MovieChat Forums > Tourist Trap (1979) Discussion > I wanted to like this so bad...(minor sp...

I wanted to like this so bad...(minor spoilers?)

posted 16 years ago by webkougra
5 replies | jump to latest

but I couldn't get past the character of Molly. It seemed like she was trying too much to channel the Laurie Strode vestal virgin final girl archetype, and her overacting sucked. She was fine when she talked to Mr. Slausen in the beginning, but when she talks to her friends shes so cautious and weird, plus when she stops Mr. Slausen when she's getting chased, and she's telling him to call the police her acting is so horrible and trying so hard to be scared.

This movie had the setup of texas chainsaw, and a Laurie Strode final girl, but while the setup was good, the final girl fell short. I found myself actually wishing she'd die in a twist or something :/.

Another thing that bothered me was the killer. Once he started talking he lost all his creepiness that he had when he was making odd noises and snickering. Many of the shots where he were talking would have been just as good if they took out his audio. I think it would have been incredibly more scarier.

I guess that's all, I don't know if any of these things bothered anyone else, but they did for me as this movie was so so close to being a new favorite :[.

[–] freudified_n_funkified 15 years ago

That's too bad. This is a weird, weird movie with a great atmosphere and some serious creepiness packed in with the bizarre, tone-jumping stuff.

However, I found Joceyln Jones about on a par with most other horror heroines of the era. The final girl archetype definitely predates Laurie Strode (one of my personal least favorites, talk about wishing someone would die) and since Tourist Trap came out a mere four months after Halloween the production probably didn't overlap Halloween's release, so I can't imagine she was consciously trying to channel or imitate Jamie Lee Curtis.

There's a great moment where Slausen is sitting over her and she's shaking on the floor that the entire thing became kind of real for me. Which, in a movie about telepathically controlled mannequins, is quite a feat.

While it had been around for a while, in '79 the final girl archetype as we know it was still being defined and refined - so I'm not sure she's a "vestial virgin" (which Halloween makes a point of) as much as she is just a fifth wheel in the gang's dynamic. She's clearly not prudish enough to abstain from skinny dipping, she's just unattached to any of the guys. But Slausen definitely zeroed in on the girl he suspected to be most unsullied, and despite her relationshop status - the least independent, so it's kind of a plot point given what his background entailed.

And hey, had she been killed, there wouldn't have been that great final shot. That's a great, gonzo ending.

I have to agree with the killer's dialogue - it would have been scarier to a degree if he had shut up. Except the stuff he was saying was so priclessly weird. It's established from the first murder set piece - hell, from the very conceit of the movie - that the entire thing is kind of left of center from the already typical backwoodsy slasher film, so it didn't bug me too much. The movie bounces, and blurs the line, between horror and absurd comedy so much - Davey's monologues were a big part of that. He's like a neurotic Leatherface. But his speech to the girl he plastered was still pretty chilling.

If you can reconcile the horror with the comedy, and how they really act to contradict one another here, it's a really good watch. The final sequence is really well done and surreal. It doesn't have the bleak nihilism of a Texas Chainsaw, or the expert blend of disparate tones like an Evil Dead 2, but it's an interesting attempt at taking the rural horror story absurd places.

[–] thecultofhorror 15 years ago

I just watched it again and I am glad that both of you had really intelligent things to say about the film.

I agree with the OP in part. When Conners is chasing the girl and he is still talking to her, it changes the tone. If the Conners would have been more quiet, it would have added more a vibe. I felt like the basement scene changed the movie from a 70's Texas Chainsaw similar film to a Herschell Gordon Lewis piece but the ending......the ending was definatley its own creative animal.

I rated it an 8. Flawed with a flawless score.

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[–] WesternEyes05 15 years ago

I completely agree with the OP. I watched this for the first time tonight and felt the exact same way. I don't know if it was just a case of really, really casting the wrong girl for the lead...but, I just couldn't get past the main character's droopy eyed, almost lackadaisical attitude about EVERYTHING! I found her to be far too underwhelming and she didn't have enough spunk for me to root for her.

I feel like Laurie Strode at LEAST had a little bit of personality and despite her innocence and obvious ranking in her social circle (sexually) she was a decently developed heroine for the era. This "survivor girl" was boring and odd.

The movie was creepy though. The Mannequins were freaky. I liked it in a weird way. Total cheese-fest...but, worth the viewing!

[–] KaufmanIsAlive 14 years ago

WTF? stop talking about if this movie is shakespeare, just see it and shut up.

[–] tdigle 14 years ago

Even with the heroine's overacting, I don't think anyone can argue that Chuck Connors was the one that made this film so effectively creepy (along with Donaggio's score).