one oddest strikingly eerie creepy horror films come s tourist trap even loose freewheeling conventiondefying anything goes standards time rates real weirdie yet pictures strangeness  masterfully mounted uncanny atmosphere pervasively offkilter supernatural dread getgo registers powerfully spooky becomes increasingly opaque frightening film progresses offering ample shocks amid scattered moments surreally lovely dreamlike elegance ending bitterly ironic crushingly nihilistic note haunting final image thats hard shake  makes unique singularly unnerving experiencebr br five teenagers traveling desolate california desert car get hopelessly lost stumble across slausens lost oasis seedy rundown roadside dive thats one part gas station three parts crummy wax museum parts ratty foreboding joints lonely seemingly friendless harmless owner slausen juicily overplayed infectiously hammy brio chuck conners turns deranged psychic killer lethal telekinetic powers slausen brings freaky assortment uncomfortably humanlike mannequins life picks kids one one add evergrowing collection victimsbr br director david puppermaster the arrival schmoeller adeptly wrings every last ounce tension squeeze pleasingly ambiguous openended script cowrote j larry carroll said scripts stubborn refusal provide rational excuse bizarre stuff transpires throughout movie often wrongly criticized one films principal weaknesses actually movies key strength giving picture scary anythingandeverythingcanhappen commonlogicbedamned quality true nightmare come horrifically life never would achieved kind credible explanation offered whats happening pino donaggios beautifully chilling understated score nicholas von sternbergs shadowy cinematography robert a burns grubby cramped production design add immensely films profoundly unsettling mood excellent performances another significant plus pretty perky jocelyn jones elliejo turner the great texas dynamite chase particularly fine personable resilient sympathetic endangered teens even tanya roberts fares well luckless lass knife levitated head offbeat unusual tourist trap well worth visiting