Saturday, March 23, 2024

War in "Hell's Trap".

A finger knife glove & an AR-15 is all takes to rid of your threats in a Mexican forest. Welcome to Trampa Infernal (aka “Hell’s Trap”).


 Nacho (Pedro Fernandez) and his friend Charly (Charly Valentino) are always in competition with Mauricio (Toño Mauri) and his friend Javier (Armando Galvan). The 4 young dudes will find any way to compete with one another and after a silly session of shooting paintball, sore-loser Mauricio proposes a competition to Nacho in hunting down a wild bear that’s supposedly has been causing a ruckus in the forest. The 4 competitors then head to the forest alongside their female companions consisting of Alejandra (Edith Gonzalez), Carlota & Viviana. What is to be a hunting trip in the forest turns into a full-on nightmare when the recluse & psychotic Vietnam war veteran Jesse (Alberto Mejia Baron "Alfin") comes across these young hunters and goes after them in warfare style. Jesse has enough weaponry & skills to take on anyone he displeases, but his main choice of weapon is a homemade finger knife glove that’s ready for tearing up human flesh. 


Trampa Infernal is an obvious standout title in the ever so small Mexican-slasher category and it stands out because it’s all kills & no filler whatsoever. This stand-out slasher film features bloody kills with familiar sharp weaponry, a masked killer tormented by war and of course features the ever so obvious young adults trapped in a forest setting. Director Pedro Galindo III & everyone involved in the production truly did their homework with Trampa Infernal and that is what made the film a success & memorable for years to come. And what exactly makes Trampa Infernal so good? Well to begin with, the writing is very strong here and as simple as it seems, it’s still very detailed on its main topic & doesn’t fill up on anything else that distracts away from what’s truly happening—a psycho war veteran is on the loose and is going to hunt down & kill who he feels is a threat to him. The hunted are young adults just hanging out in the forest and when trouble arises, they have to take up arms and try to fight back in order to escape.


The psychotic Vietnam war veteran “Jesse” is intriguing & so brutal and when you learn of his origins, you understand why he’s the way he is & perhaps be even more creeped out by him. The mask he wears & all the weaponry he has on him adds-on more to his creep factor. The blank creepy white mask Jesse wears originated from Mexican visual artist Guadalupe García Vásquez and was given to the man who played himAlberto Mejía Barón, also known as “Alfin”. In the genre film world, Alberto is known to play Jesse in Trampa Infernal, but there was more to Alberto than this one film—Alberto’s main work was in making beautifully-crafted puppets & masks. He was very well-known and renowned for this in Mexico. Unfortunately, Alberto passed away in 2009. His art and his role in Trampa Infernal is still very much remembered, thus keeping his memory & hard work alive. 


Pedro Fernandez’s role as lead protagonist “Nacho” is truly remarkable because he truly has a competitive streak and it works out with this troubling moment going on. Nacho knows he has to fight & outsmart Jesse despite what the others are thinking otherwise. Everyone else in the film wants to just run off, but Nacho’s motivation pretty much convinces everyone (even his competing peers) to just fight back first & then escape. Pedro Fernandez is of course a familiar face in the Mexican horror world with his main appearance in Vacaciones De Terror & later on its Pedro Galindo III-directed sequel. Pedro Fernandez stands out in both Vacaciones films and again here in Tramp Infernal—a role I feel is his most mature & the best of this era. 


Trampa Infernal is a stand-out Mexican slasher film and you shall not be disappointed by it all. Trampa Infernal delivers plenty of bloody kills from a very memorable & appealing psychotic protagonist & the overall plot is intriguing all the way through. I honestly can’t think of anything that let me down, but I do wish the film was longer than its runtime. I really wanted to see much more carnage from Jesse. Perhaps I’m being too spoiled though after getting so much good, bloody slasher madness already.