Acorralados

Trapped (1982)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

TRAPPED takes a look at a group of mountain men and their "laws." Henry Chatwill (Henry Silva) catches a welfare worker sleeping with his wife so he decides justice is to tar and feather the man. It doesn't stop here because he then kills the man not realizing that there are four college students in the woods who witnessed it. Now Henry must talk his people into tracking down the witnesses and killing them.

After the huge success of DELIVERANCE we got all sorts of "hicksploitation" pictures where we went into the woods and learned about these back country people. TRAPPED, also known as BAKER COUNTY, U.S.A. is another in the long line of films that attempt to show us what mountain people do for their justice. There are a lot of good moments throughout the film but at the same time there are quite a few flaws. With that being said, the amount of nudity makes it an exploitation dream.

I must say that director William Fruet managed to fit a lot of stuff into this 95-minute movie. I say that because there was a point where I thought the film was nearing the end and was somewhat shocked to see that there was still another half hour to go. The first fifty-minutes of the movie features the type of sleaze and redneck violence that you'd expect and it does keep you entertained. I thought the film had a very good set-up and the locations were another major plus. The problem with the film is the rating bad timing and the fact that the rather weak story gets dragged out quite a bit.

With that being said, there are still a lot of good things about the picture including the performances. I thought the entire cast were quite good in their roles but of course it's Silva who stands out as the redneck leader who is a tad bit on the crazy side. As I previously said, the locations used are another major bonus as it does make for a nice atmosphere. If you like nudity then there's plenty of full frontal ladies on display and the style of violence here is quite interesting to say the least. Including the tar and fearthering!

TRAPPED has a lot of flaws to it but if you're a fan of "hicksploitation" genre then it's worth checking out.

This is a brutal movie about backwoods hillpeople who live according to their own laws. Their leader, Henry Silva at his unpleasant and sadistic best, takes the law in his own hands and lead a mob to hunt down his wife´s lover. Violent complications follow. The story is unoriginal but captivating and Fruet´s no holds barred directing keep a good pace throughout the entire movie. The dialogue is good and amusing. There is nudity, banjo music, humiliation, plenty of man hunt scenes and bloody violence. Highly recommended viewing for fans of Deliverance and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Of course, as I have already said since many years, DELIVERANCE, back in 1972, opened the way to many survival thrillers, in the wilderness, where city folks had to encounter all kinds of dangers fighting against the unavoidable local red necks. You had tons and tons of films like this one from the mid seventies till.... Even now, in 2025. But the bulk was during the eighties, and involved lousy exploitation - Grindhouse - or more or less psychotronic material. The best of them all being Walter Hill's SOUTHERN COMFORT. A pure masterpiece. More or less interesting, powerful, but never for the intellectuals anyway. Here, you have Hank Silva in a role that suits him like a glove. He died a couple of years ago and was the villain co starring Audie Murphy in the late fifties, till Forrest Whitaker or Steven Seagal in the eighties and nineties: GHOST DOG and ABOVE THE LAW. And I don't even speak of movies produced in France where he co starred the likes of Michel Constantin, Andre Pousse or Marcel Bozzuffi: L'INSOLENT, LES HOMMES. So, back to this film, it's typical of William Fruet, whose filmography reminds me William Lustig or Lewis Teague's one. Good survival chiller in the line of DELIVERANCE.

Trapped was actually released in the late eighties, although it's every bit the seventies exploitation classic! While not as great as some of the more popular films of the genre - stuff like The Last House on the Left and House on the Edge of the Park, Trapped is still an enjoyable slice of violent entertainment from the director of the surprisingly good 'House by the Lake' and the Psycho-inspired Funeral Home. The film focuses on the idea of people in the deep south of America taking the law very much into their own hands. The main culprit is Henry Chatwill; a man who is spotted murdering someone by a bunch of college students. He quickly decides to put his cronies to use in tracking down the college students; one of which, a kid called Roger Michaels, just happens to completely against violence in all forms. The first half hour or so is fairly torrid, as it can be difficult to tell exactly what's going on since it's not pieced together very well. However, things really pick up in the final two thirds; and it all builds to a fantastically entertaining ending, which features a couple of rather original death scenes! Naturally, Trapped isn't particularly well acted or directed - although William Fruet's work behind the camera isn't too bad considering the obvious budget limitations. Once you get past the first half hour, there's a lot of fun to be had with Trapped, and it comes recommended to trash fans everywhere!

In the mountains of Tennessee, a small backwoods village is lorded over by the maniacal Henry Chatwill. He has his own demented form of justice, and after he catches a stranger in bed with his bored sexpot of a wife, some college kids (one of whom is a pacifist) have the misfortune to stumble upon him enforcing it. Now he has to shut them up before they can notify the authorities.

Canadian filmmaker William Fruet directed this film, somewhat in the vein of "Deliverance". Usually known as "Trapped", one of the film's alternate titles is "Chatwill's Verdict", a far superior title to say the least. Why they didn't just stick with that one is beyond me, especially when you realize just how many films there are that share the "Trapped" title. While not original, it has a lot going for it, the most notable being Henry Silva's unhinged performance as Chatwill. It's also unpredictable in regards to which characters live and die. Of course, the college students could've avoided the whole mess if they weren't so stupid as to go looking for the body rather than leaving.

This is a quality film. Coming from me, that's saying something since I'm not the biggest fan of the backwoods/hillbilly sub-genre.