Two men are tracking each other through these deserted warehouses, pistols drawn, creeping about and trying to get one up on the other until they have him in their sights and can pull the trigger. Suddenly, Nacho (Pedro Fernández) takes his chance and fires, leaving Mauricio (Toño Mauri) lying in the dust. Of course he's not dead or injured, as they have been playing paintball, and Mauricio is so angry that he has been bested that he kicks Nacho in the bollocks. Their friends calm him down, accusing him of being a sore loser, and they all retire to the local cafe where they spot a headline in the newspaper about a killer bear...
So what better solution to their pressing questions of who is the toughest tough guy of the two of them than to go and hunt down this rampaging beast? That's the idea anyway, but wait a minute, what if this was no bear we were dealing with but an actual human being? A masked madman, in fact? Yes, Hell's Trap, or Trampa Infernal as it was known in its native Mexico, posits the notion that all those Rambo movies would have been far more interesting if Sylvester Stallone was playing the bad guy. Think about it: if Rambo was the villain, then he'd essentially be a violent psychopath in a horror film, wouldn't he?
Therefore the baddie in this is a rogue soldier who has gone insane, and decided, whilst making a life for himself in the forest, to bump off as many people as possible, because he does not know that he is no longer fighting any war (although what was he thought he was fighting originally is somewhat obscure). Into this tricky situation wander our heroes, accompanied by a few hangers on who wish to help in killing the supposed bear and a couple of girls who wish to sunbathe. Also along for the ride is Nacho's girlfriend Alejandra (Edith González), who sports a blouse with huge shoulder pads - that's not crucial to the plot, but they do make her resemble an American footballer.
Anyhoo, this bunch quickly realise that there is no rampant creature on the loose when one of the sunbathing girls is murdered by the crazed soldier. He appears to have been patterned after two of the slasher movie icons hailing from north of the border, as he dons a boiler suit and impassive white mask in a Michael Myers style but in addition wears a bladed glove on his right hand, a la Freddy Krueger. How he manages to fire off his Rambo-esque arrows with that over his fingers is a mystery the film never solves. What is important is that this maniac, offered the unlikely moniker of Jesse, is depleting the number of heroes one at a time, and although they are torn between fighting back or running away, he's not bothered either way.
There's not a lot of hanging about in this, as at just under eighty minutes the film packs in as much mayhem as its comparatively small budget will allow, and in spite of not sounding hugely promising, does work up quite an atmosphere of tension, as well as prompting a degree of unintended laughter. It's hard to work out whether Hell's Trap is a critique of macho attitudes, as Mauricio plays up the he-man role to diminishing effect, his callousness signalling his impending doom, or whether that macho quality is what saves the day as the survivor proves themself more of a man than that big Jesse will ever be. Whatever, the action rockets along at a commendable rate, and if it's a little basic in its premise, and indeed execution, it does display an undeniable vigour even if it is confused as to its genre, but then a mix-up in approaches can be very enjoyable. Music by Pedro Plasciencia.
