Do NOT read this review if you do not want this freshly-released film spoiled. Thou hast been warned!
We've all been waiting a long time for this one. James Bryan's final horror hurrah--finally sewn together from its 26-year-old principle photography by the pioneers at Bleeding Skull Video, this is the culmination of the work Bryan and Renee Harmon collaborated on. While strangely resembling more Harmon's Escape from the Insane Asylum than Bryan's Don't Go in the Woods, Jungle Trap is an astonishing and refreshing glimpse into something that is familiar but new--so distinct from its makers' other pieces, and yet unmistakably created by the loving hands of the very same duo.
Renee Harmon plays Chris Carpenter, a journalist whose career has been scrambled somewhat by her bungling of an expedition into the Amazon territory of the Mali tribe. A girl, Jean, ended up getting killed in an apparent accident. All the same, Chris intends to go back to the Amazon to retrieve the Mali Idol; it's just that this return expedition is being led by Josh, her immoral anthropologist ex-husband. Chris recounts how the Malis were swept off their land by greedy government officials who wanted to steal their land and build a resort on it. The subsequently-built Palace Hotel was abandoned to the jungle shortly after its opening. Trouble strikes the expedition early when their guide is suddenly murdered by a mysterious cultist who seems intent on avenging the Malis. After a ride on the world's most unconvincing train, wherein we learn the Malis had something to do with the sudden closing of the Palace (involving a lot of employee heads being lopped off), the group is prepared to fly into the rainforest interior, courtesy of alcoholic pilot John. And wouldn't you know it, they pick up a new guide, too--friendly Mr. Ortega, who is our cultist friend from earlier. They are able to find the Palace Hotel, and learn that tales of its destruction were greatly exaggerated. One of the girls of the expedition, however, is sure that the supposed staff of the hotel are ghosts. That doesn't bode well, given that the Malis are said to control the spirits of their victims--and given that the Malis will be going on the warpath soon.
It is tough for me to analyze Jungle Trap without first giving full credit to and explanation of its origin. James Bryan nearly completed Jungle Trap in 1990 when the VHS horror market fell out from under him. He and Harmon had found some success by rebranding a new version of Lady Street Fighter as Run Coyote Run in 1987, but there were suddenly no distributors available for Jungle Trap; the tapes sat unused for years. But with the help of Bleeding Skull, a new soundtrack was recorded, and the footage was cut into what is a ultimately a very smooth and professional-looking movie. There's some jaggedness here and there--contrast between film footage, video footage, and what may be new footage edited to resemble video (?)--but overall it looks amazing. And it sounds amazing, too. The fresh synth soundtrack is made to deliberately resemble the sort of music you'd hear on SOV movies at the time, and it is exactly on point. H. Kingsley Thurber would be proud.
With that out of the way, let me just say: I will always trust a movie that brings me evil cackling cultists and quick-zooms of shrunken heads. I will also always trust a movie which brings me that really shabby-looking train like the one I mentioned above. It helps that aboard said train are some hippies which basically Crazy Ralph the expedition about the horrors of the Palace Hotel, and their delivery is great. The "foreshadowing" in this movie is clumsy as hell--you can guess what's going to happen at the Hotel, especially if you've seen Bloody Wednesday--but still the movie pulls off occasional chills. The soundtrack, as I can praise it enough, really helps in that regard. There's still a shadow of the creepiness from Don't Go in the Woods. There are many moods within it, and that keeps it all fun and engaging.
It's so fun to see Renee Harmon and the others give one last go at it, like the future was never coming. Frank Neuhaus, from Hell Riders, Run Coyote Run, and Escape from the Insane Asylum is here. Rhonda Collier, who plays one of the expedition members, was in Escape from the Insane Asylum too (I think most of everyone here was in that one). It's too bad that Dick and Cherry and Dale couldn't come back to say goodbye. But this feels conclusive--I feel like that pack of movies I started watching when I was a kid have their ending now. The missing piece has been put in place. I wish there was more, but this is still quite satisfactory. The last shot of the film shows Renee and John the drunk pilot laughing with each other, arms around one another, happy to be alive. James Bryan doesn't play John but they're both white-bearded old men, and it's easy to see him as a stand-in for Harmon's old friend. It's one last laugh together, as a team. And then the book closes.
This was worth the wait. This is Bryan and Harmon's Phantom of the Convent. Their The Shining. Their Cabin in the Woods. Their Cannibal Ferox. I will spoil no more about it, and instead leave you to pick it up yourself. Now, we've spoken of endings, but I'm not sure if I've properly gotten to the beginning yet. Escape to Passion, I'll speak of you before the year is out. That's a promise!
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