TRAPPED ALIVE
Several escaped prisoners, two women hostages and a sheriff’s deputy find themselves trapped in a mine shaft with a cannibalistic mutant.
Director: Leszek Burzynski
Writers: Leszek Burzynski, Julian Weaver (screenplay)
Stars: Jay Leggett, Cameron Mitchell, Sullivan Hester
Rating: 7 / 10 Stars
REVIEW – This film is a product of the 80’s. When video stores were the rage. It seemed like weekly they had 10 to 12 new low budget horror films to rent. Director Leszek Burzynski admits that this cast was not “quite ready for prime time”. This film is everything a B movie needs to be. It has some escaped convicts, beautiful women, an underground cannibal and most of all a mine to trap them all in. To give a quick synopsis, trapped escaped convicts and beautiful women fight off a cannibal. You clearly see early how films like The Descent got their inspiration. This film has a fair shake of nudity to keep the sleazy fan happy. It has enough gore to keep a horror fan salivating. It has enough bad acting to keep a cheese movie fan enthralled. Coming in at 92 minutes, this film never overstays its welcome. This film is clumsy in its build, but yet the execution seemed to go off without a hitch. I will admit the finale is hokey and lacks any kind of depth. The cannibal only kills a few people, which for some could be a bad thing. This film is an indie production, in a time when people really put their hearts and souls into films. This film is far from perfect. This film could be seen as horrible by some, but that being said, I really had fun with this film. I will admit, the pacing is all over the place and this film has zero structure. This film though, the more you get into it, you will find yourself not wanting to stop watching it.
Since this is an Arrow Video Blu-ray, you know they put a ton of love into the presentation. The Blu-ray has an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The booklet on the inside tells us that as well. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2k resolution. The soundtrack was sourced on a set of original tape masters. I forgot to mention the set design for this film. The mine itself, looked very good. This film also had Nancy Schreiber as cinematography. Which at the time was rare to have a female at the time in that area. The light and shadow effect of the cave creates the dire that we feel very well into this film. This film really created so much tension yet for so little money. The monster was cheap looking, so they tried to keep it hidden for as long as possible. The film is simple and basic. It is easy to follow and hard to forget. I liked this film enough to watch it again. The bonus features were the prize of this film. The documentary showcases what was going on in the mind of all involved and how little they knew as they went through the motions.
TRAPPED ALIVE | Official Trailer:
