25 reviews
I first saw this in 2008 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently by fast forwarding some boring scenes.
Plot lifted from Valentine, Shakma, etc.
This was made to cash in on the success of Saw series n Cube.
The story starts like 90s Shakma wher a bunch of fellas r trapped in an abandoned building n they r stalked by a killer rather than a baboon but here the story ends like a 90s forgettable slasher.
It is also heavily lifted from Valentine (2001). While Valentine boasted of some good kills n amazing star cast this one is slow with lousy kills n novice star cast.
P.S. nothing happens in the film like the stuff shown on the poster. Very misleading. Ther ain't no traps.
It is also heavily lifted from Valentine (2001). While Valentine boasted of some good kills n amazing star cast this one is slow with lousy kills n novice star cast.
P.S. nothing happens in the film like the stuff shown on the poster. Very misleading. Ther ain't no traps.
- Fella_shibby
- Feb 8, 2020
- Permalink
I honestly don't think this was supposed to be a comedy, but we were laughing so hard at the ridiculous dialog and acting in the beginning we were in tears. The writing is so bad. And the actors, I looked some of them up and can't believe that they had regular acting gigs after this. They are all British and some have been in fave British shows of mine. I'm thinking they must have been background characters with no lines, it's the only way!
After awhile, the comedy wore off as the characters continued to be obnoxious and you couldn't wait for all of them to die. Unfortunately, the death scenes weren't great. If you are going to have a poorly acted script, have some good deaths. No such luck as most of the death scenes are quick to cut, and what you do see is D rated fake! The twist ending wouldn't have been too bad if the rest of the movie didn't suck.
Btw, the cover of the movie is completely inaccurate. First off, whoever is on that cover is not even in the movie. Secondly, the cover makes you think it will be a Saw-ish type movie where the characters have to escape elaborate death traps in rooms. Not at all true, and I felt hoodwinked!
After awhile, the comedy wore off as the characters continued to be obnoxious and you couldn't wait for all of them to die. Unfortunately, the death scenes weren't great. If you are going to have a poorly acted script, have some good deaths. No such luck as most of the death scenes are quick to cut, and what you do see is D rated fake! The twist ending wouldn't have been too bad if the rest of the movie didn't suck.
Btw, the cover of the movie is completely inaccurate. First off, whoever is on that cover is not even in the movie. Secondly, the cover makes you think it will be a Saw-ish type movie where the characters have to escape elaborate death traps in rooms. Not at all true, and I felt hoodwinked!
- irishjenna
- Aug 6, 2019
- Permalink
I can watch almost all kinds of movies without any greater problems, but one of my pet peeves have always been poorly made horror movies. Some directors seem to think that this is the easiest genre out there, and that anyone can make a horror movie, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Steel Trap is yet another really poor attempt at making a buck of other peoples original ideas. At first, I thought this would be something of a Saw type of movie, but it is more like a straight forward slasher. Nothing new here.
The script and acting is OK at times, but those times are rare and really overshadowed by the sometimes down-right retarded decisions made by the characters. It's really not that difficult to attract say the police or fire department to a skyscraper in the middle of a large city.
If you're bored out of your skull, I suppose this movie is better than staring at the wall or re-arranging your sock drawer, but if you've got anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, better to do, I suggest you do that instead of watching Steel Trap.
Steel Trap is yet another really poor attempt at making a buck of other peoples original ideas. At first, I thought this would be something of a Saw type of movie, but it is more like a straight forward slasher. Nothing new here.
The script and acting is OK at times, but those times are rare and really overshadowed by the sometimes down-right retarded decisions made by the characters. It's really not that difficult to attract say the police or fire department to a skyscraper in the middle of a large city.
If you're bored out of your skull, I suppose this movie is better than staring at the wall or re-arranging your sock drawer, but if you've got anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, better to do, I suggest you do that instead of watching Steel Trap.
If you're looking for a horror movie that is just simple and a bit "mindless", then Steel Trap may just be for you.
I'll admit, I was only interested in this movie because I loved the PS3 game Heavy Rain, and when I discovered Laurence Pascal was in this movie, I had to check it out.
Its starts off interesting with the use of children nursery rhymes to try to add a scary element to the movie, but then half way in, decides to forget about it. The title of the movie, and the cover, does throw you off. The scene in the cover never happened in the movie, and the movie didn't really had any traps. It tries to draw you in by making you believe it's going to be a unique horror film, but ends up being another slasher movie. I did not have an issue with the acting as much as I did with the script. It seemed like the writers were trying too hard to make the characters sound "American" with the overuse of profanity and the poor choice of dialog. Along with the poor development of the characters' back story, it made the characters seem too unrealistic and unlikable to the point where you most wouldn't didn't favor anyone enough to hope they survive. This did hurt the movie towards the end of the film, when things were being resolved, as all the pieces of the puzzle didn't add up well enough for me. The movie even tries to hint itself at the ending and the killer, but as stated before, the lack of story development hurt the film's chance to give you that "oh my gosh" ending it was trying to go for. It wasn't a horrible ending, I just felt it could have worked itself to it better. As with Saw, the film tires to teach you a lesson at the end, but seems like the idea was thrown at the end to try to give it some explanation and closure.
The film lacked a lot of substance, but on the plus side, the film was very simple. As I said, it was very mindless. Not overcomplicated, nothing too confusing thrown at you, honestly, Steel Trap is good if you just want a B or C rated horror movie to throw in the DVD player on a night you don't have anything better to do.
Overall, good for a one time watch.
I'll admit, I was only interested in this movie because I loved the PS3 game Heavy Rain, and when I discovered Laurence Pascal was in this movie, I had to check it out.
Its starts off interesting with the use of children nursery rhymes to try to add a scary element to the movie, but then half way in, decides to forget about it. The title of the movie, and the cover, does throw you off. The scene in the cover never happened in the movie, and the movie didn't really had any traps. It tries to draw you in by making you believe it's going to be a unique horror film, but ends up being another slasher movie. I did not have an issue with the acting as much as I did with the script. It seemed like the writers were trying too hard to make the characters sound "American" with the overuse of profanity and the poor choice of dialog. Along with the poor development of the characters' back story, it made the characters seem too unrealistic and unlikable to the point where you most wouldn't didn't favor anyone enough to hope they survive. This did hurt the movie towards the end of the film, when things were being resolved, as all the pieces of the puzzle didn't add up well enough for me. The movie even tries to hint itself at the ending and the killer, but as stated before, the lack of story development hurt the film's chance to give you that "oh my gosh" ending it was trying to go for. It wasn't a horrible ending, I just felt it could have worked itself to it better. As with Saw, the film tires to teach you a lesson at the end, but seems like the idea was thrown at the end to try to give it some explanation and closure.
The film lacked a lot of substance, but on the plus side, the film was very simple. As I said, it was very mindless. Not overcomplicated, nothing too confusing thrown at you, honestly, Steel Trap is good if you just want a B or C rated horror movie to throw in the DVD player on a night you don't have anything better to do.
Overall, good for a one time watch.
- on_wngd_ange1
- Sep 14, 2010
- Permalink
Ten years after his first short director Luis Camera made his first effort to make a full feature in the horror genre. It succeeded on part of the effects but storywise it wasn't what it should be.
When they see the first victim which is one of their friends they just never scream, they just look at the body hanging upside down without any fear. But when they see a bit further that their cell phones are blocked they do scream. So, stupid characters and a bit of wooden performances.
The director wanted to make a torture porn but in stead it turned out to be a slasher. But I didn't liked the way it was edited, there are a few jumps that you might think gore was left out even as I have seen the uncut version.
Sometimes you see for example an ax going into a head, other killings are off-camera and that's what downgrades this flick. Another thing that tears it down is for example one being stabbed by a knife but after a few moments he talks again like nothing is going on.
Due the gore added it is still watchable but it do has some stupid situations.
Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
When they see the first victim which is one of their friends they just never scream, they just look at the body hanging upside down without any fear. But when they see a bit further that their cell phones are blocked they do scream. So, stupid characters and a bit of wooden performances.
The director wanted to make a torture porn but in stead it turned out to be a slasher. But I didn't liked the way it was edited, there are a few jumps that you might think gore was left out even as I have seen the uncut version.
Sometimes you see for example an ax going into a head, other killings are off-camera and that's what downgrades this flick. Another thing that tears it down is for example one being stabbed by a knife but after a few moments he talks again like nothing is going on.
Due the gore added it is still watchable but it do has some stupid situations.
Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
During a New Year's Eve party in a closed office building, the successful chef Kathy King (Georgia Mackenzie) and the guests Wade (Mark Wilson), Robert (Pascal Langdale), his fiancée Nicole (Julia Ballard), Melanie (Annabelle Wallis) and Adam (Adam Rayner) are invited to a VIP party on another floor by a mysterious guest. The party crasher Pamela (Joanna Bobin) joins the group, and they find riddles and a weird decoration on the floor. Sooner they learn that they are trapped and without any way out from the floor and their host is killing them, one by one.
"Steel Trap" is another stupid and absurd slasher, with awful and aggressive dialogs – most of the women are called "bitch" or "slut" without any reaction; non-likable characters; unbelievable situations in an abandoned building where all the floors are neat and operable; excessive use of clichés; and a lame, ridiculous and absurd conclusion. My vote is two.
Title (Brazil): "Armadilha de Aço" ("Steel Trap")
"Steel Trap" is another stupid and absurd slasher, with awful and aggressive dialogs – most of the women are called "bitch" or "slut" without any reaction; non-likable characters; unbelievable situations in an abandoned building where all the floors are neat and operable; excessive use of clichés; and a lame, ridiculous and absurd conclusion. My vote is two.
Title (Brazil): "Armadilha de Aço" ("Steel Trap")
- claudio_carvalho
- Jan 4, 2012
- Permalink
- sammy-fischer
- Feb 17, 2008
- Permalink
- kristinanne17
- Jul 18, 2008
- Permalink
Pay no attention to the cover art, there are no spinning saw blades, and I'm not sure who that woman is supposed to be. In any case, if you need a horror movie for New Year's Eve, you could do worse than this one. It is generally enjoyable, and actually stays truer to the New Year's Eve theme throughout the movie than Bloody New Year (1987) which got kind of Christmas-y in the middle. Anyway..
The movie opens on a New Year's Eve party complete with a rock performance of Auld Lang Syne on top of an abandoned office building. 5 people & 2 party-crashers who come along are diverted to a "VIP" party on the 27th floor by text message, where they find strange surprises waiting for them. As they split off to solve riddles, the killer starts picking them off in twisted ways.
The production values are good, and personally I think the acting is not bad. The writing is kind of crap though. The initial character responses make no sense. Upon discovering place cards that insult each of them, they are too excited about digging into cake rather than being suspicious. The dialogue is frequently bad. The characters go nuts rather quickly, and the "guy you now hate" is clearly reaching to make you hate him, going off about everything that is too stupid to go off about.
But overall the movie is enjoyable. The level of psychotic is fun. It somewhat reminds me of the 2001 movie Valentine. If you liked Valentine, you'll probably like Steel Trap.
The movie opens on a New Year's Eve party complete with a rock performance of Auld Lang Syne on top of an abandoned office building. 5 people & 2 party-crashers who come along are diverted to a "VIP" party on the 27th floor by text message, where they find strange surprises waiting for them. As they split off to solve riddles, the killer starts picking them off in twisted ways.
The production values are good, and personally I think the acting is not bad. The writing is kind of crap though. The initial character responses make no sense. Upon discovering place cards that insult each of them, they are too excited about digging into cake rather than being suspicious. The dialogue is frequently bad. The characters go nuts rather quickly, and the "guy you now hate" is clearly reaching to make you hate him, going off about everything that is too stupid to go off about.
But overall the movie is enjoyable. The level of psychotic is fun. It somewhat reminds me of the 2001 movie Valentine. If you liked Valentine, you'll probably like Steel Trap.
- jrosekonungrinn
- Dec 31, 2010
- Permalink
- poolandrews
- Mar 27, 2010
- Permalink
- larawoolley
- Jul 23, 2012
- Permalink
- loomis78-815-989034
- Mar 20, 2014
- Permalink
Five people are lured away from a New Years' Eve party on the rooftop of an abandoned building, with the promise of a more interesting party just a few floors below. Joined by two party crashers, these unfortunate individuals are made to play games by a stealthy psychopath. This person is sadistic, which is to be expected, but what isn't expected is their apparent sense of whimsy. Our protagonists often spend their time sniping at each other in this ultimately lame survival thriller.
Very annoying characters populate this hackneyed, nondescript story, which can't work up any surprises that are worth a damn. The direction is nothing special, and the filmmaking in general lacks any features worth remembering. Some members of the horror audience may be expecting something more along the lines of a "Saw" sequel, but in truth, while the movie is somewhat sadistic it's never overly gory. The dialogue is highly uneven - while, at times, it's actually fairly amusing, most of the time it's incredibly tiresome.
The no-name cast isn't really talented or engaging enough to create much interest in these inane victims. One might not necessarily hate them, but it is sure is hard trying to care what happens to them. Even our villain is instantly forgettable.
At the end, it's really immaterial how things get resolved; this viewer was just glad it was over.
Five out of 10.
Very annoying characters populate this hackneyed, nondescript story, which can't work up any surprises that are worth a damn. The direction is nothing special, and the filmmaking in general lacks any features worth remembering. Some members of the horror audience may be expecting something more along the lines of a "Saw" sequel, but in truth, while the movie is somewhat sadistic it's never overly gory. The dialogue is highly uneven - while, at times, it's actually fairly amusing, most of the time it's incredibly tiresome.
The no-name cast isn't really talented or engaging enough to create much interest in these inane victims. One might not necessarily hate them, but it is sure is hard trying to care what happens to them. Even our villain is instantly forgettable.
At the end, it's really immaterial how things get resolved; this viewer was just glad it was over.
Five out of 10.
- Hey_Sweden
- Oct 8, 2015
- Permalink
this was a pretty lame horror movie in my opinion.the kills are pretty tame,even weak.i'd say it was a Saw rip off,but it doesn't even come close to that film.it's not nearly as clever.none of the actors seem to be putting fort any effort.the dialogue is pretty lame too,in my mind at least.for most of the running time,this thing is trying to be a serious horror film,but it abruptly changes tone at the end and becomes a black comedy.ironically,the ending is the only part of the movie that works,for me anyway.i expected it to take the usual route most horror/slasher flicks take,but it didn't so kudos to the filmmakers for that at least.still,that does little to save the movie.for me Steel Trap is a 4/10
- disdressed12
- Jun 21, 2010
- Permalink
- Scarecrow-88
- Sep 1, 2008
- Permalink
Duped! Yeah, totally duped... You know Dimension Extreme has given us all some really great stuff, but they have also given us some really, really, REALLY bad stuff - Steep Trap falls into the latter. Now coming from someone who is very much into the horror genre and can usually find some shining moments in the worst of the worst gore or scare flicks, I really can't think of one nice thing to say about this one except for - It was so bad I laughed a few times... But not in the way a Troma movie is so bad it made you laugh. No, no, no, Steel Trap was just really bad. At a upscale New Years party on the top of an abandoned high rise, several extremely annoying individuals are invited down a few floors to where the "real party is at". The unlikable ensemble quickly find out that this is no party at all as one by one they all begin to suffer very uninventive and forgettable ends to their miserable lives. They all must play the killer's game till the end or suffer an ill fate at the hands of a truly laughable silver masked maniac. Horror fans, do yourself a favor and skip out on this one. There are no inventive deaths, no well built suspense, no likable characters, atrocious acting - good and evil, and worst of all the dialouge is so forced it will embarrass you to no end.
- FightOwensFight
- May 6, 2009
- Permalink
It took several sittings for me to make it through this movie, but it must have been passable, since I didn't abandon it.
A handful of people leave a New Years party for another party on another floor. They all get trapped on the floor, and characters start getting picked off.
Could be fun.
The main mystery in a story like this is the question of what the killer's motive is. That usually can be figured out once the characters figure out what they have in common. Instead, the characters mostly seem to abandon trying to figure out why they're in the situation, who their antagonist is, or what they can do to save themselves. They also spend a lot of time splitting up into groups.
The reviews seem to pay a lot of attention to the kills. They mostly seemed irrelevant to me. Most of them are off-screen. No particular tension there.
The dialogue is strange. I can't put my finger on it, but there are occasionally lines that jump out as being unusual. Even when the dialogue isn't weird, it's campy.
What I found most annoying was the picture quality. It's shot competently, but the lighting was clearly an issue. Since most of the movie takes place under low-light conditions, the picture quality has real problems. There's a lot of grain, a certain haze over most of it. Normally, I would ignore this, but it is present in almost every shot in a hallway, which accounts for around 70-80% of the movie.
The eventual reveal at the end is okay. I think some people would like it, some people will hate it. I think it would have done better with a little more setup.
A handful of people leave a New Years party for another party on another floor. They all get trapped on the floor, and characters start getting picked off.
Could be fun.
The main mystery in a story like this is the question of what the killer's motive is. That usually can be figured out once the characters figure out what they have in common. Instead, the characters mostly seem to abandon trying to figure out why they're in the situation, who their antagonist is, or what they can do to save themselves. They also spend a lot of time splitting up into groups.
The reviews seem to pay a lot of attention to the kills. They mostly seemed irrelevant to me. Most of them are off-screen. No particular tension there.
The dialogue is strange. I can't put my finger on it, but there are occasionally lines that jump out as being unusual. Even when the dialogue isn't weird, it's campy.
What I found most annoying was the picture quality. It's shot competently, but the lighting was clearly an issue. Since most of the movie takes place under low-light conditions, the picture quality has real problems. There's a lot of grain, a certain haze over most of it. Normally, I would ignore this, but it is present in almost every shot in a hallway, which accounts for around 70-80% of the movie.
The eventual reveal at the end is okay. I think some people would like it, some people will hate it. I think it would have done better with a little more setup.
- fleuriadon
- Nov 29, 2020
- Permalink
- FlashCallahan
- Mar 15, 2011
- Permalink
This is the second part of my little review series: Movies that are way better than you expect.
"Steel trap" seems at first sight to be another ordinary psychological thriller or slasher movie in the shadows of the great "The cube", "Mind Hunters" and "Saw". I expected a movie of a quality comparable to "House of 9" or "Nine dead" but I was rather wrong.
The movie starts with the introduction to some stereotypical and rather ordinary characters and I was already close to judge the lack of originality of this movie. When the killing game began I was positively surprised for the first time. The acting wasn't that wooden and rather realistic and appropriated.
The next surprise followed quickly. The killing methods turned out to be rather original, the atmosphere was sinister and gripping and the whole story attached me more to the characters. The movie got truly entertaining and addicting and I kept guessing who was behind the bloody murders and why. The great thing is that there are many wrong clues and also some right ones and I happened to analyze the behaviour of each candidate and had to change my mind and opinion many times.
The third and last great surprise is without a doubt the twist in the end of the movie that I didn't really see coming. Normally, I have some doubts and am able to get on the right lane but this time, I got completely bumped. This ending really rated this movie way up beyond the average slasher flick.
To keep it short, this is a rather original and gripping movie of a more and more popular genre and the rating average in here is definitely way too low. The movie is entertaining and an ideal choice for any horror movie night with your mates and you will keep guessing and expecting until the very end.
"Steel trap" seems at first sight to be another ordinary psychological thriller or slasher movie in the shadows of the great "The cube", "Mind Hunters" and "Saw". I expected a movie of a quality comparable to "House of 9" or "Nine dead" but I was rather wrong.
The movie starts with the introduction to some stereotypical and rather ordinary characters and I was already close to judge the lack of originality of this movie. When the killing game began I was positively surprised for the first time. The acting wasn't that wooden and rather realistic and appropriated.
The next surprise followed quickly. The killing methods turned out to be rather original, the atmosphere was sinister and gripping and the whole story attached me more to the characters. The movie got truly entertaining and addicting and I kept guessing who was behind the bloody murders and why. The great thing is that there are many wrong clues and also some right ones and I happened to analyze the behaviour of each candidate and had to change my mind and opinion many times.
The third and last great surprise is without a doubt the twist in the end of the movie that I didn't really see coming. Normally, I have some doubts and am able to get on the right lane but this time, I got completely bumped. This ending really rated this movie way up beyond the average slasher flick.
To keep it short, this is a rather original and gripping movie of a more and more popular genre and the rating average in here is definitely way too low. The movie is entertaining and an ideal choice for any horror movie night with your mates and you will keep guessing and expecting until the very end.
- vengeance20
- Jul 31, 2023
- Permalink
- Theo Robertson
- Jan 4, 2010
- Permalink
I was initially lured in by the movie's interesting cover. Which turns out was nothing more than a lure, because it was quite as far from the actual movie as it could possibly be.
Regardless, the 2007 "Steel Trap" movie from writers Luis Cámara and Gabrielle Galanter was somewhat in the essence of the "Saw" movies, except it was just quite as intelligently conceived, nor quite as riveting and entertaining.
That being said, turns out that "Steel Trap" was adequately entertaining. It is a movie that is suitable enough for a single viewing, but it doesn't have enough contents to support more than a single viewing, in my honest opinion.
The storyline is very straight forward, although it leaves very little to the audience to ponder and speculate upon, so you just sit back and enjoy whatever transpires on the screen. I will say, though, that the ending was a surprise that I hadn't seen coming. Was it a good surprise? Well, no, not really. I found the premise upon the movie was built upon once the twist was revealed to be rather thin and bordering on being laughable and ludicrous. Not really something that made all that much sense if you think about it.
The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the limitations of the script and storyline. Georgia Mackenzie was the one putting on the most memorable performance and the one carrying the biggest load throughout the course of the movie.
For a horror movie then director Luis Cámara didn't really managed to produce something that was outstanding enough to make a memorable dent in the horror genre. And as such, "Steel Trap" came and went pretty much below the radar. I actually haven't heard about it before now late in 2019.
And most of the death scenes were just too mundane and really underdone to have any real impact. And it didn't really help much that the characters were two-dimensional and ones that you hardly cared about, so if they died, you merely just shrug and wait for the next to be taken out.
I managed to sit through the entire movie, but found it to be mediocre entertaining at best. As such, my rating for "Steel Trap" is five out of ten stars.
Regardless, the 2007 "Steel Trap" movie from writers Luis Cámara and Gabrielle Galanter was somewhat in the essence of the "Saw" movies, except it was just quite as intelligently conceived, nor quite as riveting and entertaining.
That being said, turns out that "Steel Trap" was adequately entertaining. It is a movie that is suitable enough for a single viewing, but it doesn't have enough contents to support more than a single viewing, in my honest opinion.
The storyline is very straight forward, although it leaves very little to the audience to ponder and speculate upon, so you just sit back and enjoy whatever transpires on the screen. I will say, though, that the ending was a surprise that I hadn't seen coming. Was it a good surprise? Well, no, not really. I found the premise upon the movie was built upon once the twist was revealed to be rather thin and bordering on being laughable and ludicrous. Not really something that made all that much sense if you think about it.
The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the limitations of the script and storyline. Georgia Mackenzie was the one putting on the most memorable performance and the one carrying the biggest load throughout the course of the movie.
For a horror movie then director Luis Cámara didn't really managed to produce something that was outstanding enough to make a memorable dent in the horror genre. And as such, "Steel Trap" came and went pretty much below the radar. I actually haven't heard about it before now late in 2019.
And most of the death scenes were just too mundane and really underdone to have any real impact. And it didn't really help much that the characters were two-dimensional and ones that you hardly cared about, so if they died, you merely just shrug and wait for the next to be taken out.
I managed to sit through the entire movie, but found it to be mediocre entertaining at best. As such, my rating for "Steel Trap" is five out of ten stars.
- paul_haakonsen
- Nov 17, 2019
- Permalink
- Woodyanders
- Sep 11, 2013
- Permalink