Terror Trap

Stopping off at a motel in a small town to rest for the night, a man and his wife find the area a front for a group of criminals to make videos of them torturing people to demented passersby and force them to fight the group off to get away alive.

Overall this was a rather tedious, tired retread without a lot of interesting moments about it. One of the biggest issues with this one is the rather bland and tiresome story here that is quite unimpressive with how it gives out its plot points. The revelation about the secret organization is not only given quite early from the set-ups showing the cameras hidden around the room or listening into their conversations but also seems obvious based on their insistence upon staying, the general sleazy atmosphere and the completely desolation location that continues on throughout here. These here really hurt the first half by dragging this out through a series of scenes designed to build up suspense yet never does anything for that factor in a tired example of the style. There's also a big problem here in the boredom it takes before the first attack by showing them doing nothing of interest around the hotel or fighting with each other which makes this extremely taxing to get through because of the problems with the couple and the lack of the group in action in the beginning. These here are enough to hold off against the few minor areas of enjoyment here, starting with the action throughout the final half as the masked men make for some enjoyable times here tending to the various escape tactics present with the race for the booby-trapped car, the break-in attempt on the motel room and finally the big brawls here throughout that are quite fun and tend to really get some excitement going. That frantic action here not only gives the section some nice gore but also a pretty thrilling way to work the creepy looks of the masks the gangs' wearing during these interactions that add a darker overall tone to these proceedings. Still, all of these aren't enough to overcome the main flaws with this one which is overall quite problematic and flawed.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity.

TERROR TRAP is bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, an undisguised rip-off of VACANCY, a film which was hardly original to begin with. This bargain-basement B-movie sees an unlikeable middle-aged couple break down in the middle of nowhere and unwisely check in to a remote motel which turns out to be inhabited by voyeuristic psychopaths with murder in mind. What follows will surprise nobody, and indeed the biggest thing about this movie is the effort required to stay awake throughout it.

It's amateur night all around when it comes to production values, with a poor script and worse direction failing to elicit any kind of tension from the obvious premise. At one point the director is so desperate for thrills that he's reduced to shooting a scene straight from a softcore porn movie to try to flog new life into the narrative, but it's a failed attempt. It doesn't help that Heather Marsden's female lead is one of the most irritating I've seen in a movie in a while, grouching and bitching her way through the script and making every viewer hope she'll shut up and die soon.

The two familiar-faces-fallen-on-hard-times here are Michael Madsen and Jeff Fahey, neither of them a stranger to B-movie fare. Madsen makes no effort whatsoever, just sort of plodding his way through the production and disappearing for long intervals, while Fahey shouts a lot and makes you feel sorry for him considering Robert Rodriguez's PLANET TERROR wasn't so long ago. TERROR TRAP is dismal indeed.

They could of done better with the cat they had, a shame

While driving at night in a lonely road, the car of the estranged couple Don (David James Elliott) and Nancy (Heather Marsden) is hit twice by another car in the middle of nowhere. Nancy asks for help and the unpleasant sheriff Cleveland (Jeff Fahey) offers to take them to the nearby Motel Royal Vista and wait until the morning, when their car would be towed. .

When the couple arrives in the low-budget and foxy motel, they are attended by a weird receptionist. They are disturbed by noises and screams inside the next door room and Don asks them to keep quieter since his wife and he are tired and need to rest. But sooner they realize that they are part of a sick and deadly game, and their lives are threatened by sickos led by Cleveland and his partner Carter (Michael Madsen).

"Terror Trap" is a lame rip-off of "Vacancy", with terrible story, characters and acting. The plot has several holes and the conclusion is absurd and apparently with no consequences to the creepy and sadistic participants and the victims of the sick game. Nancy is one of the most detestable and annoying characters I have ever seen, especially considering that she is leading lady of the story. I was cheering for her to be killed and vanish. Michael Madsen is a one-dimensional actor, repeating his performance in "Reservoir Dogs" is many low-budget movies. My advice: better off watching "Vacancy" again than spending time with "Terror Trap". My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Não Há Vagas" ("No Vacancy")

Where do I start with Terror Trap AKA Error Crap. My goodness, this movie is a utter failure in movie making. I don't mind the everything they stole from Vacancy. No sir, that's fine. What I mind, however, was the illogical plot line, the amateur hour actors and the lack of any sort of gore. The plot line might be similar to Vacancy but the execution was much worse.

For those who want to see Michael Madsen, don't. His presence in this movie is completely useless. In fact, the movie will make more sense if he's not in it. It seems they just inserted him in so that they can have Michael Madsen in the credit.

For those looking for gore, forget about it. This movie has none. It's basically as tame as Die Hard. Guys either get killed by guns or knives. And they don't show the killing scene.

A complete and utter failure of movie making, I can't stress that enough.