TRAPPED ALIVE: MIDWEST HORROR

I’d be lying if I told you this movie was fantastic and worth repeated viewing for every viewer out there. It will indeed be a movie that some fans will want to watch over and over again and no doubt has its own particular following out there. I found it to be another of those movies that at one time would have gone straight to video and it probably did though on the tail end of that period in time. Suffice to say it is amusing at times but on the whole takes too long and does too little.

Promoted as starring Cameron Mitchell who many will remember from some classic film roles as well as the old TV series HIGH CHAPARRAL, he actually has a small part here and none of it involving the horror the film clearly shows in the cover. Mitchell plays John Adams, a widower who is hosting a Christmas party when his daughter Robin (Sullivan Hester) tells him she’s going to another party with her girlfriend Monica (Laura Kallison). The pair head out down the road to the party waving goodbye.

At the same time three inmates have escaped from a local prison. Cellmates Louis 'Face' Napoleon (Alex Kibik) and Mongo (Michael Nash) have taken fellow prisoner Randy (Mark Witsken) to drive since they can’t do so. Tracking through the woods they come to a road, the same road Robin and Monica are traveling down. Rather than drive by (especially since signs are placed along the road that read “Don’t stop for hitchhikers. This is a prison area”) the girls stop and are taken captive.

Driving down the road and being harassed by the duo (I mean come on we know Randy is a good kid gone bad) they eventually end up at an old mining facility. While arguing in the car the car plunges into an abandoned mine and the groups gets out only to find themselves too deep to climb out.

Not long after sheriff Billy Williams (Randy Powell) arrives and stops by the house of the mine owners. Unable to use his car radio due to the weather, he imposes on Rachel (Elizabeth Kent) to use her phone. Ordered to wait for help once the roads clear he and Rachel find the time to grab a quickie, in spite of her apparent husband sleeping upstairs.

Meanwhile the group in the mine discover that they are not alone. The first disturbing fact is found by Randy when he goes back to find a lighter in Mongo’s pocket, Mongo having died in the crash into the tunnels. He discovers that Mongo’s face has been eaten off and returns to inform the others. That’s when all hell breaks loose and they find some sort of cannibal dweller living in the mine. Firing off a shot sheriff Billy heads out down into the mine to find the cause.

I’ll leave it there for those interested in finding out what happens but you can pretty much predict what they’ll find or some variation of it. Suffice to say it’s not completely original but it does present some tense moments. The film also offers enough bare skin to qualify it as a drive-in movie if those movies were still being shown as such back when it was released. It’s not a terrible film by any means but it’s not among the best of the genre.

And yet Arrow treats it as such. But that’s the nice thing about Arrow Video, they resurrect movies that might have been forgotten that are sought out by collectors and fans and provide not just the movie itself but an extreme amount of extras as well. Those extras can sometimes make owning a copy of the film worthwhile. To start with they’re offering the film in a 2k restoration from the original camera negative for a perfect picture. From there we have not one, not two but THREE new audio commentary tracks. The first features commentary by director Leszek Burzynski, the second by special effects contributor Hank Carlson and horror writer Josh Hadley and the third with The Hysteria Continues. Next up is “There’s Evil Underground” a brand new making of documentary with interviews from Burzynski, cinematographer Nancy Schreiber, production manager Alexandra Reed and actors Kubik and Hester, “Upper Michigan Tonight” the 1988 television documentary on Windsor Lake Studios with footage from behind the scenes and contemporary interviews, “Leszek Burzynski: The Early Years” where the director discusses his early work in genre film making, a reversible sleeve with newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn and a collector’s booklet featuring writing by Zach Carlson.

If you’re a fan of low budget regionalized horror films then by all means run and buy a copy of this film. If you like horror films then it’s one worth watching. And if you love all things Arrow then by all means pick this one up. For me it was worth one viewing but not something I will revisit often.

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