Trapped Ashes: Standard Edition  – Deaf Crocodile (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA/Japan/Canada, 2006
Directors: Sean S. Cunningham, Joe Dante, John Gaeta, Monte Hellman, Ken Russell
Cast: Jayce Bartok, Henry Gibson, Lara Harris, Scott Lowell, Dick Miller, Michèle-Barbara Pelletier, John Saxon, Rachel Veltri, Richard Ian Cox, Glynis Davies, Scott Heindl, Rob deLeeuw, Ryo Ishibashi

Release Date: February 11th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 32 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $39.95

"Seven strangers (including legendary character actors John Saxon and Henry Gibson) are trapped inside an infamous Roger Corman/AIP-style House of Horrors during a Hollywood movie studio tour, and forced to confess their most disturbing personal memories to get out alive." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned and restored in 4K for its first-ever official Blu-ray release by Deaf Crocodile."

Trapped Ashes comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60.6 GB

Feature: 60.2 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Trapped Ashes comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.4 GB

Feature: 28 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds excellent; dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a video essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson titled Hollywood Parasite: Hysteria in Trapped Ashes (15 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), the original full-length cut of Ken Russell’s “The Girl with Golden Breasts” episode (26 minutes 3 seconds, in standard definition, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), the director’s cut of Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s Girlfriend” (28 minutes 20 seconds, in standard definition, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), original 5-part Making of video with cast and crew interviews; The Making of Trapped Ashes (5 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Girl with Golden Breasts (7 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Jabaku (5 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Stanley’s Girlfriend (6 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and My Twin, The Worm (6 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Tahmoh Penikett, Tygh Runyan and production designer Robb Wilson King, moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile (88 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Mike Frislev of Nomadic Pictures, moderated by Dennis Bartok (40 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director John Gaeta, cast members Jayce Bartok, Scott Lowell and Lisi Tribble, producers Yuko Yoshikawa and Yoshifumi Hosoya, and cinematographer Zoran Popovic, moderated by Dennis Bartok (78 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian, and author Stephen R. Bissette, and an insert with a URL that has a PDF for Hollywood Parasite: Hysteria in Trapped Ashes.

Summary:

Trapped Ashes is a horror anthology film that interconnects four stories through wrap-around sequences. Notable directors like Joe Dante (Gremlins), Ken Russell (The Devils), Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th), and Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop) worked on the wraparound segments and three of the stories. The narrative revolves around seven people who get trapped inside of a famous horror movie house while on a Hollywood tour. To pass the time, they tell their most terrifying personal stories.

The Girl with Golden Breasts: An actress whose career is going nowhere gets implants made from human corpse tissue. Though her new breasts resurrect her career, they have an appetite for human blood.

Jibaku: A spirit seduces a wife on vacation in Japan, trying to lure her into a Jigoku.

Stanley's Girlfriend: A filmmaker has an affair with a fellow filmmaker's girlfriend, who turns out to be an immortal witch who drinks her lover's blood.

My Twin, the Worm: A young woman becomes overly attached to a tapeworm that grew with her inside of her mother's womb.

Each story provides further insight into the characters, and all of them are rooted in the macabre. The narrative is well-constructed, and there are no significant issues when it comes to pacing. That said, out of the four stories, I found Jibaku’s pay off the weakest. The cast has a few recognizable faces like Henry Gibson (The ‘Burbs), Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood), John Saxon (Black Christmas), and Ryo Ishibashi (Audition). When it comes to the performances, they are all filled with enthusiasm. Also, there is a sufficient amount of gore, and the special effects look great. Ultimately, Trapped Ashes is an entertaining film that fans of horror anthologies should enjoy.

Deaf Crocodile gives Trapped Ashes a definitive release, recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of Trapped Ashes that comes in a slipcase, and a 60-page booklet with a reprint of original Fangoria article by Sean Decker on the film from September 2007, and Q&A with producers Yuko Yoshikawa, Yoshifumi Hosoya and Dennis Bartok from 2006.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer