1979 Directed by David Schmoeller
Their car breaks down and four friends find themselves stranded at The Lost Oasis, a strange museum run by the friendly Mr. Slausen. Even though they are warned not to, the teens explore a house nearby and learn that it belongs to Davey, Mr. Slausen's insane brother. Davey has a knack for making mannequins. In fact, his house is filled with them. Davey's enthusiasm shows when starts adding the teenagers to his collection.
The first movie of The Last Drive-In was the last one I watched because Shudder was having a moment when the stream first started and I couldn’t get it to load. Thankfully, they have added all of the movies with the JBB commentary to the service so we can all enjoy them at any time and that is why they are my favorite streaming service. Also they are a horror service so that’s got a lot to do with me thing they’re the best and I’m sure nobody is surprised there.
This movie is so damn weird and surreal so of course I love it. After watching a million times, the overall impact lessens a bit, but damn there are…
A wonderfully creepy and quirky slasher oddity that ranks near the top of the "disturbing mannequins" sub genre of horror. I hadn't seen this in 5+ years so it was due for a rewatch.
This film has one of my favorite opening scenes. A man stops at a gas station where he discovers a desolate run down shop filled with mannequins. Before we know it shit hits the fan and the mannequins spring to life and start bouncing around while creepily laughing. Random items begin to fly around and it turns into an outrageous and wacky scene. This is a perfect way to set the pace for all the chaotic hijinks to follow.
A group of travellers run into car…
So underwhelmed on re-watch that I don't even know what to say about Tourist Trap other than "I used to like this a lot more than I do now," which is about as boring as the movie--I'm sorry!
Tourist Trap is blatantly cheesy and its low-budget is obvious in almost every scene, but I'll be damned if it's not highly entertaining. Hell, how can you go wrong when your movie features someone as epic as Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) and a host of creepy lifelike mannequins? Just throw in the obligatory group of teenage victims and let the fun ensue! Tourist Trap is one of the most fun and imaginative 70s horror flicks out there and could very well be my favorite of the decade.
"Used to scare the hell out of kids and the Yankee tourists" -local yokel,
It is a commonly known fact that every time a major highway is built, that tourist attractions on minor highways become havens for serial killers. Avoiding that needs to be part of an infrastructure bill.
In this borderline exploitation film, three attractive women and a few guys end up at a place off that main highway and stumbles upon a creepy weird mannequin house with a latex masked killer. The direction is manic, the characters are over the top, the kills are creepy...I like it. Watch if you want to see mannequins singing creepy songs, decapitated screaming heads, and creepy masks.
Chuck Conners kills in this movie. Very creepy mannequins. Weird sequences where real people are mixed with mannequins but you dont really know what is real or fake. The killer also has telekinesis which is a plus. Made me want a dr. Pepper.
70's trash cinema has taught me that tube tops are rarely flattering. With that in mind, I give Tanya Roberts’ performance a 9 out of 10.
Also impressive is how the villain's mask is a perfect synthesis of Leatherface and Michael Myers. It's a detail that, while mildly effective, ultimately belies the calculated and stale nature of the film as a whole. It lacks the wild freedom that horror movies had before Halloween (1977) while also lacking the comforting cliches of 80’s slashers. Chuck Connors is miscast, Jocelyn Jones thanklessly acts circles around those with her, and Pino Donaggio provides a score worthy of a better movie.
I thought this was pretty good until I remembered how boring most of it was. There are enough weird little quirks and cool creepy mannequins to keep it likeable but it's quite underwhelming overall.
Rewatching with the ladyfriend because she missed out on some of Joe Bob Briggs' The Last Drive-In.
I liked it just as much on second viewing.
Takeaways:
- The glockenspiel-heavy piece of music that opens the movie is very fun and I'm fine with it, but it sure does come in at some odd times later!
- That cold open is great.
- Okay, here me out: If I were to remake this (and I WOULD, in a heartbeat) I'd cast Conan O'Brien in the Chuck Connors role. I really think it would work.
- Speaking of, Connors really is great here.
- The masks are legit creepy. Excellent Halloween costume potential here.
- I love how crazy this just keeps getting. When we have a secret-mannequin Jerry at the end, that's pretty much the greatest psyche-out ever. Connors just pulls Jerry's (Jon Van Ness') arm right off his body! So good.
Gegen schlechte Laune hilft nur der Joe Bob Briggs The Last Drive In. Der erste Film des Marathons war Tourist Trap.
Tourist Trap hat für immer einen festen Platz in meinem Herzen. Das hat zwei Gründe. Grund 1: das Poster hat mir immer ein komisches Gefühl bereitet. Nicht wirklich Angst, aber ein Unwohlsein. Unsicherheit, ob ich den Film wirklich schauen sollte. Grund 2: Schmoellers Drehbuch. Zusammen mit J. Larry Carroll hat David Schmoeller ein unglaublich irres Drehbuch geschrieben, bei dem niemand das Finale, der stärkste Part des Films, kommen sieht. Die beiden haben es mit unzähligen Ideen vollgestopft und dann darauf gepfiffen, ob das Ganze wirklich Sinn ergibt.
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