I’ve always felt that the 1979 horror film Tourist Trap (watch it HERE) deserves a lot more respect and attention than it gets – and that star Chuck Connors (best known for The Rifleman) deserved the “genre icon” career he was aiming for when he signed on for the movie. Barbara Crampton is someone who did achieve a genre icon career, and she clearly believes there was something great going on with Tourist Trap, because our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that she is producing a remake of the film!
Crampton is the Vice President of Production & Development at Alliance Media Partners, and the company has just acquired the rights to make a new version of Tourist Trap. Crampton will be producing the film alongside Bob Portal, who is AMP’s Managing Director & Head of Production.
Produced by Full Moon founder Charles Band, the original Tourist Trap stars Connors as Mr. Slausen, a telekinetic psychopath who lures a group of young people to his ramshackle roadside attraction, unleashing an army of psychically controlled mannequins and other monstrosities upon them. As the terrified youths fight for their lives, secrets are revealed and shock follows shock until the movie reaches its nightmarish, unforgettable finale.
Connor’s co-stars include Jocelyn Jones (The Enforcer), Tanya Roberts (The Beastmaster), and Robin Sherwood (Death Wish II). Robert A. Burns of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes fame provided the art direction, and the film boasts a score by Pino Donaggio (Don’t Look Now, Carrie, Dressed to Kill). David Schmoeller – who would go on to helm Puppet Master – directed Tourist Trap from a screenplay he wrote with J. Larry Carroll, who had worked as an editor on both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes.
Are you a fan of Tourist Trap? What do you think of the film getting a remake from producer Barbara Crampton? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
It could be argued that Tourist Trap has already received an unofficial remake, because the 2005 version of House of Wax had a lot more in common with Schmoeller’s film than it did with the movie it took its title from.