Having more than one horror story in a movie wasn’t too much of an anomaly in the ’60s and ’70s. American International Pictures used the format during its era of Edgar Allen Poe to meld short stories into the Tales of Terror feature film without padding the source material. England’s Amicus Productions built its reputation in the ’70s with portmanteau films that had a framing element that would lead to other stories being told. Trapped Ashes is a throwback to those times except with an exceptional twist. Along with different stories in the film, the segments are directed by rather impressive names. Sean Cunningham scared us with Friday The 13th. Joe Dante is a pure legend with Howling to Gremlins. Monte Hellman defined an indie art house director with Two-Lane Blacktop and The Cockfighter. John Gaeta is mainly known for his special effects wizardry including blowing our minds with “bullet time” in The Matrix. Finally there’s Ken Russell who defined visual excess with The Devils and Tommy. Writer and producer Dennis Bartok brought together an all-star team to call the shots and scares.
Joe Dante directs the wrap around elements about how a group of seven people are taking a tour of the once glorious Ultra Studios. Among the tourist group is the icon John Saxon (Enter The Dragon). He’s visiting his old workplace. Driving the tram is Henry Gibson, best known for Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Nashville and The Blues Brothers. He’d also worked with Dante on The ‘Burbs. The group is rather bored by the slightly abandoned studio and want to visit the haunted house on the lot. They do have VIP tickets. Guard Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood and Terminator) reluctantly lets them through the gate. Things get confused inside the confusing house and stories get told by the guests.
“The Girl With the Golden Breasts” has a frustrated actress (American Pie Presents: Band Camp‘s Rachel Veltri) describe missing out on parts in Hollywood. She decides that she needs to make herself more “youthful” by getting breast implants. The plastic surgeon she consults talks her into a revolutionary treatment that instead of saline or silicon, the bust increase is done with human tissue. While her career takes off, there’s a nasty side effect from her augmentation surgery. Ken Russell delivers a very Ken Russell approach to the plastic surgery nightmare.
Henry (Queer As Folk‘s Scott Lowell) talks about the time he took his wife Julia (The Fisher King‘s Lara Harris) to Japan in “Jibaku.” They’re hoping to rekindle their marriage except an evil spirit has other plans for his wife. Can she resist getting pulled into this other world? This my favorite thing Sean Cunningham has ever directed. He goes beyond with the passionate scene between Julia and the demon. It’s like watching a couple’s vacation videos that turn into a J-Horror movie.
John Saxon tells us the story of his best friend and a great filmmaker Stanley (Battlestar Galactica‘s Tygh Runyan) who sounds quite a bit like Stanley Kubrick (but isn’t). The younger version of Saxon (Trick ‘r Treat‘s Tahmoh Penikett) and him are fast friends and chess buddies. Things get a bit weird when Nina (Species III‘s Amelia Cooke) pops up at Stanley’s apartment. Turns out that Nina’s rather wild and when Stanley’s off making Paths of Glory, the younger Saxon hooks up with her. He feels incredibly bad hooking up with his best pal’s gal, but decades later Saxon learns the truth about Nina and Stanley. The fact that Monte Hellman made a horror film featuring a Stanley Kubrick character is fascinating.
Natalie (Michèle-Barbara Pelletier) chills the group out with a story about her twin. It’s not the usual type of twin as her mom gets pregnant and a tapeworm. The doctors can’t remove the parasite without endangering the fetus. It rough nine months as the tape worm and the fetus fight for nutrients inside the mom. Director John Gaeta does amazing effects to show the fetus and the tapeworm in the womb. How does this “twin” mess up the rest of Natalie’s life?
Trapped Ashes really does have the same vibe as the Amicus portmanteau films. The stories work their way back to the wraparound. It’s not just four short films splice together. Not wanting to spoil the film, but the ending of the wrap around reveals the ending to the four major stories in a proper way. This makes Trapped Ashes seem like a complete movie so you can sit down and watch without judging which of the notable directors did the best job.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer on the 4K UHD looks great and you will get grossed out by Ken Russell’s implants. Audio is DTS-HD 5.1. The slight disturbing noises work their way properly in the mix. The movie is subtitled in English.
Blu-ray with all the movie and bonus features.
Director’s Cut of Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s Girlfriend” episode (28:20) appears to be the cut that played at Cannes. There’s a bit more from the end of Saxon’s tale to the ending that revealed in the film.
Original full-length cut of Ken Russell’s “The Girl with Golden Breasts” episode (26:03) is the cut before they put on the music. Small moments have been trimmed away.
Original 5-part Making Of video with cast and crew interviews. The Making of Trapped Ashes (5:54) has Dennis Bartok talk about being influenced by Amicus and making his about Hollywood. We see Joe Dante on the set. Henry Gibson talks of why he so enjoys being with Dante. Bartok was friends with many of the directors through his time at the Cinematheque. The Girl With the Golden Breasts (7:14) has Ken Russell talk about his approach to the segment. Jibuka (5:54) has Sean Cunningham talk about doing a horror film that’s not the usual scares. It’s a cautionary tale. Scott Lowell talks about making the relationship in the film relatable. Stanley’s Girlfriend (6:42) lets Monte Hellman point out the film speculates why Stanley Kubrick fled Hollywood for Europe. My Twin, The Worm (6:10) lets John Gaeta get into working with a giant tape worm. Don’t watch this until after you see the film.
New commentary by comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian, and author Stephen R. Bissette gets into the nature of anthology films. He relates this film to Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors. He mentions the film was shot in 25 days on 3 different continents.
“Hollywood Parasite: Hysteria in Trapped Ashes” (15:01) is a new visual essay by journalist Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson. It’s mentioned how the haunted house in the film was supposed to be the Bates house found on the Universal lot tour. The piece focuses on how the stories tie together through hysteria.
New video interviews (78:12) with: Director John Gaeta, cast members Jayce Bartok, Scott Lowell and Lisi Tribble, producers Yuko Yoshikawa & Yoshifumi Hosoya, and cinematographer Zoran Popovic, moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile. This was done over online meeting.
New video interviews (88:43) with Cast members Tahmoh Penikett & Tygh Runyan, producers Yuko Yoshikawa & Yoshifumi Hosoya and production designer Robb Wilson King. Tahmoh is thrilled to be talking about the film nearly 20 years later. King went on to be the production designer on Breaking Bad.
New video interviews (40:06) with Producer Mike Frislev of Nomadic Pictures
Deaf Crocodile presents Trapped Ashes. Directed by Joe Dante, Ken Russell, Sean Cunningham, Monte Hellmen and John Gaeta. Screenplay by Dennis Bartok. Starring Jayce Bartok, Henry Gibson, Lara Harris, Scott Lowell, Dick Miller, Rachel Veltri, Michèle-Barbara Pelletier, Matreya Fedor, John Saxon, Tahmoh Penikett, Andy Maton, Tygh Runyan, Yoshinori Hiruma, Amelia Cooke, Ryo Ishibashi, Luke Macfarlane, Richard Ian Cox & Ken Russell. Running Time: 105 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: February 11, 2025.
