Evil Dead Trap 2 (Shiryo No Wana 2: Hideki)

This is my first one star viewing ever on amazon. I was not going to review the film, however, after my nephew [who likes the film] continously told me to view the film again, I did [unfortunately] and it did not get any better than when I first viewed the film many years ago. Now I will be the first to admit that I have my share of film in the horror and thriller genre that many would consider bad. However, I LIKE THEM!

This film on the other hand was not good when I first viewed it many years ago, and it sure didn't get any better with time. In fact, I could barely make it through this viewing. But, since my nephew sat and watched it with me, I figured the least I could do was warn others to rent the film before you purchase it. I will not write that you should not see it, however, by renting it first you will save yourself some money. Horror and thrillers are a genre that each of us view differently. Therefore, watch it with caution. I don't recommend it, however, you must decide for yourselves if it is worth the purchase.

Fans of the first film can forget about this one cause it's nothing like part one. An overweight female serial killer who kills her victims off screen is creeped out when she keeps seeing a young boy in the background of the news broadcasts reporting her murders. Oddly enough the reporter on the TV is also her only friend and she has a guy friend who's interested in the plump girl. How exciting!

After 70 minutes of pointless talking and long, boring scenes of nothing I turned this mess off. Forget it.

~
How does one go about recommending a movie that the reviewer thoroughly enjoyed but who is at the same time unpretentious in realizing that the greater viewership has & will continue to thumb its nose at it? The answer, I suppose, is that he "doesn't."

So how is it that I have come to appreciate this disturbing "buckets-o-gore" stomach-turner even as everyone else who has viewed it wants to "re-bury" it? (inside joke). Well, it may have something to do with the fact that I had never (and to this day still have not) seen the so-called "prequel" to this film.

Having heard so much positive feedback from multiple sources regarding that first film ("Shiryou no Wana" - aka "Evil Dead Trap"), I decided to find out what I could about the movie before making any purchasing decisions. You see, I often like to make 'chance' purchases of movies I had never seen nor heard of before (as indicated in a couple of my "So You'd Like to..." Amazon reviewer guides), but usually not without at least 'some' story & production information. And what I discovered was that while "Shiryou no Wana" was being praised to the hilt, THIS film ("Hideki" - aka "Shiryou no Wana 2" aka "Evil Dead Trap 2" - the supposed 'sequel') was being "stink talked" to the same degree.

The biggest complaint which stemmed from most of those familiar with both of these films was, for me at least, this film's ("EDT2") best selling point -- that these two semi-similarly titled movies have virtually nothing to do with each other, except for sharing a common theme of extreme gory violence and a rarely-seen antagonist named "Hideki." This revelation fueled my interest in "EDT2" because the premise of the first movie sounded hyper-contrived and entirely bogus, whereas this, the second film, seemed more plausible and sounded much more intriguing & compelling.

My interest in this film was also further aroused by the ambiguity of the female lead character: a shy & somewhat unpretty girl named Aki, who works as a film projectionist at a Korean movie house -- (Is she 'heroine' or 'villain'? 'Perpetrator' or 'victim'?) I was also captivated with the idea of casting a "plump & heavy" girl in the lead role.

Another complaint from viewers of both films was that "EDT2" was not nearly as graphic, gory & sadistic as the earlier film -- which simply has to be a plus in EDT2's favor as far as I'm concerned, since this movie is without question one of the most sickening bloodbath movies I've ever laid eyes upon, and it is certainly the most graphically gruesome of any of the movies in my personal DVD collection, with the exception of "Starship Troopers." I am by no means a raving anti-slice&dice puritan, but I do believe that even "splatter movies" should exercise at least 'some' restraint (as can probably be evidenced by the fact that the only other movies related to this particular genre-- those that DON'T involve monsters, mutants, aliens, demonic possession, 'killbots' or zombies --in my entire movie collection consist only of the original "Friday the 13th," the very first "Chucky" movie, "Psycho" I & II, the "Scream" trilogy, "Urban Legends: Final Cut," "Silent Night, Deadly Night," "Se7en" and "Sleepaway Camp"). Hence, my characterization of "EDT2" as one of my REALLY GUILTY "guilty pleasures."

I am also at a complete and utter loss as to how practically everyone else viewing this movie says they don't understand it or that they can't make any sense out of it. I find this most odd, because it all made near-perfect sense to me -- despite (or perhaps maybe even 'because' of) not having seen "EDT1." As a result, this places me in yet another difficult situation: Do I share what I know in hopes of helping others overcome their confusion? Or do I keep what I know to myself in hopes that others will eventually put the pieces of the puzzle together and decipher the code themselves? I faced this same dilemma when recommending the "Geobreeders" anime; the difference this time, however, is that the "horror" audience is much more fickle than the "anime" crowd -- so, sadly, I digress. And with so much of the consensus speaking of this film in the most negative terms anyway, I could not possibly hope to sway any pre-held opinions on the basis of some clarifying information. The most I can possibly hope for, I guess, is that anyone new coming to this film does so without having had any prior exposure to the first film, so as not to have any advance prejudices going into this one -- then perhaps on that basis "Hideki: Shiryou no Wana 2" ("Evil Dead Trap 2") could find a wider audience of acceptance.

Most people probably haven't seen this movie. It's an in-name-only sequel to a Japanese horror film of abivalent reputation. Sometimes it's hard writing reviews of movies like this, so I'm going to take the "watch this if..." approach. (I could always try not writing a review at all, but I don't have anything else to do today.) One reason why you should watch this is if you are familiar with the recent wave of Japanese horror (or "J-Ho," as we call it in my neighborhood) that has mastered the emphasis of atmosphere over gore, and you're interested in learning about J-Ho's much simpler times, when it was completely inept at both.

To be fair, I didn't get this DVD, I watched some old Dutch VHS version that some poor soul begged my video store to take off their hands. The back of the box promised, "State of the art special effects," and a "great plot," so I figure there must have been a mix-up, and these things were left off of the verson I watched. Maybe they found them and added them to the DVD as extra features.

The story centers around 3 people, Aki, her friend Emi, and Emi's married male friend, whose name I can't remember, and neither will you. And although all of them end up committing bloody murder at some point, the interactions between these 3 are far too boring to get into. But the glue that holds them all together is this cool little malevolent child by the name of Hideki. If you're reading this exceedingly negative review and wondering why this movie got 2 stars instead of 1, it's all because of this kid. I love a good Malevolent Child in a horror movie, and considering the low budget, he really delivers. He looks almost like a prototype for Toshio-kun, the freaky kid from the Ju-on series, although I'm not exactly sure how much influence this movie had (if I had to wager, I'd probably say "none," but if it did, I don't think anyone would admit it).

I suppose it could be a bold move for the female lead to be fat and ugly. I say this not to be cruel, but because it is firmly established that this character of Aki is indeed fat and ugly. I can appreciate that. Us feminists are always complaining about films, especially horror films, having the female lead as a pretty girl/ingenue type. But since it's obvious from the appearance of her allegedly "attractive, successful friend," as well as the rest of the cast, that they just didn't have a budget to afford a more attractive actress anyway, I can't really see it as that bold of a move. It might have been interesting if they had established a fat ugly woman as a real person with complex human emotions, instead of having her run around like, "I'm fat, and that pisses me off, I think I'll go around killing people." But then again, there is no one in Evil Dead Trap 2 who even resembles a real person, so I'm just going to let that one go, even though screaming "misogyny!" is so much more fun.

The thing that irritates me the most about this movie is the persistant mention of the word "abortion" in an attempt to connect it to the horror. I know that Japan does not have a history of moralistic horror films like the US does, but the implication that Aki is being haunted by Hideki because she had an abortion is just silly. It's not like I'm afraid that the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life are going to start forcing doctors to tell their patients that abortion could cause them to be stalked by a pale little boy with black eyeballs. But it's not good character development at all, and it is oversimplification of a serious issue for a cheap scare (if you can call it that). For this reason, I feel this aspect of "Evil Dead Trap 2" is in poor taste.

Throughout the course of the movie, we are treated to scenes that could be described as "macabre ballet," that looked so much cooler when filmed by Dario Argento, and some more excuses for Hideki to unnerve the viewer by showing up in places a child just should not be. A news broadcast, a murder scene, a back alley in which Aki is about to get it on with two thugs. And through it all, Hideki never disappoints by hinting that he may be the troubled spirit of an innocent child who needs help. He does what he does, because he's pure EEEE-VILLLL!!!!

Watch this if you're curious about how bad Japanese Horror used to be. If you like a good Malevolent Child, watch Juon: The Grudge.

For fans of the first film, be advised that this "sequel" has very little connection to the original. In fact, "Evil Dead Trap 2" is so out of control it should have been titled differently. The story concerns a woman who goes through her pathetic life apparently searching for a male companion and is also a deranged serial killer. The graphic killing sequences and gross-out images of the first film are generally absent here except in the last half hour (if you make it that far). By the time anything of interest starts happening, it is so disjointed from the rest of the film, making little sense on any level, that it is a sure sign of a corrupted screenplay. The three main leads are entirely unattractive and are possibly the worst actors in all of Asian cinema. The film also drags scenes out way too long, an example being a totally useless opening of the main character walking through the city in slow motion. The scene could have been removed entirely and would have spared the viewer precious minutes of their lives. Unfortunately, there are too many of these types of exposition throughout the entire film. I gave the film two stars instead of one based primarily on a few graphic set pieces towards the end that are possible indicators that somewhere in this mess a good movie may have existed. Anyway, "Evil Dead Trap 2" is not a good movie, certainly not worth a purchase or possibly even a rental....view at your own risk.