# Evil Dead Trap

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.

## Plot

TV show host Nami asks her viewers to send in home movies; she receives a snuff film shot at a disused military base. She takes a camera crew out to investigate, and they are murdered one-by-one in a grisly fashion until only Nami remains.

## Cast

* Miyuki Ono as Nami Tsuchiya
* Yuji Honma as Daisuke Muraki
* Aya Katsuragi as Masako Abe
* Eriko Nakagawa as Rie Kawamura
* Hitomi Kobayashi as Rei Sugiura
* Masahiko Abe as Akio Kondou
* 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 May 14, 1988. 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 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 one sequel. Evil Dead Trap 2 (also known as Hideki: Evil Dead Trap 2), was directed by Izo Hashimoto and released in 1992. The film is a loose continuation of the first and follows a theater projectionist, Aki, who sees visions of a ghostly boy named Hideki while Aki 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.