A little difficult to review a film that you watch on DVD that was intended to be viewed in the theater, and by theater, I mean the out door theater, of course, the Drive-In.
BOOBY TRAP is about Jack Brennan, a crazed ex-marine, who steals 40 Claymore mines, intending to kill hippies at an upcoming rock festival. On his trail, is an investigator from the U.S. Army determined to capture him before he completes his nefarious plan.
Okay. So how do you rate a film produced for the Drive-In circuit over 30 years ago? Is it a good movie? One intended to discuss the human condition or allow for an entertaining escape from the doldrums of the 1970s world. No. Was it intended to be a low priced filler for young adults to kill time and, maybe get some gratuitous nudity for their mid Viet Nam dollar. Yes.
So, with that context in mind, BOOBY TRAP really isn't a bad film by the standards it was created for. The acting is perfectly adequate and even the abundant nudity and "sexual situations" seem, forgive me, motivated by the scenes that precipitate them. In fact, the film opens with some pretty well shot images of Brennan driving through Las Vegas. Unfortunately, that quality doesn't last very long and I do wonder if there isn't a story there somewhere about who or why the opening feels like a different film.
The chief aggravation of BOOBY TRAP, even by Drive-In standards, is the plot, which jumps all over the place. The whole storyline of the crazed marine blowing people up as he makes his way to the festival, sort of disappears after awhile. We are only treated to a few "blowed up" people and they all get it from a distance. About a third into the movie, the plot takes a major turn into the parking lot of a nudie bar and never really pulls out again. The owner of the bar and his henchmen are the promoters of the rock festival and are hiding the money from the event in their secret office. An office, I might add, that has a hidden camera set up to view the women's bathroom. There's also a waitress, her musician fiancée, and a frighteningly over the top gay man with a plan to steal the loot. And these elements are what make up the bulk of the rest of BOOBY TRAP until the climax, which involves all parties meeting up with the Jack Brennan for a low-tech ending. The claymore explosions are few and far between and even the ones at the very end are unconvincing.
My impression, after watching, is that there are other cuts of this movie out there. Some of the love making/nudie scenes seem a little abbreviated and I also can't help but wonder if there isn't some more footage of Brennan blowing people up. Maybe not, but I'd venture there is.
If you're looking for an action film, you're going be disappointed. Now, if it's some early 70s nudity you want and you have a fair amount of patience, you're set. You'll enjoy it even more if you have something to do while you're watching it.
I especially recommend this film as a more tolerable example of the exploitation genre and pretty interesting by the standards it was created under. There are better examples out there, but BOOBY TRAP is perfectly acceptable.
