Tourist Trap (1979) – Film Review

Director: David Schmoeller
Cast: Chuck Connors, Jocelyn Jones, Jon Van Ness
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

They say that less is more, but clearly that’s a lesson the makers of Tourist Trap never bothered to learn.

Co-produced by horror legend Charles Band and directed by David Schmoeller from a screenplay he co-wrote with J Larry Carroll, it’s a smorgasbord of genre delights set at Slausen’s Lost Oasis, the tourist trap of the title.

Supposedly a once thriving attraction featuring life-size models and diorama, it has fallen into obscurity following the arrival of a highway which means that travellers no longer pass its entrance. Well, not unless they’ve broken down while driving along a secluded road and are in need of assistance anyway.

“Blowout”

Eileen and her boyfriend Woody are en route to a break with their friends when their car has a blowout. Woody goes off to find a garage, but never returns. Eileen, meanwhile, is picked up by their pals Becky, Jerry and Molly who are in a different vehicle.

When that too breaks down, they end up at Slausen’s, where its owner, Mr Slausen, initially appears to be friendly, open and willing to lend a hand. However, it soon becomes clear he is hiding a dark secret, and despite his efforts to warn his visitors not to go wandering about, they can’t help investigating their surroundings – and immediately wish they hadn’t…

Most of the cast are young unknowns (although Tanya Roberts would eventually find fame as Julie in the final season of Charlie’s Angels and as a Bond girl in A View to a Kill), which makes it all rather more interesting – there is no star presence to give away who will live and who may die.

“Rather inventive”

Mr Slausen, meanwhile, is portrayed by veteran star Chuck Connors, who appears to be having the time of his life; according to an interview in the special features with Jocelyn Jones, who plays Molly, he was a delight on set too, despite – or perhaps because of – the fact his role is so far away from those he played in his heyday during the 1950s.

The film itself has elements of Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, House of Wax and Halloween all thrown together – there may be even more homages I’ve missed too. Thankfully that doesn’t make it messy; instead, it’s rather inventive, with director Schmoeller making the most of what must have been a meagre budget.