Night Trap (2018)
July 6, 2018Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Dana Plato
Kelly
Tracy Matheson
Cindy
Debra Parks
Lisa
Allison Rhea
Ashley
Christy Ford
Megan
James W. Riley
Director
Joshua Godard
Danny
Randy Field
Director
Jon Rashad Kamal
Victor Martin
Molly Starr
Sheila Martin
Rob Fulop
Writer
Terry McDonell
Writer
Suzy Cote
Sarah Martin
Andras Jones
Jeff Martin
Barry Oringer
Writer
Giovanni Lemm
Tony
Richard P. LaCivita
Producer
William Bertrand
Eddie
William Jones
Lt. Simms
Arthur Burghardt
Collins
Heidi Von Brecht
Swanson
Deke Anderson
Jason
Blake Gibbons
Mike
Roy Eisenstein
Jim
Don Burgess
Director of Photography
Dona Granata
Costume Design
Donald C. Klune
Line Producer
Roger Collins
Production Design
Josh Koral
Set Designer
Jerram A. Swartz
Associate Producer / First Assistant Director
Nellie Muganda
Makeup Artist
Guy Bushman
Property Master
Jane Hernandez
Line Producer
Barry J. Alperin
Producer
Tyler Johnson
Producer
Shari Little
Associate Producer
Ryan Sinnock
Associate Producer
Kevin Welsh
Producer
Tom Zito
Executive Producer
Sunny BlueSkyes
Music
Martin Lund
Music
Mike Caldwell
Art Direction
Nancie Marsalis
Makeup Artist
Annie Mayo
Makeup & Hair
Bob Smith
Makeup & Hair
Media.
Details.
Wiki.
Night Trap is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), Night Trap tasks the player to observe teenage girls having a sleepover visiting a house which, unbeknownst to them, is infested with vampires. The player watches live surveillance footage and triggers traps to capture anyone endangering the girls. The player can switch between different cameras to keep watch over the girls and eavesdrop on conversations to follow the story and listen for clues.
The Night Trap concept originated in a 1986 prototype game developed by Axlon to demonstrate their Control-Vision game console to Hasbro. The system used VHS tape technology to present film-like gaming experiences. With the system picked up by Hasbro, the production of Night Trap commenced. The video footage was recorded in 1987, followed by six months of editing and game programming. Hasbro suddenly canceled the Control-Vision in 1989, which prompted the game's executive producer, Tom Zito, to purchase the film footage and found Digital Pictures to complete Night Trap. Night Trap was eventually released in October 1992 as the first interactive movie on the Sega CD.
Night Trap received mixed reviews; critics praised the B movie-esque quality, humor, and video animation, but criticized the gameplay as shallow. The game was one of the principal subjects of a 1993 United States Senate committee hearing on violent video games, along with Mortal Kombat. Night Trap was cited during the hearing as promoting gratuitous violence and sexual aggression against women, prompting toy retailers Toys "R" Us and Kay-Bee Toys to pull the game from shelves that December, and Sega to cease producing copies in January 1994. The Senate hearing led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the North American video game ratings board still used today.
After the controversy subsided, Night Trap was ported to other consoles, including the 32X, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, MS-DOS, and Mac OS. It was re-released in 2017 and 2018 for eighth-generation consoles to mark its 25th anniversary. Retrospective reviews of Night Trap were negative, owing to FMV's aging appeal as a game medium, and it has been cited as one of the worst video games of all time.