The lively rural thriller "Trapped" is good fun, with fine action sequences and some memorable characters. It does come with some subtext: one of the characters believes that murder is rarely if ever justified. One can guess that he'll come out of his experience here singing a different tune. There's also something to be said for what can happen when people in isolated communities insist on making their own "laws". Effectively directed by William Fruet ("Death Weekend", "Search and Destroy") and entertainingly performed, it gets off to a good start and is paced well until the kick ass finale.

A quartet of college students travel to the boondocks to do some hiking and cave exploring, only to witness a killing. Local community leader Henry Chatwill (Henry Silva) has caught his hot babe young wife sleeping with another man, and with the help of his friends has tortured this man (including having him tarred and feathered) and ultimately murdered him. The kids try to appeal to the local sheriff (John Rutter),who unfortunately turns out to be Henry's kid brother and who believes that blood runs thicker than water. So there'll be no help on that front. The kids have to put up with being captured and re-captured by Henry and pals until the odds finally swing in their favour.

This is a lot of fun for any viewer who digs the entire "hicksploitation" genre. Much of the enjoyment can be chalked up to the scenery chewing performance by Silva, who's a hoot from beginning to end. Nicholas Campbell is okay if not that likable as Roger, the aforementioned young man with strong opinions on the taking of human life. Gina Dick ("My Bloody Valentine" '81),Joy Thompson ("Prom Night" '80),and Danone Camden ('Dallas') are all quite pleasing to look at. Viewers may be pleased to note the doses of female nudity. Standing out in the cast is Barbara Gordon ("Dead Ringers") as Henry's sister Miriam, one person who is willing to stand up to him from the get go. The screenplay is by John Beaird, who wrote the '81 "My Bloody Valentine", and the on location shooting in both Ontario, Canada and Georgia, USA, is top notch.

Incidentally, the alternate title "Baker County, U.S.A." is a little more punchy; "Trapped" just sounds too generic.

Recommended to fans of films like "Deliverance" and "Rituals".

Eight out of 10.

Aw, why did they opt for "Trapped" to be the official title, whereas "Baker County, USA" is such a unique and wondrously ominous title for a movie handling about psychopathic Tennessee rednecks! There are about fifty movies called "Trapped"! There's one with security-trained Dobermans keeping a guy inside a shopping complex and another one with Kevin Bacon hijacking a woman and her asthmatic daughter, so do you honestly want to mix up those lame plot outlines with a movie about lunatic yokels hunting down a bunch of college students? Baker County, USA … all the way! Enough nagging about titles, especially since we call the films whatever we want, anyway. This stuff is terrific! It's an early 80's and Canadian produced Indie-film with character drawings and themes that were especially popular during the decade of the 70's, namely crazed clodhoppers living in private mountain-communities and brutal blood-vengeance. Henry Silva, who played in numerous Italian cop thrillers and action flicks, was never cast better as a tyrant leader of a small mountain colony that swears by its own ancient system of law and order. Silva's naturally menacing charisma and particularly perpetrating stares make him one the most nightmarishly memorable backwoods villains ever! The first half hour revolves on Henry and his docile men playing the roles judge, jury and executioner on an outsider who was caught having sex with Henry's beautiful but bored wife. Four college students camping in the remote hills witness the assassination of the man covered in tar and feathers, but when they try and notify the police they quickly discover everybody the entire area is petrified of mad-raving Henry. "Baker County, USA" is splendidly fast-paced and grimly atmospheric 80's trash effort. It's more than obviously inspired by classics such as "Deliverance" (there even is the banjo soundtrack!),but there are more than enough original elements to distinguish itself as well. The exterior filming locations are sublime (the opening sequence is astounding),there's an admirable portion of suspense and the action/death sequences are quite spectacular and bloody. The climax in particular is a gripping mixture of tension and extreme violence, resulting in quite the fireworks ending! Noteworthy also is that the youthful campers are actually likable characters, for once. They try to do the right thing, don't make overly stupid decisions and don't try to play heroes. Their behavior is plausible and most likely how everyone would react when facing a toothless mob with pitchforks and barrels full of hot tar. William Fruet directed this hidden gem and always treasured a deep admiration for his work, since he accomplishes quite a lot with a minimum of budget. Admittedly, "Spasms" was one of the worst pieces of crap I ever saw, but "Funeral Home" and "House by the Lake" are definitely low-budget highlights.

Trapped was actually released in the late eighties, although it's every bit the seventies exploitation classic! While not as great as some of the more popular films of the genre - stuff like The Last House on the Left and House on the Edge of the Park, Trapped is still an enjoyable slice of violent entertainment from the director of the surprisingly good 'House by the Lake' and the Psycho-inspired Funeral Home. The film focuses on the idea of people in the deep south of America taking the law very much into their own hands. The main culprit is Henry Chatwill; a man who is spotted murdering someone by a bunch of college students. He quickly decides to put his cronies to use in tracking down the college students; one of which, a kid called Roger Michaels, just happens to completely against violence in all forms. The first half hour or so is fairly torrid, as it can be difficult to tell exactly what's going on since it's not pieced together very well. However, things really pick up in the final two thirds; and it all builds to a fantastically entertaining ending, which features a couple of rather original death scenes! Naturally, Trapped isn't particularly well acted or directed - although William Fruet's work behind the camera isn't too bad considering the obvious budget limitations. Once you get past the first half hour, there's a lot of fun to be had with Trapped, and it comes recommended to trash fans everywhere!