Shiryô no wana (1988)

... aka: Dead Soul Trap
... aka: Evil Dead Trap
... aka: Evil's Dead Trap
... aka: Tokyo Snuff

Directed by:
Toshiharu Ikeda

Nami (Miyuki Ono), who hosts a late night TV program where she shows viewer-submitted homemade videos, is going through her mail when she comes across something shocking. A viewer has sent her what appears to be a genuine snuff tape. In it, a tied-up woman is sliced up with a knife and has her eyeball gouged out. It eerily ends with an image of Nami. Nami goes to her producer, who thinks the video is just an elaborate sick prank and airing it would "encourage sick behavior." Still, Nami suggests he allow her and some of her co-workers to go to the location depicted in the video - an abandoned factory - to investigate. She gets a half-hearted approval and takes along three of her female colleagues; Masako (Aya Katsuragi), Rya (Eriko Nakagawa) and Rei (Hitomi Kobayashi), and one guy, Kondô (Masahiko Abe), as their "chaperone." When they arrive at the large, gated factory, they notice it's strangely not listed on their map. A vacant field should be there instead. And that's not even the strangest thing. The padlock on the gate hasn't been secured and all of the vegetation inside the fence appears to be dead or dying.

Once inside, they split up into groups to explore around. Nami bumps into a mysterious man (Yûji Honma) wearing sunglasses who tells her to be careful and to keep her guard up before he wanders off. The slutty Rei uses her opportunity there to have sex with Kondô. Afterward she discovers a corpse and is impaled by three large steel blades that emerge from the floor and wall. The whole place is full of lethal booby traps but that's not all they have to contend with. A masked killer is lurking the grounds as well as the killer's obedient slave, who likes to take his time raping and killing whoever he can get his hands on. The slave gets him hands on Rya and has his way with her before getting killed himself. When Rya tries to get away she's lassoed with a razor sharp wire around her neck and pulled over their jeep. Kondô doesn't make it much longer, as he's decapitated (off-screen) and Masako disappears. She'll later turn up in a death trap wired to a crossbow and a huge machete blade that our heroine accidentally sets off. All of Nami's friends are dead and there's still about an hour left to go. So how ridiculous do things get to stretch this one out? Pretty ridiculous.

Nami runs across the mysterious man yet again, who claims he's there searching for his missing brother, Hideki. The man (who is never named in the subtitles) has some serious heart problems and also a bad habit of coming and going without notice, leaving poor Nami terrified and alone. However, he is nice enough to help her find an underground tunnel to escape through. She makes it to the gate and... closes it and goes back in (!) because she feels responsible for all of her friends dying and wants to avenge them. Mmm hmm. So now here's your warning folks, if you don't want this movie spoiled then go ahead and skip down to the next paragraph. The big revelation here is that the mysterious man actually is the killer. Well, sort of. He's being controlled by his talking, giggling infant brother, who's been living inside of him and makes him kill. Once the man is mortally wounded, the baby decides to pop out, uses its umbilical cord to try to strangle Nami and exhibits supernatural powers by making everything explode.

First things first, this movie isn't a gore-fest despite having a reputation as being one. There are a few gruesome moments (especially the eyeball bit at the beginning) but not as many as one might imagine. Most of the bloodshed is relegated to the first half of the film. It's also made clear that the director is a huge fan of SUSPIRIA (1977). Not just because this is a super-stylish and colorfully-lit film, but also because certain moments are lifted wholesale from Suspiria, such as a scene of maggots dropping on a victim's head from the ceiling. And not just scenes are copied. So is Goblin's score, not to mention Goblin's score from ZOMBI 2 (1979). Whoever did the music for this one made about as many alterations to the original music he was copying as Vanilla Ice did with "Under Pressure" for "Ice Ice Baby." Evil Dead Trap also has a problem ending when it should. This has one of the most drawn-out finales ever. All that aside, this is still a notch above your usual slasher flick simply because it's a well made, really beautifully photographed film that offers up a few genuine surprises.

And just because this is derivative of several other well-known movies doesn't mean it wasn't influential in its own right. Clearly James Wan and his SAW franchise owe this film a huge debt of gratitute. This features a killer who uses multiple television sets to trick, taunt, trap or showcase his "work," includes several elaborate death traps and has a scene where a camera flash is used to see in the dark. The finale takes place in a tiled kitchen, which mirrors the tiled bathroom where much of Saw takes place, and when one of the victims pops up on a video monitor with their face painted white and red it can instantly be connected to the Jigsaw dummy. Not just that, but the "industrial" look and feel, the flashy editing, some clangy metallic noises and some of the camerawork were also copied. I was actually pretty startled by how much Saw ripped off from this movie. Of course, it won't ever be given credit for this, but it should.

Evil Dead Trap was one of the few 80s horror flicks from Japan to get a decent VHS release in the United States. Synapse now offer it on DVD and it's an excellent quality print. It was popular enough to spawn a sequel in 1992.

★★1/2

From Beyond the Grave (1973)

... aka: Creatures
... aka: Creatures from Beyond the Grave
... aka: Tales from Beyond the Grave
... aka: Tales from the Beyond
... aka: Undead, The

Directed by:
Kevin Connor

For my money, this is one of the best of the Amicus horror anthologies. Each of the four stories are based on the writings of R. Chetwynd-Hayes, whose work was also adapted in the later anthology THE MONSTER CLUB (1980). Quite well-produced, it's more imaginative than many others of its type and gets a lot of mileage from an outstanding cast. The framing device centers around an antiques store called Temptations Limited, where various customers show up to purchase - or in one case just steal - items from a mysterious and nameless proprietor played by a somewhat cadaverous-looking Peter Cushing. Every item somehow plays into each tale (usually actually causing the problem) and the customers usually do something to rub the proprietor the wrong way while at his shop. The set-up may have actually inspired Friday the 13th: The Series, which was unrelated to the slasher series and also centered around cursed antiques.

Our first customer is Edward Charlton (David Warner), who buys an ornate 400-year-old mirror that "looks like something that belongs in a medium's parlor." Because he's quite rude and attempts to get it for a price much cheaper than what it's actually worth, the proprietor - with a wily, knowing smirk on his face - allows him to take it home with him for peanuts. One evening, Edward has his friends over for a seance, where they manage to awaken a long-dormant spirit inside the mirror. The bearded, undead-looking man (Marcel Steiner) immediately takes possession of Edward, forces him to kill and demands "Feeeeeeed me... blooooood!" so he "can walk in the daylight." Edward lures a prostitute and then a girl from a nightclub back to his flat and murders them to appease the spirit; who starts looking more and more alive with each subsequent victim. Naturally, the man's spirit has been trapped inside the mirror for many years and Edward is now his ticket out. This has some good spooky imagery and the ghost man is pretty creepy, but it all leads up to a predictable resolution.

Our next story revolves around Christopher Lowe (Ian Bannen), an office manager trapped in a miserable marriage to a nasty little number named Mabel (Diana Dors). Mabel refuses to keep house or cook a decent meal, spends most of her time blowing through their money at a bingo parlor, constantly degrades Christopher over how much money he makes and gossips about him behind his back. Christopher has been buying matches and assorted small items from street vendor and war vet Jim Underwood (Donald Pleasance), who invites him back to home for dinner. There, Christopher meets Jim's homely and quiet, though polite, intelligent and oddly alluring daughter Emily (Donald's real-life daughter, Angela Pleasence) and becomes romantically interested in her. Hey, anything's better than the monster he's currently with, right? To impress Jim, Christopher steals a medal from the antique shop and pretends to have served in the military himself. The rest involves murder, witchcraft and a little voodoo. As far as I'm concerned, this is easily the best of these stories. The casting is great and the twist ending is a genuine surprise.

Tale #3 starts with Reginald Warren (Ian Carmichael) showing up at the antique store and switching prices on a small silver snuff box to get it for cheaper. Aboard a train, Reggie encounters loud, eccentric and very wired clairvoyant Madame Orloff (Margaret Leighton), who claims she sees an "elemental" - an invisible evil creature of the air, Earth or water that lusts after the pleasures of the flesh - on the guy's shoulder. She gives him her business card in case he needs her services. When Reginald returns home, evidence of the creature is soon made obvious. His dog runs off, his shoulder starts slumping and every time he gets near his wife Susan (Nyree Dawn Porter), the beast scratches or hits her and even tries to strangle her in her sleep. Reginald is forced to contact Madame Orloff, who promptly swings by to exorcise the evil spirit before it can possessed its host... and ends up basically destroying their entire home in the process! The resolution is a little on the weak side, but a superb comedic performance from Leighton saves the day.

Finally, William Seaton (Ian Ogilvy) shows up at Temptations Limited to purchases a very old, hand-carved wooden door. He's unable to come up with the full asking price, but the proprietor settles for 10 pounds less. William brings the door home and puts it over a closet. As it turns out, the piece had been cursed by a warlock (Jack Watson) centuries earlier. Instead of always opening up to reveal the closet, the door sometimes opens up to reveal a huge blue room where a ghostly man lurks. The door turns out to be a portal to a "ghost room" which "must be fed" blood from time to time. Lesley Anne Down plays Rosemary, William's wife, whom the ghost wants to sacrifice. Will the fact William actually paid for his purchase and was honest with the proprietor actually change his fate?

Things wrap up back at the antique store where a burglar (Ben Howard) attempts to rob the place but ends up in a rather prickly situation instead. All four tales have something to offer, though my clear favorites were the second and third stories. Both seemed to flow better in their alloted time slots than the other two, while the first and fourth segments seem a little underbaked and rushed (though they're still interesting). Despite a cast full of male horror heavyweights, the most memorable contributions here actually come from Leighton and Angela Pleasence.

★★★

Night Shadow (1989)

... aka: Lycanthrope
... aka: Night Drop

Directed by:
Randolph Cohlan

Alexandra Jung (Brenda Vance) is quickly moving up in the world. She's about to start a regular anchorwoman position on the KLOF evening news in Los Angeles as well as her own syndicated radio program. Scared of the commitment of signing a three-year contract and how fast things are moving for her, Alex decides to take a break and spend a much-needed week of rest and relaxation in her small hometown of Danford. On her way there, she decides to pass on pulling over to help a dirty, bearded, shaggy-haired guy (Rick Scott) with an intense stare standing by a broken down car. Good thing, because he has a trunk full of bloody body parts and, when an old farmer finally does pick him up, he puts the guy's head through a window. Alex meets up with her motorcycle-riding kid brother Tai ("Dane Chan" / Stuart Quan) at a diner to catch up and again spots the mysterious man sitting there staring at her. Making eye-contact with him is oddly entrancing, but he disappears as soon as a few cops pop in. One of those cops, Sheriff Adam Newquist (Tom Boylan), was Alex's boyfriend before she headed off to the big city. He tells her things have been pretty uneventful since she's been gone. That's clearly all about to change.

The Sheriff and his deputy Earl (Mike Hamilton) get a call that a dismembered body has just been found in a dumpster. And the next day, part of two bodies are found in the trunk of that abandoned car. Frances (Jeannette Lewis), the county coroner, tells the authorities that all three victims show signs of having been killed by some kind of animal. Meanwhile, Alex goes to visit her godmother Alta (Alta LaFlame) and brother at the hotel they run; also where she's staying while she's in town. She gets a call the next day from her boss, who wants her to cover the story of the murders while she's in town. Some vacation she's getting: Everyone's getting killed, mutilated and cannibalized and she still has to work. Bummer. So Alex goes to a press conference, starts accompanying Adam around as he investigates, learns from the coroner that all of the victims have bite marks resembling those from a large dog or wolf and then finds out what all we viewers have known since the beginning: The strange dude is a werewolf.

Numerous examples of moronic character behavior are seen throughout. Alex passed by both the killer and the victim on her way into town around the time of the murder, but never says anything about it to the cops. She also doesn't say anything about seeing this drifter popping up everywhere and staring at her like he wants to eat her alive. Then again, there's the possibility that the killer has some strange power of her (which is hinted at but very poorly developed), so I'll let that one slide. More annoyingly, the werewolf man (who doesn't utter a single word) is somehow able to stay in a room at the hotel without being noticed by anyone. And most annoyingly of all, Tai goes into the killer's room - which nobody is supposed to even be staying in - to do electrical work and sees a diary complete with werewolf pictures inside. He later sneaks in there with a few of his prankster friends. They discover decomposing body parts in his dresser (which they attribute to "rotting meat"), plus blood in the sink. None of them go to the cops despite the fact everyone in town knows there's a maniac on the loose. It isn't until the friend who stole the diary is killed that Tai finally decides to say something.

The film doesn't really stick by the usual werewolf mythology (there's no transformation by full moon and no silver bullets) but it also doesn't add anything new or interesting to the formula. It poorly attempts to link up the leading lady to the wolfman, who apparently wants her to become his bride or some such nonsense. None of that is sufficiently expanded upon to come off as any more than an afterthought. We don't get to see the fully-transformed werewolf until the very end. Even though I've seen worse designs, it's definitely not worth waiting for and only looks decent in dim lighting. Some air bladder effects were used for a brief (and incomplete) transformation scene. Aside from a victim getting impaled with a steel pipe and a nightmare sequence of someone chewing on a maggot-covered hand, most of the violence is off-screen and there's very little bloodshed.

Much of this actually seems like a showcase for budding action star / fight choreographer / stunt man Quan, who passed away in 2006 (at age 43) and also had small roles in some A productions such as BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986) and THE SHADOW (1994). His wardrobe consists almost entirely of midriff-baring half shirts, which is funny enough by itself, but some of the scenes designed to show off his martial arts skills come out of nowhere and are pretty hilarious. During one of these, he fights a biker gang who are trashing one of the hotel rooms while stereotyped pan flute Chinese music plays! He also gets to flee the cops (who suspect he's the killer at one point) on his bike and drives around on the sidewalks and even goes over a ramp, then beats up on the asshole sheriff's deputy using his skillz. Annoyingly, the director then robs us seeing what we really want to see: Quan kung fu-ing the damn werewolf. Boo!

As nice as it is seeing two Asian-American actors in lead roles in an 80s American horror film (not a common thing back then), the acting is mostly amateurish. However, there are at least two notable people in the cast. First off is Aldo Ray in a weird and random comedic role as some goofy salesman staying at the hotel who sells aquatic-themed novely gifts. He gets just two brief scenes and it was one of his last film appearances. And then there's a mullet-licious Kato Kaelin playing one of the male star's friends. Kaelin was in a few low-budget movies, but his chief claim to fame was being O.J. Simpson's "house boy" at the time of the Nicole Brown Simpson / Ronald Goldman murders. Despite getting plenty of press and tabloid TV exposure for that (plus millions in a lawsuit against the National Enquirer), his failed acting career never really picked up.

I spent a lot of time browsing through video stores in my youth up and down the East Coast, from Michigan all the way down to Florida, and I don't ever recall seeing a VHS box for this movie during that time, so I doubt it received a very good distribution deal back then. It was filmed as Lycanthrope and, as per the closing credits (see above), the original release title appears to have been Night Drop. The DVD I viewed was released by Platinum Disc. I wouldn't make it a high priority.

★1/2