Tourist Trap (1979)

 Tourist Trap (1979) 

PLOT - A group of friends head down South for a road trip when one of the cars gets a flat tire. Stopping at a nearby gas station/wax museum, they meet the friendly owner who invites them inside to see his lifelike wax figures and displays. It isn't long before they begin to wander about, separating where a masked killer starts a rampage, turning it's victims into the museum's newest attractions. 

LOWDOWN - Tourist Trap was a movie my mother bought for me years ago. I still remember the main reason why she got me this was because I had heard once that Stephen King claimed it was one of his all time favorite movies. This movie I got on DVD and attempted to watch it several times, always shutting it off twenty minutes or so simply always losing interest. Finally, adding this movie to my list I decided enough was enough and sat through it. Believe it or not I was pleasantly surprised.  This is my kind of movie. An odd little place in the middle of nowhere, with tons of creepy figures and puppets. In fact this movie in some strange way seemed like a toss up between House Of Wax (the remake) and the 1970's thriller Magic. Sure it's a little slow, and the ending seemed a little thrown together and crazy…but still, for as simple as the movie was, you can see how many other films that followed borrowed the overall original idea. With a great score by Pino Donaggio (which cracks me up since it seems so upbeat for a horror movie), young and stunning Tanya Roberts as one of the leads, and of course some really creepy scenes involving the puppets and wax statues. It's a little lackluster, but a really cool movie. The type maybe you would show a younger person that wants to get into horror movies. Not a ton of gore, but some really great suspense. Tourist Trap is a perfect movie to watch on a hot summer night to remind you never to stop for gas at a creepy rest stop!

3 stars!