Halloween Horrorfest 2018: TOURIST TRAP (1979)

I haven’t watched this one is a long time--the last time I think I saw it was on an episode of USA Up All Night at least two decades ago...or I think it was USA Up All Night; I’m really unsure as to that fact.

But boy, did I remember it...one scene in particular stuck with me for a long time.  And watching it now, it still has its charms, even if it’s not as super-scary as I once thought it was.

This is the first collaboration between producer Charles Band, who would go on to create Full Moon Features, and writer/director David Schmoeller, who would go on to create the Puppet Master series.  It actually serves as a template for the Full Moon ‘brand,’ for even though this film is self-consciously Psycho-esque--If you’ve ever wondered what Norman Bates would be like if he was telekinetic and had a thing for creepy-ass mannequins, this is for you--there’s a large dollop of Quirk spread liberally throughout the film’s 85 minutes running time.  Every time you think you’ve got this film figured out, Smoeller cuts to a scene where the designated slasher ‘Davey’ is having a meal and a conversation with one of his mannequin ‘family’ that sets you off-kilter.

There’s no characterization of the quartet (it used to be a quintet, but the other male in the group is killed in the opening sequence) of young people who end up at ‘Slausen’s Lost Oasis’ save for the fact that two of the three girls wear shorts and skimpy tops, whereas the other one wears a knee-length white dress and heels.  Not surprisingly, it seems that Molly, the girl in the white dress, is our Designated Final Girl and it’s a pity, because she’s played by Jocelyn Jones, an actress whose only technique is to bug out her eyes and whine.  She’s not as vibrant as either Eileen (‘Robin Sherwood’--I’m sorry, but I don’t believe she was born with that name) and Becky (Tanya Roberts, who wears the most heroically revealing-while-still-appearing modest tube top and apparently hates shoes), and I think that’s more the actresses and the outfits themselves instead of the characterization.  They’re there just so we have a kill every twenty minutes or so, and to discover things about the plot, some of which never go anywhere (that realistic-feeling mannequin of Slausen’s dead wife that may be the actual wife stuffed and mounted?  Never addressed...)

But the weirdness of the film serve to keep it watchable.  Schmoeller taps into our innate distrust of mannequins, and frequently cuts to shots of the many statues moving ever-so-slightly, or appearing in one shot then disappearing in the next.  ‘Davey’ himself is a pretty compelling slasher, with his mannequin masks and propensity for switching personalities at a drop of a hat, even though his true nature is apparent very early on. And there’s a point in the last act where Schmoeller washes his hands of any logic in favor of total surrealism.  It also helps that Chuck Conners is largely responsible for much of the weirdness, as the man seems to be having a ball exploding his on-screen persona.  Tourist Trap’s running time is just short enough that the wild switches in tone doesn’t interfere with us enjoying the film.

Wait, what?  That scene...it’s shorter than I remembered it being, and I didn’t remember that the victim’s friends are forced to watch the kill, but it’s still effective.  It involves a lot of Plaster of Paris and the death isn’t for the reason you thought it would be.  I don’t want to go into details, as it’s the centerpiece of the movie, but it’s real scary on its own.

I would recommend this film, especially if you’re interested in the history of indie horror.  It’s a chance to see a major player in the direct-to-video horror boom of the late 80‘s and 90‘s in its nascent form.  And it’s got One Great Scene.

You can still head over to my Twitter Page to vote on tomorrow’s Halloween Horrorfest Movie of the Day.  There’s only two votes as of this writing, so there’s a chance your vote will be a tie-breaker.  There’s even a choice you can make if you want to hurt me emotionally!