Today we talk about a film with all the mixed-genre trappings of horror, the 1979 film Tourist Trap!
Tourist Trap!
Movie Details:
- Release Date: 1979
- “Run”time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Where to watch it: Streaming
- Directed by: David Schmoeller
- Written by: David Schmoeller & J. Larry Carroll
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors
- Jocelyn Jones
- Jon Van Ness
- Tanya Roberts
Synopsis: A few friends get stuck in a small town and are hunted down by a supernatural slasher type person thing
Open Stab Wounds (out of 10): 6
Review: You got to love early slasher films. A lot can be said about the beginnings of this genre and just how far it’s come.
This brings us to the 1979 horror classic, Tourist Trap. I mean, I think it’s a classic. It’s a movie saw at Blockbuster on the shelf, or heard people talk about. I’d always mentally categorized this along with films like Motel Hell…
To get the summary out of the way quick: 5 friends break down in a little town and find themselves trapped… like tourists in a trap. Here’s where a seemingly supernatural killer haunts the place. If this sounds like the familiar trappings of a slasher film, you’d be right. You can even see some of its influence on later films, for example, the Paris Hilton blockbuster House of Wax.
As a heads up: this review is going to be a little everywhere. Part of that is because the movie is a little everywhere. There are times when the movie seems like a very straightforward slasher flick. Other times, it feels like it’s meant to have little spurts of intentional absurdity. Other times, there’s a supernatural aspect that drives certain scenes. The movie picks and chooses these at disjointed times. Not that this is entirely a bad thing, it’s a 70’s horror film.
If you come into this film understanding that, expecting the low-quality shots, overacted deaths, and grandiose and melodramatic music, then you’re really going to appreciate the experience. I started watching the film and stopped it after a little bit. When I came back, it was with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for what to expect.
The moral: a little expectation management goes a long way.
To talk about the killer, there’s not much of a spoiler. Chuck Connors plays a variety of different types of personas. It’s not a multiple personality; he can shift from sinister to low-key passive aggressive to goofy and beyond. The music compliments these shifts between moods decently, adding in discordant notes to otherwise serene bits of dialogue.
Speaking of the music, I mentioned it previously, but I really like the way it’s used. Although the death scenes go on five times longer than they should (the introductory kill is obnoxiously so), the music does its job with ratcheting up the tension. This makes the absence of music even more noticeable.
Final thought I’ll add is that final shot is a great way to end the movie. The final girl living somewhat happily ever after is heartwarming, to be sure.
Look, this movie is a part of horror history. If you’re not fond of low-budget slashers, this won’t change your mind at all. But for the 70’s absurdity in there, I had a good time.
KEVIN’S THOUGHTS:
There are just some 70’s horror flicks that make you go “Wow! They were on some crazy drugs!” This was definitely one of those. It felt like I was watching a bizarre, live action, extended episode of Scooby-Doo. The acting was so over the top, the music was dramatic as can be, and each death scene was probably three times longer than necessary. One part slasher, one part supernatural, and all parts 70’s. Films like this really make me appreciate how far the craft has come.
7 out of 10
Thanks for reading and watching along with us! Be sure to keep up with all 31 days of our Halloween Horror Film coverage!
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