Although films about
colorful psychopaths have been around virtually since the beginning of cinema—Lon
Chaney Sr. played madmen throughout the silent era—the “slasher” genre largely
began with the success of Halloween
(1978). Yet while Halloween imaginatively
exploits primal fears, most of the film’s countless imitators simply borrow the
device of a maniac with a distinctive signature menacing young people. Tourist Trap, released in 1979, is
exemplary of where the slasher genre was headed, which is to say it’s ugly
movie with a moronic script. Oddly, however, Tourist Trap avoids two elements prevalent in both Halloween and most of its
knock-offs—gore and nudity. Yes, Tourist
Trap is a PG-rated slasher flick, and yes, that’s as pointless an endeavor
as it sounds. Produced by schlockmeister Charles Band, who never met a penny
he’d rather not spend, the picture begins when a carload of teenagers encounters
an old roadside waxworks run by kooky redneck Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors). One
by one, a killer stalking the waxworks murders the kids, eventually leading to
a long sequence in a torture dungeon, during which the killer encases one of
his victims in wax. Tourist Trap
shamelessly cops from The Mystery of the
Wax Museum (1933) and House of Wax
(1953), both of which are unvarnished pinnacles of cinematic achievement
compared to this silliness. Although co-writer/director David Schmoeller tries
to add a smidgen of psychology by giving the killer long speeches explaining
why he does bad things, across-the-board terrible acting makes it impossible to
care about anything that happens in the flick. Connors is so self-consciously
“weird” that he’s never believable, and the attractive young actors playing the
victims—including future Charlie’s Angels
sexpot Tanya Roberts—whine and whimper their way through scenes of maddeningly stupid
behavior. Adding insult to injury, the filmmakers hired composer Pino Donaggio,
whose score for Carrie (1976) began a
long series of collaborations with Brian De Palma. Donaggio bludgeons Tourist Trap with his usual overbearing sounds, giving this very small movie a
hilariously grandiose sonic attack.
Tourist Trap: LAME
6 comments:
Awwww, come on Peter can't we get maybe a "Lame-ily Funky" on this one? Yes, it's B grade but oh so guilty pleasure fun..come on Halloween's coming!
Yes, I seem to remember enjoying this one too, as part of a Halloween countdown! Dummy mouths were pretty creepy...
This is supposedly one of Stephan King's most favorite horror films.
Peter, you're a tremendous writer, but you need to learn to love the trash.
Yeah despite some acting and budget problems this is a minor lost classic.
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