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Video Nasty #9

Death Trap

1976

HE'S OUT THERE AND HE'S GOT MURDER ON HIS MIND!

YOU CHECK IN ALIVE...BUT CHECK OUT DEAD!

Original American Release Title: Eaten Alive (In an October 2000 interview with The Onion A.V. Club, Tobe Hooper states that the original title was its' UK Video Nasty title, Death Trap.)

NTSC Running Time: 90:46

Directed by Tobe Hooper

Written by Alvin L. Fast and Mardi Rustam.  Kim Henkel (Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre co-writer) is credited with "screen adaptation".

Produced by Mardi Rustam

Starring: Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones, Marilyn Burns, William Finley, Stuart Whitman, Kyle Richards, Roberta Collins, Robert Englund

Body Count: 5 and a small dog.

Availability: On Region 1 DVD in one and two-disc editions from Dark Sky Films, also available from Elite Entertainment.

BBFC Status

Why it's a Nasty: Gore, sex and children's exposure to violence..

What was cut: 25 seconds of an attempted anal rape, a woman being beaten while her child watches and a brutal scythe-through-the-neck murder were removed for the cinema when first released in 1978 with an X certificate, and again for the first post-Nasty video release in 1992 with an 18 certificate.

Current BBFC status: The uncut version was awarded an 18 certificate on November 30, 2000.

UK Availability: Region 2 DVD from Vipco and another from Video International as Eaten Alive.

Death Trap was seized, but escaped prosecution.

"Name's Buck.  I'm rarin' to fuck."

If you haven't seen this film and the above line, the first spoken in Death Trap, sounds familiar to you, it's because it was stolen by Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill.  (I have a bit of distaste for Tarantino, his humongous ego, and his cinematic thievery.  At least he admits that he's a thief.)  In Death Trap, Buck (Robert Englund) is a good-old-boy who loves drinkin' and whorin'.  The prostitute he's assignated with, Clara (Roberta Collins), is new to the business and not cut out for it.  When Buck tells her that she's gonna give him the "back of a Volkswagen" treatment he paid for, her screams bring Miss Hattie (Carolyn "Morticia Addams" Jones) who gives Buck two girls for the price of one and throws Clara out on her ass.  The brothel's housemaid takes pity on Clara and gives her ten bucks, telling her to get herself a room for the night at the motel down the road, the Starlight Motel.

Oops.

The owner/operator of the Starlight is Judd (Neville Brand), who is completely off his fucking nut and has no way of hiding it.  Before Clara can even get her bag in a room, he's pegged her as one of Miss Hattie's girls, gropes her, throws her down the stairs, repeatedly hacks at her with a three-pronged garden hoe and feeds her to the large gator that lives in the bayou just outside the front door (Judd insists it's a crocodile imported from Africa, but his shell-shocked rantings paint a picture of a man who knows nothing of reality).

So begins the film.  There's no story here.  People show up, get terrorized, and some of them get eaten by a gator.  That's it.  If you want strong characterization, deep meaning, subtle scares, or coherency, you've come to the wrong place.  If you want a twisted, overblown exploitation film filled with great actors, check in and stay awhile - just don't feed the gator.

There may be more star-power in Death Trap than in any other Nasty: Carolyn Jones and Stuart Whitman were both Academy Award nominees, Brand and Mel Ferrer accomplished TV and film actors with long, and distinguished careers (Ferrer also starred in Umberto Lenzi's cannibal film Mangianti Vivi!, also known as Eaten Alive, giving him two films with the same title within five years).  Portraying a family of lodgers are a trio of horror/exploitation actors who all had important roles in seminal films: William Finley as the dad was The Phantom Of The Paradise for Brian DePalma two years earlier, right around the same time that mom Marilyn Burns was being terrorized by Leatherface Sawyer in Hooper's breakthrough The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  Their daughter was portrayed by Kyle Richards, who two years later appeared as Lindsey in John Carpenter's Halloween (and is currently on TV as herself as one of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills).  With such a superb cast, it's almost a shame that they weren't given more to work with.  Rumors of Hooper leaving the shoot abound, with both the Cinematographer Robert Caramico and Carolyn Jones supposed to have shot the remainder.  I've been able to uncover no ironclad evidence of this, and may, like the rumors of Hooper's troubles on the set of Poltergeist, be nothing more than smoke and bluster.

The lighting is garish and if any of the sets were actually outdoors, I would be surprised, as the entire affair looks like a stage production.  The mechanical gator is wisely kept in the shadows and is not as large a part of the proceedings as the promotional materials would lead you to believe.

The real antagonist, and the reason to watch the film, is Neville Brand.  He doesn't just chew the scenery, he sicks it up and chows down again.  His mumbling, vicious performance is a far cry from Norman Bates.  (In fact, where Bates was modeled after mild-mannered momma's boy Ed Gein, Judd takes his inspiration from hotel owner, serial killer and gator enthusiast Joe Ball, who is said to have murdered over 20 women in the 1930s and fed them to his alligators.)  Judd has no "mask of sanity".  He doesn't even seem to have a lens in the right side of his spectacles.  He rants and raves the entire time and doesn't hesitate to chase everyone around with a scythe.  Brand is great fun to watch as he freaks out on everyone and he does a great job.

The presence of Marilyn Burns (who spends a large chunk of the film bound and gagged on a bed, trying to break free) makes you wonder if she's a glutton for punishment working with Hooper again after the nightmare Texas Chain Saw shoot.  William Finley also turns in a loony performance as an unhappy husband who mugs and freaks out at his wife, with no motive ever given.  No motives are given for anyone's actions, save Mel Ferrer, who is there looking for his daughter, the unfortunate Clara.

The tone is bleak, the action either depressing or disturbing, and the hotel itself would send even the tiredest traveler back onto the road.  I'd seen Death Trap before and I must say that I was not happy with it the first time.  Screening it again, I liked it much more, mainly because I wasn't expecting something on par with Texas Chain Saw or Poltergeist and was able to appreciate Death Trap for what it is: a sleazy horror film with a few gory deaths, a few topless girls, a talented but under-utilized cast and a wonky, uneasy atmosphere.  (Hardcore Insert Alert: There are also rumors that a Japanese print of the film adds shots to Englund's scenes showing Buck's large, uncircumcised wang, which were unfortunately not present on my DVD.  Darn.)

I will be staying right the hell out of Southeast Texas, thank you.  Safer that way.  Because my name's Justin.  JustinCase.