Produced by Charles Band, Scored by Pino Donaggio who scored Joe Dante's Piranha, directed by David Schmoeller who gave us Puppet Master, set designs and FX by the man who did Texas Chainsaw Massacre and starring Midge from That 70's Show. What insanity could be wrought by this amalgamation of awesome? Tourist Trap! Not your average Slasher film as it has a supernatural element to it! Not only do our youths traveling through the back ways of America have to deal with a psychotic killer that seems like Norman Bates and Leatherface combined with the voice of Willam Dafoe's Green Goblin, but his horde of killer Mannequins that he wills to life with his telekinetic powers! This movie is bonkers fun and approved by Stephen King himself! 
Eileen and Woody get a flat tire while driving through the desert making Woody leave the car in search of a gas station. Their friends Becky, Jerry and Molly find Eileen on the side of the road and give her a lift in hopes of finding Woody on the way. Woody comes across a gas station and as he goes in it seems abandoned. He is locked into a back room by an unknown force as Mannequins begin popping through the windows and out of doors laughing at him maniacally as the room begins shaking and things are thrown around at him, eventually impaling him through a door on a pipe dripping blood out of the pipe hole. As the others continue to look for Woody, they come across a beautiful hot spring and the girls take a dip and bump into weird old Mr. Slausen. Slausen agrees to help repair the car and takes them back to his home which is a Tourist Trap along the road. It's filled with many lifelike animatronic mannequins that he shows off to them. He and Jerry leave the girls in the museum as they go fix the car, as the girls wander around they discover some of the mannequins are a lot more alive then they thought haunting them and killing them through the night one by one. 
This movie starts off with one of the most weird introductory songs as the credits roll with the sounds of whistles and wood blocks that make you wonder what kind of movie you're getting into. Then it opens to a bright beautiful day to the broken down car as we watch Woody make his way to the gas station and then all hell breaks loose. The scene where Woody is killed by an invisible force is so creepy it's almost like when all the furniture in Evil Dead 2 started laughing at Ash only in this version they throw bottles and tools at him and eventually kill him. The low budget really plays these scenes very well too as its all practical and looks dirty. When you watch things fly out of a cabinet and actually hit a guy you just don't get the sense of urgency and stress with CGI. 
The slasher himself is really cool looking reminiscent of Leatherface's mask except the mask is made up of a clay that covers his face like a doll face and he has a strange theatrical kind of outfit. He straight up sounds like Willam Dafoe's Green Goblin and it's super eerie and disturbing. His best scene is probably when he has the kids locked up in his basement and one of them is set on the table tied down as he talks about how he won't killer her but make her one of his mannequins. He covers her face with the molding clay until it completely covers her nostrils and mouth saying that her heart will explode and there's a great sound effect of her heart beating as she struggles for air then finally stops. As the film goes on he even turns some of the kids into his mannequins and uses them to trick the others by making them come to life with his powers.
While the slasher himself is really cool the Mannequins really are what sell this movie. They themselves are an extension of the slasher as he uses his powers to make them come to life, to watch the victims and to terrify them. The Mannequin FX are a combination of excellently sculpted pieces and people in suits which throughout the film switch those two styles really keeping you guessing when a character walks into a room which Mannequin will attack. Scenes where every mannequin in the room moves to some extent, eyes moving watching the victims, arms moving to grab and then you are misdirected when another one comes out for the kill! My favorite mannequin kill has to be when one of the victims is trying to get out of a room and the mannequins armed with guns begin shooting at her as she dodges each bullet she is finally done in by an Indian Chief Mannequin who throws an axe to her head! 
For the directorial debut by David Schmoeller based on one of his student films this thing is a blast and is chock full of ideas that sets it apart from normal slasher fare. The Donaggio score starts from eccentric to chilling as the movie progresses and I love how it throws you off in the beginning. Plus it's so crazy to see a young Tanya Roberts (Midge) fight for her life in this mannequin hell hole after watching That 70's Show. If you ever catch yourself watching the 2007 House of Wax remake you've basically seen the Tourist Trap remake but without the supernatural element, it's so weird how much alike the two films are, but I say check out Tourist Trap first because where else are you going to get a killer throwing screaming heads at you that sound like your friends he's killed? Those screaming heads will haunt you forever.
28 Days til' Halloween! Halloween!
28 Days til' Halloween! Silver Shamrock!
