Terror Trap, is a 2010 American horror film. It was written and directed by Dan Garcia who pleaded guilty in 2013 to a Motion Picture Tax Scam after orchestrating a scheme to defraud the State of Louisiana’s Motion Picture Industry Development Tax Credit Program. Filming took place in Louisiana. The film stars David James Elliott, Michael Madsen and Jeff Fahey. Movie tagline is "Once you check in, there's no escape...". The film is similar to the 2008 film, Vacancy which also features a couple being terrorized by a motel's owner and his employees while being recorded.
Plot
When married couple Don and his wife, Nancy, who face relationship problems and constantly argue, go on a "vacation" to a casino, a car accident takes place. Looking for help, they call the town's sheriff, who suggests they go to a certain motel and he will have the car towed the next day. At the motel, they find blood in their apartment, and a girl being savagely killed next door. The two must fight for their lives against the motel's workers and men dressed in unusual masks, but can they survive a night alone against dangerous men all by themselves with no real weapons or any other means of support? The film ends with Don killing everyone and barely rescuing Nancy from the "sheriff", who is later killed by the actual owner of the motel, who was behind it all. The man survives, and walks off, while Nancy and Don escaped earlier. At a funeral for Sydney, the girl who was killed earlier in the film, while a worker for the man assures Sydney's mom that if she needs somewhere to stay, he owns a motel not too far away. The man overhears and questions the other man, but walks away. However, pressing a button, the other man's car explodes. A last image of Don and Nancy walking off together in a field of weeds near the street.
Cast
David James Elliott - Don, an ex-marine who has a website for clothes and materials. He is married to Nancy.
Heather Marie Marsden - Nancy, the wife of Don. At the beginning of the film, the two have relationship issues, with Nancy constantly telling Don to go "fuck" himself. However, they rekindle their relationship at the film's ending.
Michael Madsen - Carter, the "owner" of the motel.
Jeff Fahey - "Sheriff" Cleveland, who is part of the massacre. He is killed.
Terror Trap was released direct to video on October 10, 2010. When the film was announced horror movie websites Bloody Disgusting and Dread Central criticized the film's plot. Brad Miska described it as a ripoff of Vacancy, and Foywonder of Dread Central stated that "so much of it appears to be brazenly mimicking Vacancy to the point you cannot believe The Asylum didn’t produce it."
Reception
Dread Central gave Terror Trap a rating of 2 out of 5 blades, writing that "The best to be said for Terror Trap is that I didn’t mind it. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, I realize. Elliot’s constant embarrassment, the wife’s needlessly angry outbursts, and Fahey’s madman hamminess kept me occupied more so than the snuff filmmaking at this death trap motel." The film also received reviews from Flickering Myth and HorrorNews.net, the latter of which recommended the film for the performances of Madsen and Fahey.
