Did this movie scare you as a kid? - Tourist Trap (1979) Discussion

[–] DiabolusPrime 16 years ago

Glad to see I'm not the only one. I was very young when I first saw this movie on cable and it scarred me. It really, really disturbed me. For a good while after seeing it, I was not only creeped out by department store manniquins, but it gave me nightmares and made it very difficult to sleep. For some reason, it was the part where he's chasing Molly with the manniquin head of Woodie by the fence and it's mouth opening by itself and screaming was the one that shook me up the most.

Years later I would discover that my mother-in-law, although older me when she saw it, felt the same way about it. This past weekend, she asked me to bring the DVD over so she could watch it and see if it still scares her the same. She said it didn't scare her as much and was almost laughable at times, but that it still gave her the creeps.

However, today it is one of my favorite horror mivies. In fact, I rate it number 2 on my list. My father and I still quote dialogue from the movie on occasion and I have become so obsessed with it that I have written two songs about it.

Interesting side note; Stephen King claims this as one of his all time favorite horror films.

http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/tourist-trap-chuck-conno rs.jpg

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[–] HikerBoy57 16 years ago

Scared me too!...

I had seen my fair share of horror films as a kid in the 80's, so by the time I saw TOURIST TRAP on TV at about age 14, I would've thought I'd be more resistant to it, being relatively "tame" by horror standards.

Man, was I wrong. This movie freaked me out beyond measure, more than any FRIDAY THE 13th-type slasher flick. It's one of those films that makes you have to glance around and make sure nobody's staring at you when you're alone in the room.

It's still a little campy, but really delivers the chills. I still find mannequins creepy to this day (that old Twilight Zone episode didn't help much either).

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

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[–] rhps2000 16 years ago

Yes, definitely! But what I remember most is the mannequins mouths dropping open with the music or sounds going "Awwwwwww!" or something like that. It was creepy (and weird and funny), but mainly scary.

Sedagive?!!!

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[–] catcherbloq 16 years ago

Hell yes! I was like 7 when I saw it on Cinemax. The plaster-over-the-girl's-face scene haunts me to this day.

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[–] KaufmanIsAlive 15 years ago

I rented this over and over when I was a kid, yes my parents agreed with that. I was a fan of horror movies back then.

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[–] Reservoir69 15 years ago

This one messed me up as a kid. It gave me some great nightmares. The only other flick that came close to this one was Let's Scare Jessica to Death. Watched both recently as I knew they weren't as scary as a kid. They both were great and brought scary images that were in my head as a kid. The common theme that I saw was that the hero didn't die at the end but was a mental basket case from the experience. I think that is what made it even more memorable and scary.

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[–] startide77 15 years ago

As a kid? No. As an adult, hell yes!

This is easily one of the most unsettling films I've ever seen. Debatable as to whether I'd call it "scary" or not, but very creepy. Some scenes do make me wonder why on earth it got a PG rating in the US.

You can rest your mind at last, you've resolved the horrors past...

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[–] keith_xyz 11 years ago

Me, 2! When I was a boy, I came across this while channel surfing & the scene of the girl get slowly covered in the face w/ plaster still resonates in my memory. I don't no y I didn't turn away; I guess watching a gradual "torture-then-kill" scene captivated me as per horror film.

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[–] patkelly12 8 years ago

Add myself to this list. I remember channel surfing cable as a kid during the early 80s and coming across this scene and it scared the crap out of me. The scene stuck with me. For the last several years I searched the internet trying to find out what movie this was and today I have found it. My search is over!!

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[–] daughterofolaf 8 years ago

Scared me as an adult. I never saw it as a kid.

"Why couldn't the monkey arrange this from INSIDE the garbage can?"

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[–] leishayoung 7 years ago

Oh yes, yes it did. Especially when the guy in the doll mask pops up and says "see my doll!", that just sent shivers down my spine as a kid LOL!

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I didn't ever see it as a kid. I wasn't aware of its existence until a couple of years ago. This is a downright creepy movie with such a weird and unique premise. I bet it scared the crap out of a lot of kids.

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[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 5 years ago

The masks did freak me out when I saw it in the late 80's

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[–] nte1igentwon (933) 5 years ago

Saw it as a young kid in the early 80's. Connors plastering over a victims face stood out so much I was confused when I watched it years later because I totally forgot about the telekinesis.

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