There’s something special about ‘90s heartthrobs and dream girls. Maybe you loved She’s All That because Freddie Prinze, Jr. and/or Rachael Leigh Cook were indeed all that. (Some of us were absolutely interested in both, hehe.) I totally hear you and had plenty of crushes of my own, like the Fresh Prince himself. Another guy I love is Josh Hartnett, whom I first saw in scary films like Halloween H20 and The Faculty. Of course, he was far from the villain in those films and many others as he became a teen idol and kept building his career. So, imagine my distress when I watched the trailer for Trap, a horror movie where Josh Hartnett is a serial killer at a pop concert.
The film, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is about Cooper, a dad taking his teen daughter Riley (played by Ariel Donoghue) to see her favorite singer. That sounds touching and totally normal, right? Well, if you know anything about Shyamalan, then you knew the Trap trailer was gonna go left field.
We see Cooper marveling at his daughter’s pure joy over seeing her music queen live. He tells her that he’s going to the restroom and that’s when your heart starts to pound. Is someone going to kidnap her? Is there some supernatural or demonic foolery afoot? Not quite. Cooper notices an unsettling amount of security on his way to the restroom and questions someone who works there.
The guy reluctantly tells him that they’re setting a trap for “the Butcher,” a serial killer who lives up to his name. The worker says there’s no way to leave, and Cooper retreats to the bathroom to check his home security. And guess what? He has someone chained and screaming in his basement! What. The. Hell. Cooper starts seeing red and wondering how he’s going to get out of there without being caught and really, really ruining Riley’s day. Yikes. A movie from the killer’s POV is inspired, indeed.
The world of Trap feels even more real with the release of a whole music video by Riley’s pop idol.
What Is the Release Date for M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett’s Horror Movie Trap?
The trailer doesn’t offer up any brutality but we do get brooding stares from Hartnett that make me feel very conflicted. I want to talk about it but not in public. Anyway, Trap will now hit theaters a week earlier than planned, on August 2, and I cannot wait to see what happens to Cooper and Riley. Oh, and the man in the basement, too.
Originally published April 18, 2024.
