Somewhere at the intersection of ‘Jungle Holocaust’, ‘Bloody New Year’ and ‘Boardinghouse’ we have ‘Jungle Trap’ an unfinished (or part finished) producution from James Bryan.
From what I can gather the film was shot in 1990, but lingered in post in a barely edited form, completely unscored until in 2016 when Bleeding Skull picked up the footage, edited it to completion (using stock footage to fill in the gaps) and rescored the picture using period accurate synthesizers. The result is a pretty fun little movie…if not a slightly unoriginal one.
The film follows a group of exploreres who are planning an expedition to the jungle to try and locate a long lost tribe who were seen many decades prior before they lost contact, the teams main drive to go on the expedition is due to one of their team mates who was part of the initial expedition going missing around the time the tribe vanished.
The gang are reluctant to go, but are eventually pursuaded and on leaving the plane when they arrive at the jungle, the pilot tells them he has to run other trips and will come to collect them in a few days time. The gang check into their accomodation, but strange paranormal happenings begin to happen. When its revealed that a large number of the tribe were murdered and their bones were used to help reinforce the cement that built the hotel the gang are staying in, a spiritual battle ensues between the spirits of the tribe and our adventurers. with plenty of ‘crouching around hotel rooms’ galore!
The script for this ones a little all over the place, but given this was an unfinished production, without the budget for re-shoots, I kind of get why this thing isnt the most coherent piece in the world. Its really more of a ‘Vibe’ film, something you have on and just; absorb the ambience of the weirdness as it unfolds.
When I said in the opening that this film was a bit of a mash up of 3 other movies, I really wasnt exaggerating. the hotel location and somewhat paranormal shenanigans which our characters spend most of the movie is straight out of ‘Bloody New Year’ the spiritual shenanigans and strangely delivered dialogue (alongside the ‘film on tape’, ‘tape on tape’ and strange yellowish hueing of the PQ) really rang true of ‘Boardinghouse’ for me, and the jungle/cannibal setting, isnt quite as hardcore as ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ but did feel destinctly ‘Jungle Holocaust’ in tone to me.
Like I say, its not specifically a bad movie, the plot may be all over the place, but it moves at a more than decent pace, is maybe a little slower than i’d have liked and feels quite free form in nature. But it is quite fun to sit through and absolutely has its moments.
The direction and cine are a bit flat and lifeless, with the hotel setting there is plenty of scope to work with cutaway footage, play around with styalising and to really get full use of the locations setting. Instead most of the film is seemingly shot in living rooms and bedrooms, often with cardboard stuck to the wall to hide the home decor. a few pot plants are supposed to evoke a Jungle climate, but its too much to suspend your disbelief that far in thinking this is actually some kind of jungle acid trip flashback.
composition is super flat, theres a handful of video effects and cutaways to stock footage that does lighten the mood. But i’d be lying if I said this thing was well made. The edit job that Bleeding Skull have done is nothing short of miraculous. But you cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear, and it’s genuinely difficult in places to try and figure out exactly whats going on.
The performances I would say are the biggest draw on this thing, slightly offensive depictions of ‘tribesmen’ aside, the adventurers here are all SO hammy and cheesy it instantly drew me in, we’re talking below ‘soap opera’ levels of ham, so you KNOW this things really playing it bombasitc, campy for hilariously. Non of the cast really work with the set space (presumably because the set space was so cramped and they were unable to see where the edge of the frame was, they lock down into a single space, scream their lines like they’ll be shot if they get them wrong, and get the hell out of there, and I had a lot of time for that.
Add in the new score, which feels PERFECT for this production, if I hadnt have found out this was rescored in 2016, i’d have genuinely thought this was made in 1990, its got a lo-fi thriller-esq quality to it, that absolutely complimented the SOV aesthetics and really gave the film a big boost.
‘Jungle Trap’ isnt a film I think i’d watch everyday, but it seemingly had heart put into it, and even if it IS borrowing heavily from other movies, it mixes the elements it borrows very well into a cheap, but cheerful production that I quite enjoyed. Totally non essential, but worth your time if you stumble on it. I think this thing would be best played in the background of a halloween party or paired up with something like ‘Sledgehammer’ or an early Joe Sherlock production.
TYTD Reviews 