''Trapped'' is a 1989 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Fred Walton, and co-written by Steve Feke. It stars

Kathleen Quinlan Kathleen Denise Quinlan (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel ''I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film), I Never Promised ...

and

Bruce Abbott Bruce Paul Abbott (born July 28, 1954) is an American film, stage, and television actor. Originally beginning his career in theater, Abbott later gained notoriety for his role as Dan Cain in the cult sci-fi horror films ''Re-Animator'' (1985) and ...

in the main roles.

Katy Boyer Katy Boyer (Katherine McLeod Boyer) is an American actress. She played Tim Robbins' love interest in the cult comedy Tapeheads directed by Bill Fishman and parental figures in two science-fiction movies directed by Steven Spielberg, The Lost Wor ...

co-stars.

Plot

After a montage of photographs reveal that a young boy has died from exposure to

toxic waste Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm (e.g. by being inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin). Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemi ...

spilled by a company called NTX, the child's father bids goodbye to his wife's corpse, and heads for the Kupper-Dietz Building, a luxurious tower containing offices and laboratories owned by NTX. As the working day concludes, businesswomen Mary Ann Marshall and Renni are the last two daytime employees to leave the skyscraper, but on their way out, they discover that all of the exits are sealed, and that all of the telephones are dead. While searching for aid, the pair spot an intruder, and rush to the security room, which they find abandoned, with signs of a violent struggle evident. The two are then attacked by the dead boy's father; Renni is killed, but Mary Ann escapes by falling into an elevator, which brings her up to one of the tower's unfinished

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

s. There, she meets John Doe, a corporate spy who has been secretly living in the building in order to steal industrial secrets from NTX. While John goes to investigate Mary Ann's claims of there being a killer on the loose, Mary Ann, after another close encounter with the murderer, heads up to the

penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit traditionally on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel, or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally re ...

to seek aid from Harold Manley, the head of NTX; Mary Ann instead finds Manley dead, with newspaper articles about NTX stabbed into his chest. Mary Ann reunites with John, who had stumbled onto the bodies of a pair of murdered guards, and together the two go looking for the building's remaining watchman, finding him just as he is fatally bludgeoned by the killer, who they narrowly evade. After John's arm is broken in a subsequent run-in with the maniac, he and Mary Ann separate, with Mary Ann going into hiding in the parking garage. When the killer finds her, he and Mary Ann engage in a vehicular chase, during which the murderer's car begins leaking fuel. John, who had been drawn to the garage by the noise, sets the spilled gas on fire, which blows the killer's car up after he crashes it into Mary Ann's. When the building comes out of automatic lockdown at 6:00am, John slips away. Mary Ann is treated by paramedics and questioned by the police. She returns home where she is greeted by John.

Cast

as Mary Ann Marshall *

as John Doe *

as Renni * Ben Loggins as Killer *

Tyrees Allen Tyrees Allen (born July 31, 1954) is an American actor on stage, television, and film. Early life Allen was born in Salina, Kansas. In 1972, he graduated from Salina Central High School. He later attended Marymount College in Salina, where ...

as Danny * Miles Mutchler as Mr. Kappleman * Wirt Cain as Harold Manley * Bill Whitehead as Mr. Danuser

Reception

Ray Loynd of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised the film as "a tightly wrought thriller" while ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

's'' John Stark criticized it heavily, writing, "it has stilted dialogue, is badly acted and moves as quickly as a bloated buffalo. The title gives fair warning about what the movie is like to sit through." John Stanley, author of ''Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie Guide'', similarly referred to ''Trapped'' as a "Clichéd TV-movie, lacking in originality."

References

External links

* {{Fred Walton 1989 films 1980s slasher films 1989 television films 1980s horror thriller films American slasher films American horror thriller films Fiction about corporate warfare 1980s English-language films American films about revenge American horror television films Films directed by Fred Walton (director) American thriller television films USA Network original films Fictional portrayals of the Dallas Police Department Films about businesspeople Films about security and surveillance Films set in Dallas Films shot in Dallas Films shot in Los Angeles Experimental medical treatments in fiction Films about mass murder Office work in popular culture Films set in offices 1980s American films English-language horror thriller films