Evil Dead Trap – 1988 – Not so extreme japanese extreme

I saw this many years ago. But then I forgot about it and what remained in my memory was an extremely violent flick. Sometimes your memory plays tricks upon you though and when I see Evil Dead Trap again I’m not that shocked. There are a few scenes that are frightening and there is a few sex scenes with topless women. Most of the sex is consensual but there are forced scenes as well aka rape. Rape is of course more horrible and frightening than many other things because it really happens in the real world and it’s easy to relate to. I don’t think that the intention of these scenes is to revolt the audience though. I think the purpose is to get as many tits in the frame as possible. The sex or rape is just an excuse to exploit the women.

You may or may not be aware of Japanese censorship laws. Everything is more or less okay to show as long as you don’t show people’s private parts. No, breasts are not considered private in that sense

What we have is a film that’s about this TV show that airs unusual homemade clips. Most of it is pretty lame and they’re looking for something to raise the ratings for the show. Clips come in and there is one in particular that captures their interest. It’s a very graphic short film and the producers/hosts of the show quickly decide to investigate. They drive to a distant location and find more than they could hope for.

Deaths

There are deaths in this film to be sure. You might guess how many of the characters are killed off. No one is safe. And their deaths are violent too. In that perspective, this is an extreme violence film. I guess it was considered more so in the 1980s and maybe that’s why my memories of it are what they are. When I see it again I cannot call it extreme anymore. Maybe that’s because of me as well. I have seen a lot more odd and obscure horror and violent flicks these days than when I last saw it.

But on the other hand. If we’re talking about odd, this falls right into that category. Once the “bad guy” is revealed some very strange things start to happen. It’s hard to talk about without ruining the surprise for you but I think the script writers had great fun thinking about this. It’s maybe more hilarious than frightening but it’s cool. And when I think about it there are some other flicks out there that explore similar themes (kind of). I can’t tell you more, you’ll have to watch and see. But I can tell you that Evil Dead Trap didn’t live up to my memories of it. It’s not that strong a movie anymore.