How have I not watched this movie before now? Trapped Alive features, Cameron Mitchell, in a late '80s wintertime horror where his on-screen daughter gets trapped in an old mine. She arrives in said mine alongside a group of prison escapees, after they kidnap her and her friend and steal their car. A car which they proceed to almost instantly crash it into the mine. It's the perfect getaway plan! But wait, there's more! The mine is also home to a superhuman elderly man. He prowls the empty tunnels and kills all who enter using their flesh as sustenance. I guess you can't trust the superhuman elderly anymore.
For a movie I hadn't even heard of, Trapped Alive, or just Trapped if your nasty, had a lot of weird, wild, and ridiculous scenes that may not make for a good movie, but worked on a fun level. From the three prison escapees, aptly named Hot Rod, Mungo, and Face, down to the horny married lady with daddy issues who sleeps with anyone who wanders into her house at 1AM. Trapped Alive parades its weirdness on its sleeve. The whole thing works on a b-movie level. The criminals kidnap two ladies going to a Xmas party, and somehow they end up at the bottom of a mine shaft after their car explodes underground. Here they find that they are not alone, as a cannibalistic old man with superhuman speed and strength hunts them for food. What's worse for the girls is that Face is also a rapist. That's a lot of horrible danger for one pair of ladies.
Even with the seriousness of the criminals, the movie still plays out as a bit goofy and nonsensical at times. We are meant to believe that the old man, who has been living in the mine for upwards of fifteen years, can lift a whole human being up using a giant rock hook. Oh, and he can apparently breathe underwater indefinitely. I actually think that a lot of the plot points make so little sense that your mind cancels them all out until the whole thing weirdly checks out. Also, Cameron Mitchell, as a concerned father, rocks a stylish holiday turtle neck later on. He is a classy genius.
If you are interested in a strange but quick horror about a killer old man, and his weird daughter, then this is your movie. It's not the greatest horror of its era but makes for a fun watch.