Deathtrap

Directed by Tobe Hooper. Starring Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones , Marilyn Burns, Stuart Whitman , and Robert Englund.

Somewhere deep down in the swamps of Louisiana , the sexually frustrated and both physically and mentally handicapped Judd ( Neville Brand) runs a dirty rat-hole of a motel inappropriately named "Starlight". Every once in a while some unfortunate customers drop by his place and end up hacked to death with a sickle and/or being fed to the African alligator Judd is keeping in his backyard. I don't believe I give away too much by telling you that in the end poor ole Judd has to face a pretty similar fate.

Tobe Hoopers second feature has been badly neglected when critics unfairly compared it to his magnum opus Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's true that Death Trap doesn't even come close to the mean-spirited , sadistic atmosphere that made TCM so memorable. Hooper tries hard to re-create that unsettling mood though, with lots of foggy sets, red lighting, and grisly gore effects. Hell, he even has Judd going after a hapless girl through the woods in true Leather-face fashion.....too bad the impact on the viewer isn't the same.

Alright then, Death Trap never lives up to its predecessor - but lemme tell you something: It's worth watching nonetheless, thanks to the gratuitous splatter , and the great cast of characters like Neville Brand, Marilyn Burns, and a young, pre-Freddy Robert Englund. If you can look over some stretches here and there, and if you can manage to keep TCM out of your mind while watching, there's no reason for not enjoying this redneck bastard of Psycho and every sick flick that's been made during the seventies.