Hideki: The Killer

The best part of this movie is the choice of the protagonist. It's not often you see a female in the role of serial killer and Aki is not a supersexy villain type either. She's a very average, plain woman in a boring job. The fact that she's also a twisted killer is that much more of a contrast than your average Hollywood production. That this all may stem from abortion trauma gives this film an unusual spin.

The crew who made this film of a murderous love triangle set in a wasteland of urban Japanese anomie (revolving around an overweight movie projectionist, her spiffy TV- correspondent friend, and the man they both share, more or less) needed to decide what the heck was happening here before they went ahead into production. Sure, maybe the result would have been no less weirded out and non-linear than the mishmash fema-slasher-post-abortion-psycho-angst-fest they ended up with--but they would have made conscious decisions about how the weirdness did or did not fit together as a plot. Deliberately chosen incoherence might have jelled into a more compelling and less aimless flick. Personally, I enjoyed the film's unconventional post-Bergman moodiness: but the evident lack of storyboarded logic emphasizes budget and production shorftalls, dragging down the project.

I wasn't overwhelmed by it, to say the least. "Evil dead Trap 2" is a sequel in name only, since the story has no relation to the first film. I found it a confusing mess of a movie, to be honest, this second one. Granted, it's some kind of artistic mess (the film looks pretty good and there are some nice visuals in it), but I didn't understand one bit of the story. It throws random elements in the mix, and they don't make the slightest bit of sense to me. But it's not boring to sit through, at least. And the last 15 minutes are pretty intense, gory and stylish even, so it's worth a watch for only those sequences (I'd like to give the movie an extra point for it even, but I'm just not feeling that generous today).

A sequel in name only, this second entry in the EDT-series is easily the most satisfying one. It's as gory as one might expect from an Asian horror film -I've seen this film round eight times, but still have to look away when the breaking-the-arm-over-the-radiator bit comes along- but this one has an ingenious plot and decent acting to boot.

Far less derivative than the original, EDT 2 involves a young, timid girl who goes on a killing spree, her self-loathing fueling the fire. There's also a sub-plot of an abortion gone awry, and the re-appearance of Hideki, probably the scariest child in movie history. Dream-logic, most of it, but it works.

The photography is perversely stylish, the pacing hypnotic. Some images, like a wounded victim staggering forward against a full-neon backdrop, or the twisted ballet of protagonist and antagonist battling in a mesh of white sheets, will stay with you for a very long time. The soundtrack, a Goblin-inspired celesta-theme, is breath-taking, and extremely well used troughout the film.

EDT 2 is top-notch film-making all the way, and will have you looking under the bed for nights to come. Argento would be proud. ........

"Evil Dead Trap 2" has very little in common with its predecessor apart from, perhaps, some industrial settings, impressive gore and a small element of body-morphing horror.

A somewhat confusing tale which contains a myriad of ideas, "Evil Dead Trap 2" bravely has an unconventional lead, Shoko Nakajima. Nakajima is not the usual beauty that we'd expect to see in a film of this nature. Her character, although initially sympathetic, soon takes a turn into classic horror territory. Rie Kondoh plays the beautiful reporter whose character is also not as it initially appears.

Beautifully shot, and directed by Izô Hashimoto, this Asian horror film may be confusing but it's very watchable and atmospheric.

7 out of 10.