and looks a lot better than most Asian releases of this age.
Audio: "Evil Dead Trap" features a Japanese Dolby Digital mono track (although my player insists it's in stereo), and it does the job -- clear and free of the usual audio nasties. Sure, it's not particularly full or rich, but it's decent enough, and, yes, English subtitles are available as an option, although it'd probably be more fun to watch it without any hint of what anyone's saying for the full surreal effect.
Supplements: Sure, "Evil Dead Trap" reminded me of Argento, but even the trailer seemed Argento-ish, in a montage of attacks/no plot details/repetitive keyboard music sorta way. The trailer, incidentally, looks like it was mastered from a VHS copy. The real treat here is the audio commentary with director Toshiharu Ikeda and special effects manager Shinichi Wakasa. You know a commentary's going to be good when the liner notes state that "it is not up to the usual standards of quality that Synapse Films strives for". I feel kind of guilty for laughing at their broken English and bizarre comments. Wakasa and Ikeda are actually silent for quite a bit of the film, and nearly every discussion begins with "Oooh, _______ is nice!" The commentary really isn't informative, but it's among the most entertaining I've heard, even if I only understood maybe 20% of it.
Conclusion: Synapse is obviously releasing "Evil Dead Trap" for a very specific group of genre addicts, and as one of 'em, I'd have to highly recommend it. I'd probably give it this recommendation even if Synapse had released a bare-bones disc, but the commentary is worth the price alone. The case makes mention of Argento, Cronenberg, and Sam Raimi (I always feel obligated to use Sam's full name. Sorry), and if those names mean anything to you, "Evil Dead Trap" should be part of your collection. Period. Yeah.
Random Gripe: I hate the keepcase this sucker came in. This is my first Synapse disc (yeah, yeah, I'll grab more soon), so I'm not sure if they're all like this. "Evil Dead Trap" comes in a transparent neon-blue case complete with Evil Dead Hub (patent pending). There's very little I hate more than having to bend a disc to remove it from its case. It's borderline-Scavano bad. Also, the case itself was kinda hard to open, requiring actual effort. I guess this is probably a plus for Synapse fans, who more than likely mail-order discs since most chains unfortunately don't bother to carry unique titles like these. At the very least, you know the disc has absolutely no chance to come loose during shipping.
I guess I may as well summarize the plot, which, no, has nothing to do with Sam Raimi or the Evil Dead series. I didn't even notice anything approximating a Raimi nod in the film. Whatever. Anyway, "Evil Dead Trap" is the epic tale of Nami, the host of the late-nite equivalent of "America's Funniest Home Videos", and a snuff video she's received seems to be the solution to the show's lagging ratings. Apparently not content to sandwich the torture video between guys getting hit in the groin, it dawns upon Nami that maybe she can go to where the video was shot and unmask the murderer. Yeah, you know where this is going... So, Nami and her wacky crew head out to an abandoned warehouse and get knocked off one by one, Friday the 13th style. Is there an engaging plot? No. 100 minutes of graphic violence, brutal rapes, minimal dialogue, and an entirely, completely inexplicable ending? Absolutely!
Video: "Evil Dead Trap" is letterboxed to 1.85:1 and isn't enhanced for widescreen televisions, but it's my understanding that these are the best elements that Synapse could get their hands on. Although the image is really grainy, "Evil Dead Trap" is a marked improvement over the videos from the bootleg circuit, and given a choice between grainy, detailed video or a soft image, I'll gladly take the former. Some shots do seem too soft, but this was probably a problem with the source material too. Yeah, the video's not going to win any awards, but it's pleasant enough to watch and looks a lot better than most Asian releases of this age.
Audio: "Evil Dead Trap" features a Japanese Dolby Digital mono track (although my player insists it's in stereo), and it does the job -- clear and free of the usual audio nasties. Sure, it's not particularly full or rich, but it's decent enough, and, yes, English subtitles are available as an option, although it'd probably be more fun to watch it without any hint of what anyone's saying for the full surreal effect.
Supplements: Sure, "Evil Dead Trap" reminded me of Argento, but even the trailer seemed Argento-ish, in a montage of attacks/no plot details/repetitive keyboard music sorta way. The trailer, incidentally, looks like it was mastered from a VHS copy. The real treat here is the audio commentary with director Toshiharu Ikeda and special effects manager Shinichi Wakasa. You know a commentary's going to be good when the liner notes state that "it is not up to the usual standards of quality that Synapse Films strives for". I feel kind of guilty for laughing at their broken English and bizarre comments. Wakasa and Ikeda are actually silent for quite a bit of the film, and nearly every discussion begins with "Oooh, _______ is nice!" The commentary really isn't informative, but it's among the most entertaining I've heard, even if I only understood maybe 20% of it.
Conclusion: Synapse is obviously releasing "Evil Dead Trap" for a very specific group of genre addicts, and as one of 'em, I'd have to highly recommend it. I'd probably give it this recommendation even if Synapse had released a bare-bones disc, but the commentary is worth the price alone. The case makes mention of Argento, Cronenberg, and Sam Raimi (I always feel obligated to use Sam's full name. Sorry), and if those names mean anything to you, "Evil Dead Trap" should be part of your collection. Period. Yeah.
Random Gripe: I hate the keepcase this sucker came in. This is my first Synapse disc (yeah, yeah, I'll grab more soon), so I'm not sure if they're all like this. "Evil Dead Trap" comes in a transparent neon-blue case complete with Evil Dead Hub (patent pending). There's very little I hate more than having to bend a disc to remove it from its case. It's borderline-Scavano bad. Also, the case itself was kinda hard to open, requiring actual effort. I guess this is probably a plus for Synapse fans, who more than likely mail-order discs since most chains unfortunately don't bother to carry unique titles like these. At the very least, you know the disc has absolutely no chance to come loose during shipping.
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