Tourist Trap (1979)

Tourist Trap

1979

Starring: Chuck Connors, Jocelyn Jones, Robin Sherwood, Tanya Roberts

Directed By: David Schmoeller

This film is probably one of the greatest unknown cult classics of all time. Coming several years after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tourist Trap essentially has the same format. Teens on vacation run into a secluded madman and are picked off one by one. Does this mean it's a rip off or copycat? Hell no! Tourist Trap takes that Texas Chainsaw basic formula and runs in a completely different direction.

If you haven't seen this film, go find yourself a copy and watch it. Though now it's dated and may seem cheesey or campy, Tourist Trap in my book still holds on to that old school charm that made horror films in the seventies great.

When their car breaks down outside of an out of business Texas mannequin tourist locale , a group of teens run into the mysterious Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors) and ask him for assistance. The mannequins are life-like and hold a very deep and personal connection for Mr. Slausen, who seems to have a love for odd conversation concerning his "dummies".

One by one, people start to drop like the US economy and Mr. Slausen seems to be the last person they suspect. Mr. Slausen seems to possess telekenetic powers (or psychic abilities for the retarded people who don't know what telekenetic means) and can control the mannequins at will. Though this power is never explained, it brings about a level of creepiness to the film and leaves you wondering just what in the Hell is up with Slausen.

The acting isn't bad and Chuck Connors really shines as the reclusive and odd Mr. Slausen. The rest of the cast is alright with their respective characters, but none really stand out to equal the level that Connors brings to the table.

As far as the death sequences, I'm sure that they were wonderful for 1979, but have that dated look and feel now. The gore and blood actually looks pretty good, and the special fx with the mannequins is still pretty good by today's standards. The best thing about the special fx is that it isn't overdone or underdone, but it has the right amount of gore and blood mixed into the story to allow it to be more of a character piece. The sets and locations work with the story and are creepy in their own way. Everything mixed together works really good and comes across as a genuine and solid horror film.

The direction and other technical aspects are good too, but could be a little better. I mentioned the similarity between this and Texas Chainsaw and this is probably my biggest hangup with Tourist Trap. With a little more direction and a tighter script at the beginning, this could have stood the test of time and would probably be getting a remake right about now. Though, it's probably good it's the way it is so that it doesn't get remade and stays the little known cult classic that it is. I can see that movies from the eighties until now have borrowed from this film (ie- Waxwork, Friday the 13th, House of Wax, etc...), which in my book makes it a highly influential film on the horror filmmaker.

All in all, I love this movie. It's got it's good and bad, but more good and not so much bad. Like I said, with a little more tightening near the beginning, it could have came off different, but then again, I didn't make it so who am I to say what it needed? This definately goes down as one of my favorite cult picks and I encourage everyone to check it out.

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