Tourist Trap (1979, David Schmoeller)

Unfortunately, "Tourist Trap" was one I didn't get around to checking out until my adult years. Quite a shame since it clearly seems like a film that would quickly shatter a small child's psyche and scar him for life. That only happened later when I became an alter boy... Where have you been "Tourist Trap"?

Sort of a prelude to the slasher genre that just kicking off around the time, "Tourist Trap" thrusts you into the action right off the bat and literally never lets up until the hilarious final shot of the film. Classic horror set-up already in progress as a group of young friends find themselves with car trouble out in the middle of nowhere. After what can only be described as one of the most memorable opening scenes of 70s horror, the stranded young people get a ride the nearby wax museum for some help. There, they meet a seemingly kind old widower who warns them to steer clear of the adjacent house where his brother Davey apparently resides in solitude. Surely enough, they naive travelers wind up grappling with Davey and ultimately become part of his mannequin collection. Davey, however, is not your standard backwoods psychopath. He happens to possess telekinetic powers which enable him to bring his mannequins to life and do his bidding...

Think "Carrie" combined with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". The killer in "Tourist Trap" looks a lot like Leatherface with is creepy puppet mask and girlie wigs. For PG rated horror flick, "Tourist Trap" brings forth a surprising amount of violence (no nudity) which clearly just goes to show how times have changed over the past 30 years. Not only are PG rated horror films socially unexceptable, but you can't even get a good head stabbing in a PG-13 flick these days! Anyway, I digress... There's a pretty cruel scene in which the killer slathers a woman's face with plaster, gleefully relishing in her struggle and eminent suffocation. Chuck Connors is great in his role and Tanya Roberts is insatiably yummy!

"Tourist Trap" is a very creepy, bizarrely humorous, and undeniably classic film that slasher aficionados will certainly cream their shorts over... 8.5/10