movies; EVIL DEAD TRAP

Horror movies, especially those of the weird or cheesy variety, have been a big influence on the sound of Meat Douglas. So in addition to posting MD music, news, etc; I will be using this space to post reviews/write ups of my all time favorite classic horror flicks, or any other horror movies I come across that I feel are deserving of the 30 minutes it will take me to write this...

First up, a Japanese slasher from 88 that I just watched tonight...

Evil Dead Trap
1988
Directed by Toshiharu Ikeda
Written by Takashi Ishii

This is one bizarre movie. I randomly found it on netflix a while back. It swam up and down my queue for a month or two before I finally received it a few days ago. The name put me off at first, "Evil Dead Trap". The title made me think it was going to be some sort of ultra low budge, b-movie rip off of the Evil Dead series. Or one of those not-so-clever "name your shitty movie similar to a good movie" marketing tactics that crappy filmmakers use to attract attention to their terrible shitty movies.

Man was I wrong. The movie starts off with quick scenes of some one editing what looks like a snuff film together, then we jump to a late night talk/news show hosted by our main character, Nami. Part of her show features videos submitted by fans; sort of like America's Funniest Home videos or something. After the show Nami finds a new fan video had arrived, so she pops it in. The film starts off by giving her driving directions to an unknown factory/military complex then abruptly ends with a seemingly authentic snuff film followed up by a still frame of Nami, taken from an episode of her show. Creeped out but intrigued, Nami gathers up some crew members and takes off to find out if the film was real. In doing so she hopes they will find a story that will boost her shows sagging ratings. When Nami and crew reach the location they split up into groups to check the place out. At this point the film goes down the slasher route; with characters making idiot decisions, having sex at odd times and getting offed one by one. The mood is set up pretty well with the lighting and music, which remind me of early Argento movies and the classic Goblin soundtracks.

The colors are very prominent and interesting. Outside of the buildings, the over all tone of the movie is warm, full of reds and orange. When the characters go inside the buildings it's all stark blues and darkness. This contrast makes the movie visually interesting in a Suspiria kind of way. Color is used very well in the deaths scenes as well. For example, one character is wearing a yellow and black striped shirt, which is echoed in the warning paint around the door that the killer is trying to burst through. When the red stuff flows (and it does a lot), it is a vibrant, deep red that contrasts with the dark blue/black surroundings beautifully.

The music starts out subtle and builds into this pulsing electro experimental/industrial piece that reminds me of the classic Goblin soundtracks for Suspiria and Tenebre, but they don't quite reach that level of Goblin awesomeness. Still good though, and catchy. After writing this I am going to try to find it on soulseek. If I find it I'll post it here.

The first two thirds of the movie had me thinking that this was going on my ALL TIME GREATS list, but the last act of the movie was...uh...different. During the first two acts the suspense is good, the pacing is perfect and the death scenes are spectacular. It even features an excruciating eyeball puncture that rivals the classic Fulci eyeball mutilation scenes. Also of note is the use of "traps" similar to the Saw franchise. But unlike the Saw movies, these traps were not over elaborate and complex to the point of being completely unbelievable. They were actually plausible situations and full of tension. Here is an example of one of the main "Trap" scenes, no plot spoilers...just gory death scene spoilers.....



The last act of the movie is kind of long and some people may be put off by the sudden slow down in the pacing. I on the other hand was totally zoned out. The scenes were always visually interesting and the music always kept the tension up. As the movie went on, the further it moved from typical slasher towards totally weirded out bat shit crazy. I don't have the vocabulary necessary to describe just how insanely bizarre the last act of the movie is....I'm still trying to wrap my head around it....

You need to watch this movie, BUT DON'T GO TO IMDB OR READ ANY OTHER REVIEWS ONLINE BEFORE WATCHING THE MOVIE. I just looked around online and found a few reviews and they totally spoil the ending. The fucking plot summary on IMDB's main page for the movie spoils the ending. I am glad I didn't read that shit before watching the movie or I'd be pissed right now. If you like totally weird, gory slasher movies, add this to your netflix queue as soon as possible.

8.5/10

first

this blog is going to be used to post MEAT DOUGLAS material for free download as well as the discussion of music that is influential or enjoyed by members of MEAT DOUGLAS.

INTRODUCTION
Meat Douglas was first known simply as MEAT. MEAT formed in a basement in mid-Missouri in 2000. The original line up was a 16 year old "producer" who provided all music and a toddler vocalist. The original concept started out as a spoof of "Industrial" music, with a 3-5 year old providing vocals. All music was made on computer programs, and all vocals by the Toddler were spontaneously recorded, with no instruction on what to say. Several dozen tracks were recorded, most have been lost, but about 20 or so exist on various CD-Rs in the MEAT Douglas archive. Eventually these will be made available on this blog.

Eventually this musical relationship had to come to an end, but MEAT continued on. To mark a distinction between line ups, Douglas was added to the project's name. This addition was completely random in nature. MEAT Douglas became bored with working on computers and completely abandoned the use of them for music production. Instead adopting the use of drum machines, synths, found sounds, cassette tapes, home made instruments, etc.

Definitely Against the Future; the first album post-computer use was recorded on 4 track tapes from 2006-07 and released in 2008 in an extremely limited edition of 35 copies. These were CD-Rs with artwork printed from hand carved linoleum blocks. Many were given to friends and sold online. A very small number of these are still available. If you want to purchase this album, e-mail; meatdouglas [at] gmail.com


a digital version of the album is also available for download, with all artwork included...click below..


MEAT Douglas also has tons of material that has never been "released" or uploaded to any sites. These will be regularly posted on this blog for download. The next collection to be posted for download is the; "MEAT Douglas....is leaving town" album that was sold at the last MEAT Douglas show before moving away from Columbia Missouri. Work on new material is always happening as well.