Trapped : Le Village de la mort

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.

Four college students looking for a cave, stray into a Tennessee hollow inhabited by sadistic Henry Silva, and his backwoods clan. After witnessing a murder, the four are relentlessly hunted in the woods. The fact that the local sheriff is kinfolk, makes the situation even more desperate. Silva provides a strong presence as the villain controlling a nice assortment of barefoot babes, and hairy knuckle types. The film features sharp editing, creative photography, and appropriate twangy music. With the outcome always in doubt, interest is maintained throughout. Along with "Hunter's Blood", "Trapped" is a "Deliverance" clone that comes highly recommended. - MERK

Aw, why did they opt for "Trapped" to be the official title, whereas "Baker County, USA" is such a unique and wondrously ominous title for a movie handling about psychopathic Tennessee rednecks! There are about fifty movies called "Trapped"! There's one with security-trained Dobermans keeping a guy inside a shopping complex and another one with Kevin Bacon hijacking a woman and her asthmatic daughter, so do you honestly want to mix up those lame plot outlines with a movie about lunatic yokels hunting down a bunch of college students? Baker County, USA … all the way! Enough nagging about titles, especially since we call the films whatever we want, anyway. This stuff is terrific! It's an early 80's and Canadian produced Indie-film with character drawings and themes that were especially popular during the decade of the 70's, namely crazed clodhoppers living in private mountain-communities and brutal blood-vengeance. Henry Silva, who played in numerous Italian cop thrillers and action flicks, was never cast better as a tyrant leader of a small mountain colony that swears by its own ancient system of law and order. Silva's naturally menacing charisma and particularly perpetrating stares make him one the most nightmarishly memorable backwoods villains ever! The first half hour revolves on Henry and his docile men playing the roles judge, jury and executioner on an outsider who was caught having sex with Henry's beautiful but bored wife. Four college students camping in the remote hills witness the assassination of the man covered in tar and feathers, but when they try and notify the police they quickly discover everybody the entire area is petrified of mad-raving Henry. "Baker County, USA" is splendidly fast-paced and grimly atmospheric 80's trash effort. It's more than obviously inspired by classics such as "Deliverance" (there even is the banjo soundtrack!), but there are more than enough original elements to distinguish itself as well. The exterior filming locations are sublime (the opening sequence is astounding), there's an admirable portion of suspense and the action/death sequences are quite spectacular and bloody. The climax in particular is a gripping mixture of tension and extreme violence, resulting in quite the fireworks ending! Noteworthy also is that the youthful campers are actually likable characters, for once. They try to do the right thing, don't make overly stupid decisions and don't try to play heroes. Their behavior is plausible and most likely how everyone would react when facing a toothless mob with pitchforks and barrels full of hot tar. William Fruet directed this hidden gem and always treasured a deep admiration for his work, since he accomplishes quite a lot with a minimum of budget. Admittedly, "Spasms" was one of the worst pieces of crap I ever saw, but "Funeral Home" and "House by the Lake" are definitely low-budget highlights.

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!

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.