Ironically, the director of one of the most widely acclaimed Japanese horror films ever made doesn't actually consider himself a horror fan. "To be honest, I don't enjoy horror films", says Toshiharu Ikeda, director of Shiryo no Wana/Evil Dead Trap. "I've seen all the great ones, but I'm the guy sitting way in the back of the theatre, scrunched down deep in his seat."

Born in 1951, Ikeda (sometimes called Seishu Ikeda) started his career in the early 1970s as assistant director on some of the adult films (pinku eiga) produced by the legendary Nikkatsu Studios. Working under directors such as Masaru Konuma and Kichitaro Negishi, Ikeda had to make sure that the actresses were looked after--including trimming their pubic hair!

Ikeda made his directorial debut in 1980 with Sukeban Mafia, a pinku eiga set in a girls' high school. His fourth film, his last for Nikkatsu, was Tenshi no Harawata: Akai Inga (part of the popular Angel Guts series), which was also his first collaboration with manga writer Takashi Ishii: "Ishii is a notorious horror fanatic. He helped me plan the special effects, the story and the pay-off for Evil Dead Trap. However, to be honest I changed a great deal of Ishii's original screenplay. That's the nature of the business."

Evil Dead Trap, influenced by European and North American directors such as Dario Argento, David Cronenberg, and Tobe Hooper (especially The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is often cited as the first true Japanese horror film. "When I was young there were no horror movies in Japan," says Ikeda. "Godzilla is not a horror movie." The film displays all of the elements which have become distinctive within Ikeda's work: an intricate plot, skilfully edited sequences, a startling color palette, a pop-jazz soundtrack and a recurring water motif.

"I have a personal attraction to water--I like the way it reproduces on film", explains the director. "Whenever I watch movies by other directors, I always perk up when I see a water scene. A girl underwater--or a woman glistening in a think liquid coat--is absolutely the most beautiful thing I can imagine."

For all its violence and gore, Ikeda considers Evil Dead Trap to be essentially an "ultra-black-comedy" satirising the media in a similar way to Natural Born Killers. Oliver Stone is a fan of Ikeda's work in return, especially Evil Dead Trap which he called "a daring and grim thriller...yet shockingly perverse."

Evil Dead Trap was a punishing schedule--two months of 19-hour days--so that Ikeda was hospitalized by the time the film opened and didn't see it on the big screen until its North American premiere years later. This hospitalization also prevented Ikeda from working on Evil Dead Trap 2, although he had written a script for a sequel based around the characters of Hideki and Nami. Instead, Izo Hashimoto directed an unconnected sequel (also available on DVD from Artsmagic). Ikeda returned for Evil Dead Trap 3 in 1993 but considers that film "a miscalculation".

He has also directed two films in the successful XX series, based on the short stories of Arimasa Osawa; Ikeda considers Beautiful Prey one of his favorites although only Beautiful Beast has received western distribution to date.

Though only his two Evil Dead Trap films are true horror movies, Ikeda's mix of violent action (often perpetrated by female characters) and sexual imagery with imaginative and often horrific ideas has maintained his popularity with both Japanese and Western audiences, all eager to see what he will do next...