October 31, 2004. Islamabad, Pakistan. U.S. troops are engaged in a firefight with Islamic forces. The Americans are heavily outnumbered, and those left alive at the end of the skirmish are taken prisoner.
Two are executed, while a third is tortured by having the skin peeled from his face. Now badly deformed, this soldier vows revenge.
Shot mostly hand-held, this opening features some genuine excitement. Still, it’s not exactly how you’d expect a movie titled Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to kick off, is it?
Jump ahead to a modern-day Halloween night. The all-girl rock band Kill, Pussy, Kill has just finished a gig, and are on their way to an even bigger venue when they stop for gas. While there, one of the band’s members, Misty (Kelly McCart), disappears without a trace.
Searching for their friend, the rest of the group, aka Amber (Sara Malakul Lane), Cat (Lauren Parkinson), Natalia (Nicole Starling), Bridgette (Kelly Lynn Reiter), and their manager Roger (Tristan Ott), are approached by the station attendant Dale (Richard Greico), who claims he was asleep in back and has no idea of Misty’s whereabouts. To add to their problems, Roger’s van suddenly won’t start.
Informing the distressed musicians that his uncle has a van they can borrow while theirs is being repaired, Dale drives the group a few miles down the road, then gases them, rendering them all unconscious.
When they come to, Roger and the girls find themselves locked in a basement, where they are informed by an ominous voice (over a loudspeaker) that they are going to be tested. Those lucky enough to survive the test will gain their freedom.
Of course, not everyone will survive, as they discover when their first test is revealed: move to the next room and locate a hidden gun. The person who finds the gun must then kill one of the others!
Borrowing heavily from Saw, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! has its share of violent scenes, some of which are effective (like when the gun is found by one of the girls), and some that are spoiled by wonky CGI (especially bad are the various explosions littered throughout). The film also introduces us to the Mastermind of this “game” (played by Jed Rowen but voiced by Dave Mustaine) and a few members of his “family”, including Bertha (played by producer Kelly Erin Decker) and an elderly little person in a child’s dress (Zahra Susan Ingersoll), a trio that gives the film something of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre vibe as well.
Considering Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! is a low-budget affair, the acting is fairly good, especially the girls in the band, who struggle with the decisions they are forced to make while under the control of the Mastermind.
Also turning up to help the girls is DJ Speed (Demetrius Stear) and his buddies (Tim Casper and David Oakes). DJ Speed is a former bandmate who was tossed out of the group earlier that night for forcing himself on Misty. He’s pulled into the chaos when he stops at the same gas station and notices Roger’s van off to the side. Though late to the “party”, the scenes with DJ Speed are fairly intense, and prove to be some of the film’s best.
Alas, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! loses its way a few times, notably in the scenes involving the Mastermind’s family and how they handle the trick-or-treaters who knock on their door throughout the evening (they are literally in the middle of nowhere. Who in their right mind would walk several miles for a single piece of candy?). Intended to be funny (they aren’t), these scenes add nothing to the film. I also didn’t buy the Mastermind’s motivation for putting strangers through such a terrible ordeal, claiming it’s to help them appreciate their freedom (an even more egregious rip-off of Saw, and not a convincing one).
In addition, the music that plays throughout Halloween Pussy Trap, Kill! Kill! isn’t memorable, and even the band’s trip through the torture chamber eventually wears thin.
It’s hard not to feel some affection for Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!. Writer / director Jared Cohn is clearly a fan of the horror genre, and he and his cast did their part to make it an entertaining homage to several classics that came before it. Unfortunately, the results are mixed, and while I’m not unhappy that I saw it, I doubt I’ll be adding Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to my October watchlist anytime soon.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
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