Anonymous Andy (Minus_The_Beer) "Every year young people disappear ..."So goes the tagline to "Tourist Trap" and so goes the concept of countless other slasher movies from the 1970s and beyond. What sets this late '70s oddity aside from competition, however, is the pure nightmare fuel of mannequins coming to life via telekinesis. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. This instantly memorable slice of frightful nostalgia comes via producer Irwin Yablans, who previously helped bring John Carpenter's "Halloween" to the public consciousness. "Tourist Trap," unlike the wave of imitators that would arrive in the wake of Carpenter's classic, takes a page instead from Tobe Hooper's seminal "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and veers away from typical stalk & slash fare. Like "Chain Saw," It is a gritty, ugly and ultimately an undeniably humorous offering of macabre madness.Stranded by the side of the road (aren't they always), a group of young folk are taken in by an odd yet seemingly well-meaning owner of a local, deserted tourist attraction, played to perfection by Chuck Conners. Soon it becomes clear why the attraction to this spot has all but dried up: turns out someone next door is killing wayward souls and fashioning them into a small army of killer mannequins! Faster than plaster drying on a face, this horrifying discovery takes these unlucky ladies and lads on a trip they won't soon forget -- assuming they can live through it.Directed by "Puppet Master" director David Schmoeller and co- produced by Charles Band (the guy who founded Full Moon pictures, and has been throwing countless "Puppet Master" sequels and knock- offs at us for decades now), "Tourist Trap" has an almost instantly lived-in vibe about it. From the strains of Pino Donaggio's bizarre yet familiar score to the horrific yet low-budget effects, this is definitely a Full Moon production of the highest order. Chuck Conners is brilliant as the unassuming, seemingly friendly elder, while the kids -- lead by future Bond Girl, Tanya Roberts -- are surprisingly organic and sympathetic, in spite of the limited amount of set up they are given. A film chock full of visuals you won't soon forget (especially that infectiously grin-inducing final frame), "Tourist Trap" is bound to leave an impression on anyone from any walk of life who finds themselves attracted to it. And to cap it all off, it's rated a measly PG!

David Marcos After many of my friends recommended this to me, I figured I had to check it out, so I bought the (relatively) new Blu-Ray release, settled in for the night, and checked it out. To my surprise, Tourist Trap lives up to its hype and then some. One can see why it never became a huge mainstream success like, say, Jaws or Halloween, but it has all the makings of a cult classic.The set up is nothing spectacular. In fact, it owes a lot of its plot to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, and House of Wax (even more surprising, the 2005 remake of that film is more of a remake of Tourist Trap than the '53 film). What makes this one stand out from the then growing slasher genre is a sense of the surreal, the dreamlike, and the nightmarish. Attractive teens aren't just killed one by one by some creep in a mask. There's a lot more at play here than your average stalk 'n slash flick. By the last 20 minutes of the film, everything seems like a bizarre fever dream and hope is a thing of the past.A lot should be said for Jocelyn Jones' wonderful performance - going from kind wallflower to woman in the process of a nervous breakdown. Chuck Connors is also terrific as Mr. Slausen, the owner of the titular Tourist Trap whose motives seem to always be up in the air. And yes, that's future Charlie's Angel, Tanya Roberts, as one of the other victims.For those looking for something creepy and different, Tourist Trap delivers in spades. Perfect for a Halloween party or even for a kid's first horror film (it is rated PG after all).

punishmentpark Putting a telekinesis spin on the slasher genre, how inventive and well done! Well, maybe 'Carrie' (and other horrors) did just the same thing, but still this feels quite different somehow.Big log Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors) never seems quite as innocent as he'd like to suggest, so unfortunately there's no big surprise there. But when he puts on that weird voice and starts babbling about all sorts of things, it didn't work for me at all.Which leaves me with only a couple of terrific telekinesis kill scenes and a lot prancing about of the victims - which is doable because of the cute ladies.6 out of 10.

Anaraksoasis I had only recently heard about this little gem, though when I learned it was PG-13, I was a little wary of it. My experience with PG horrors has been not so good. Initially what really made me interested in this flick was the idea of evil mannequin's. I find mannequin's and old dolls mucho creepy. Yeah, yeah. Bite me! The cover art for this film sold me with that scary arse mannequin. Yeah I was interested. When I finally got around to watching it, I was nicely surprised. This flick be good yo! The story from a glance may seem silly. A bumpkin with telekinetic powers uses mannequin's to murder people and then turn them into mannequin's. Oddly enough, it works. The choice to not really explain why the guy has these powers and how they work was a brilliant move. Some thing's don't have an explanation, they just are. This makes things creepier. The acting is decent for a low budget film, and the girls are very nice to look at, especially the short shorts, tube top wearing Tanya Roberts (Shame we couldn't get a nude shot). Chuck Conners, however, stole this flick. Dude really hams it up but never in a bad way. He turned up the creep factor when it was needed. You can tell dude had a good time making this.There's not a lot of blood in this one, but there doesn't need to be. The mannequin's supply all the scares. They were cheap looking, but for some reason that just enhanced their creepiness. I loved how they would turn into living people,then quickly back into mannequin's. Good stuff! The score really worked well for this flick too. Eerie as hell.Is this a horror masterpiece? Naw, but it's a good flick and deserves more recognition. Eventually Hollywood will sink their grubby fingers into this one and make a remake which will probably blow, but at least a spotlight will be put on the original and horror fans will get to enjoy this one. Give it a watch, you may never view store mannequin's the same again!