Tourist Trap (1979)

Running Time: 90 minutes

Release Date: March 16, 1979

Review by: Adam

 

That one movie that captures your attention.  That develops your love for a film genre.  That births an everlasting fear.  That stays in the darkest crawls of your mind.  That stars The Rifleman, a very young Midge Pinciotti, and OH MY GOD GET THOSE DAMNED MANNEQUINS AWAY FROM ME.

 

“Tourist Trap” was the first movie I can remember sitting on a Saturday afternoon with my father watching on the tube (televisions were tube based at one point, had UHF and VHF stations, usually had some foil somewhere, and “remote” was “Hey Boy…”).  It starts simply, car gets a flat tire, girlfriend stays with the car, boyfriend rolls said tire down the road until he finds a service station (abandoned).  Ignoring the broken windows and the fact that there is not a single vehicle there, boyfriend strides on inside and begins calling out to obviously no one, respecting not one space in this building.  Suddenly, doors lock, windows shut, things start flying out of the cabinet, and MANNEQUINS COME OUT OF NOWHERE WITH DETACHABLE MARIONETTE JAWS LAUGHING AT HIM.  All scored to a Wonderful World of Disney rejected soundtrack.  Hooked?  Your answer should be “yes.”

A story fleshed around an out of business hotel/wax museum, teenagers, another broken-down vehicle, a pond (with water moccasins), and a family that may or may not have telekinesis, all held together handsomely by Mr. Chuck Connors.  Acting?  Flawless.  Special effects?  Priceless.  Mannequins?  FOREVER CREEPY.  This movie started out as a childhood favorite freak-out for me, but years later with much more adult (cynical) eyes, I’ve come to understand why I love this movie so much.  Connors owns every bit of his character Mr. Slausen, not stealing, but carrying scenes, bringing out the best in each actor in front of the camera.  And his use of staging allows the director to light, point, and shoot, without having the camera take the viewer by the hand and lead them to every plot point (an art I feel seems to be getting lost, trusting your viewer is paying attention).  And direction?  David Schmoeller (Puppet Master, Crawlspace) was re-making his Senior Film short project for an actual movie house, and you can tell every shot was long thought and planned by him before going into actual filming.  There’s passion in this movie, and every time I watch it, I still feel it coming off the screen.

Do me a favor.  If you’ve never seen “Tourist Trap,” go watch it.  If you have and you think it’s terrible, re-watch it.  Take it all in.  And after you do, come back and thank me.  Possibly for turning you on to a new horror movie favorite, or possibly for ruining your ability to ever look at an EVIL GOD FORESAKEN MANNEQUIN AGAIN.  But no matter what, you’ll have to agree that this goes down in the books as having one of the best final scenes in a horror movie.  And if you don’t agree?  You can buy me a gin cocktail and I’ll explain to you why you are wrong.

5/5 mannequin heads

 

Check out the trailer here!