Here's a blu ray release of two z-budget late ’80s/ early 90’s horror films from James Bryan- the rather shambling & wonky genre hack who was behind the likes of cheapie backwoods slasher Don’t Go into The Woods, and bumbling action film Lady Street Fighter. This release is part of 101 Films new AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) series. Featured here are the two films- Jungle Trap, a shaky crossbred between The Shinning and jungle head hunting natives dread, and psychic cop action film Run Coyote Run- with the disc featuring a commentary track for Jungle Trap, and a few other things.

First up we have Jungle Trap- this was partly filmed in the year 1990, then the folks at Bleeding Skull uncovered it & finished it off by adding in a wonky ‘n’ wavering retro synth soundtrack. The film was the final collaboration between Bryan and eastern European producer/(sort of) actress Renee Harmon- who had featured in the pairs bumbling & unintentionally surreal/ bad action picture Lady Street Fighter. And boy Jungle Trap is a truly bad film, which will either amuse/entertain, or grate/ frustrate.

The whole thing kicks off in fine confusion/ bumbling fashion, as we find a blend of murky night-time meant to be chopper landing in jungle shots and city stock footage. After the credits we drop down in a shaky set looking museum office/ lab- where we meet the film's lead characters- the two marriage on the rocks Doctors Chris (Renee Harmon) and JoshCarpenter (Frank Neuhaus). There are museum assistants- Betsy (Heidi Ahn), whose having an affair with Josh, big-haired brunette Janice (Valerie Smith), and wise guy photographer Mark (Glen Sarabian). 
After some lengthy and badly soapy office drama, the group set out for the Jungle to try and find a mysterious head-hunting tribe, and they come across a hotel in the middle of the jungle- that is seemingly haunted. As things unfold members of the team start appearing head-less…so is it down to the tribe, one of the group, or something more supernatural.
 
The film comes in at the seventy-one-minute mark, and even for a fan of bad film this feels like a bit of a slog in places- with overlong & awkward character interactions, jarring use of stock footage, and a general feeling of bad pacing/ editing. Though on the flip side we have amusing overacting with Ms Harmon having an accent and delivery that’s awkward, to say the least, there are jaw-dropping cheapy light & flashing visual effects, truly terrible jungle dressing, dodgy-looking white meant to be natives with just put on face paint, and general awkward/ bad film making. I’d say you’ll have to be a seasoned bad film fan to get the most of Jungle Trap- as it's truly terrible, by normal/ sane cinematic standards.
 
 
The second film here is Run Coyote Run- this is from 1987- though it heavily uses flashbacks from Bryan’s 70’s female action film Lady Street Fighter, which of course featured Renee Harmon again. The new/ 1987 footage finds Anne- a frumpier middle-aged, big-haired, floral dressed Harmon- as a psychic cop, trying to find an incriminating audiotape. And along the way, we meet a biker preacher-come hired killer, and a selection of other rather badly acted shady characters. 
Basically, the film takes the old and new footage roughly blending them together to create a very confusing, at times rather boring mess. Sure, along the way we have a few cheesy acting/ bad filmmaking moments, crappy gunfights/ action scenes, there are one or two gory murders, and some unintentionally amusing awful stock footage, but ultimately this one hour and an eleven-minute film is a real chore to get through. Apparently, it was a thought ‘lost’ film- but a print was found in the back of a used car- so I guess even more elements were added on then- be it wavering synth soundtracking, or more stock footage. Certainly not Bryan's best work by any means- but I guess it’s nice to have it here as an extra- and who knows if you really enjoy truly bad/ confusing 80’s-come-70’s film making you may get more from Run Coyote Run than I did.

Otherwise, on the extra side, we get a commentary track for Jungle Trap- this is with director James Bryan, Heidi Ahn who played Betsy in the film, and three members of the Bleeding Skull team who re-scored, edited, and put together the film. They all start off talking about the stock footage elements that were added to the project by Renee Harmon, and how the director first met Ms Harmon. Moving on they talk about how the idea of making a jungle horror film in Canoga Park came about, and all the issues this brought up. They discuss how this film and Run Coyote Run were rediscovered- the kick start campaign for Jungle Trap. They talk about other lost/ unreleased films by Bryan, including a film about witches at a horror convention attacking/ killing fans. Moving on they talk about the films shooting- how the plane footage was captured in a garage, and some of the jungle footage is from someone’s back garden. They discuss the new film's soundtrack and effects, and how it was edited together. They talk about when the film really turns odd with the appearance of the bell boy in the ‘jungle’, and how the whole thing gets more disorienting as it goes along. All in all, it’s an interesting & worthy track.

Otherwise, on the extras we get an eleven-minute making-of for Jungle Trap, there’s a four minutes of outtakes from Jungle Trap, and nearing twenty-eight minutes of footage from the Horror convention project- this is silent, largely rather blurred- but is interesting to see what could have been.

In finishing it’s great to have all this low-budget and cheesy wackness from Mr Bryan in one place- and it all once again highlights the passion & focus of the director for creating film art, with extremely low budgets. It goes without saying you’ll be needing a good grounding in bad film to enjoy what’s on offer here, and yes, it’s not the best of the worse of what the director has to offer, but there is worth here- which will be enjoyed by fans of the wonky, cheap, and wacky.