TOURIST TRAP (1979)
Starring Chuck Connors and Jon Van Ness
An early film from producer Charles Band (of Full Moon Pictures), "Tourist Trap" is a nice, scary 1970s film that's especially fun if you love possessed doll movies.
A group of fun-loving young people (including Tanya Roberts, looking hotter than ever) show up in a ghost town they’re unaware that one of their friends died there earlier, killed by a group of living manicans. Hey, it happens every day.
The party animals run into Connors, the sole owner of a tourist trap, a kind of miniature Disney attraction with robotized manicans etc. Now that the highway's been moved, no one ever comes by the trap anymore (Obvious shades of "Psycho."). He warns them about his insane brother. We, the audience, slowly begin to suspect that his brother is psychic capable of making dolls come to life, chairs move, etc. He also wears a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style mask.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the "twist" ending of this film is. While the story doesn't deliver that much in terms of thrills or suspense, there's something about living manicans that is genuinely scary and Schmoeller milks it for all it's worth. He would go on to direct the original "Puppet Master" for Charles Band.
This film deserves a thumbs up, although it's no masterpiece and certainly doesn't stack up to other '70s gems like "Texas." But it is worth catching if you’re looking for quality horror and run into it at your local video dive.