Older and younger people have always been at odds. Older folks feel that younger folks have no interest in learning the “right” way to do things. Younger people feel that older people are too “set in their ways.” However, something very odd is happening on the internet. A “new” horror movie is being discovered. Is it some stylistic gem alaIt Followsthat will forge the genre in a new direction? Is it one of the classics likeFriday the 13thgetting a remake that will be anything less than dreadful? No. It is a movie from 1979 called Tourist Trap that hasMillennialsall aglow and the old folks (people that are older than Millennials) shaking their heads in utter disgust.
To be frank, nothing about theTourist Trapplot could really be described as special. The film has some very unique qualities but the set-up of the story isn’t anything we haven’t already seen. Young people are stranded at a museum. They soon find themselves stalked by the likes of Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors) who is the museum’s crazy caretaker. (As an aside, how come in these films it’s always crazy people that are given these jobs in which they have to be responsible?) He doesn’t carry a meat cleaver or a machete. Rather Slausen’s weapon of his choice is the mannequins that he keeps in a collection. It is this unique device, and the fact that Slausen’s killer is able to use telekinesis, that really separatesTourist Trapfrom being a throwaway horror film.
So why is it is that Millennials have suddenly taken to this film that seemed DOA even when it was released? A search was done to track the grosses onTourist Trap. It seems that this film, like manyslasher movies, came and went almost as soon as it hit theaters in March of 1979. However, cable TV ultimately revivedTourist Trapsomewhat, and apparently there is a fair amount of “underground” interest in all things mannequin.
So why are Millennials so enamored withTourist Trap? Well, unlikeLeatherface, Michael Myers, or Jason Vorhees, the killer inTourist Traptalks. There is a passion to their voice that adds a weight and gravitas to their every word. Okay, Freddy Kreuger also spoke, but much of what he said was in the form of jokes. The killer inTourist Trapdoesn’t really do that. If anything, the IQ level of the killer in this film seems absurdly high. How else to explain how they are able to kill the way they do? Seeing how the murders are set up, the way they are premeditated, that is something that we don’t generally see from “slasher films”. Millennials seem to appreciate that this character breaks the mold. He seems gender neutral which predates the killer in the more laudedSilence of the Lambsby 11 years. In fact, looking at the one sheet for this film you may very well think that the killer is a woman. As an aside, casting the manly Chuck Connors in this non-binary role was a stroke of genius. He plays the role of Mr. Slausen with classic, leading man swagger. Heck, this isThe Riflemanwe’re talking about here! This movie works because it plays on subversion. That is another thing that Millennials seem to appreciate. In fact, it might be the most punk rock thing about them. They are very much into shifting paradigms. What better way to do that than to embrace a horror film that appears miles away from the ones they should consider sacrosanct? It truly seems as if Millennials might see something of themselves inTourist Trap.
Truthfully, Millennials love of this film might simply stem from their well known defiant streak. They refuse to be told what to do. This includes being told what cult movies they should worship and adore. Based off this alone, Millennials will reject the so called classics that Generation X holds so dear. Thus they went out of their way to find a cult movie to call their own. Even thoughTourist Trapcame out in 1979, we haven’t really been hearing much about it since it became a “thing” among the Millennial set. On the face of it, it is easy to dismissTourist Trapas being aHouse of Waxripoff or aTexas Chainsawredo. However, you get 5 minutes into it and you may easily see that it becomes something you haven’t seen before or since. It’s a unique horror movie in every way. It subverts (there’s that word again) the genre with unexpected twists that are easy to embrace.Tourist Trapis as good or perhaps better than the other movies of its era, and no one has really started talking about it until now.
The originalHalloweenis often seen as the film that really kicked off the slasher film craze. This film came out in 1978. After that we gotFriday the 13thin 1980 and all the other 80s horror films that people from my generation still fight tooth and nail for. With the success ofHalloween, it isn’t surprising thatTourist Trapgot lost in the shuffle. However, Millennials probably don’t see much to get excited about withHalloween. They may think the tale is pedestrian. Let’s be honest, for as good as Michael Myers is, is he as clever as Mr. Slausen? Is Jason or Freddy as interesting a killer as that character? For Millennials, Mr. Slausen is the one who should be getting all the glory. He should be the toast of the horror convention and sequel/reboot set.
The biggest problem forTourist Trapnow is maintaining its momentum. The film is so weird and scary that old timers who don’t remember it, or have never seen it, are going to be just as excited to connect with it. Slowly but surely,Tourist Trapwill then feel farmed and franchised. The big question is will the millennials who liked it yesterday still like it in a few weeks? Or, will they drop it like a hot potato which makes it hard to write a piece like this. As I write this story,Tourist Trapfeels like a special club. Will other people be allowed to like a movie that is so yesterday? Especially now that this special club no longer feels special and the fascination is gone?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if there was suddenly a big revival in thePuppet Masterfranchise among the Millennial set? With over ten films in this franchise the Millennials could feed off of it forever. Why is this ironic? Because the first film in this series was kicked off by David Schmoeller who, you guessed it, directedTourist Trap. The movie is currently streaming for free on Youtube. You can watch it here if you have a spare 90 minutes burning a hole in your pocket.
