Truly Dreadful Film

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I heard some praise for this "horror" movie for its visuals, setting, and mystery. Wanting a good scare I decided to watch it. The presentation does fulfill the expectations I had. This movie has the motifs of claustrophobic uneasiness in a sparse population, unnerving helplessness, and ambiguities regarding the tourist site host. It is not original but that is not a bad thing. The procedure of murder is similar to "House of Wax," the setting is in secluded place like many dark house horror movies, and it has the gritty aura of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Many wonder why this movie is so underrated and in my opinion it is underrated because despite all of its horror movie elements it was really boring. I did not get scared and it ended up being a search game for the qualities I expected from a horror movie. It fulfilled the expectations of why it should be scary but was ironically not scary. I am not trying to prove that I am super brave and hard to phase. This was my honest reaction from what many consider a "underrated horror movie." I guess it is easy for me to pinpoint many key details and elements that comprise good horror movies. Strangely it is not those qualities that make anyone scared. It depends on how much anyone is willing to believe anything is scary that makes true horror. I can say for myself I watched the movie with the wrong attitude from the start and it will now never be scary for me.

Tourist Trap is a lot like American Gothic (1988) and The Funhouse (1981). It's one of those horror movies you come across when browsing youtube and I really liked it; it's one of those cheesy 80's horror films with some good acting, funny props, a weird storyline and a creepy killer in a secluded place. Tourist Trap adds in elements of sci-fi as well though... the killer has telekinetic powers and his only friends appear to be his countless dolls and mannequins.Tourist Trap is a great movie to check out if you're a horror fan. The soundtrack is kinda funny, kinda creepy, all at once. The acting was decent despite its low budget and the effects were cheesy and outdated but not too bad.

It's actually a pretty good little horror film that does get under your skin. Certainly it gets a lot of mileage out of its use of mannequins. These things have rarely been portrayed in a more off-putting, memorable manner. While this does owe an obvious influence to other horror films of the decade, such as "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", "Carrie", and "Halloween", it's still effective on its own merits. The creation of backwoods atmosphere is impressive, and at the centre of things is a marvelously demented performance by good ol' Chuck Connors as our merry antagonist.Chuck plays Mr. Slausen, proprietor of an out of the way museum who encounters some young adults who have had car trouble. Since the girls have a tendency to be stupid and go wandering off on their own, they're fair game. Unfortunately, Slausen has a younger brother, Davey, who's prowling around the premises, and soon these city slickers will find out just how much trouble they're in.Some nifty, and sinister, touches and twists make a difference in this directing credit for David Schmoeller, who also co-wrote the screenplay with J. Larry Carroll. Another heavy asset is the sometimes comical but often genuinely spooky music score by the always reliable Pino Donaggio. Other talents behind the camera include cinematographer Nicholas Josef von Sternberg, art director Robert A. Burns, and editor Ted Nicolaou; the latter two, of course, had actually worked on "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre".The victims may be daft but the actors at least do a decent job. Jocelyn Jones ("The Great Texas Dynamite Chase"), daughter of the great character actor Henry Jones, is appealing as Molly, while Robin Sherwood ("Death Wish II") and Tanya Roberts ('Charlie's Angels') offer some sass as Eileen and Becky. But Chuck is the glue that holds all of this together; he's a wonderful psycho and is even touching at times.Worth it just for a particular death scene, which is really quite disturbing.Future "Tremors" and "City Slickers" director Ron Underwood was the first assistant director here.Seven out of 10.

Recently rewatched this and I was amazed by how well it still holds up. This movie is heavy with atmosphere and memorable scares that are heightened by the creepy, discordant score performed by Pino Donaggio. Former pro baseball player, Chuck Connors, is both menacing and unassuming in a way that is reminiscent of Perkins in Psycho. It's a shame that he didn't get to act in more horror films as he certainly had an intense physical presence on the screen. David Schmoeller - who later went on to direct Puppet Master - shows a real mastery of his craft in his directing debut, albeit with moments of unintentional cheese, but these only add to the overall charm of the film. As expected, the scene when the woman's face is covered in plaster is still as anxiety inducing as it was the first time I saw it.Glad this is finally being put out on blu-ray . Hoping that it gets rediscovered and achieves the popularity it deserves.