The Funhouse (1981)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Starring Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, Sylvia Miles, William Finley, and Kevin Conway
After an opening that rips off the opening to Halloween, we find that nobody is getting murdered. It is just a brother and sister making each other miserable. The older sister, Amy, goes to a rather sordid carnival against her father’s wishes. She goes with her boyfriend Buzz, her friend Liz, and Liz’s boyfriend Richie. They smoke pot, ride the rides, go to the carnival strip show, make trouble for a fortune teller, and visit the sideshow freaks exhibit. The group is having a ball when Richie gets an idea: stay overnight in the funhouse. Their night takes a decidedly downward turn when they witness the deformed ride assistant, Gunther, proposition and murder the fortuneteller. Before doing the smart thing and running, Richie steals Gunther’s whoring money. With Gunther enraged and his father not too far behind him, Amy and her friends have to escape a family that kills plenty of strangers in their funhouse.
The characters are your standard teenage slasher-fodder, carny stereotypes, and dysfunctional families. None are particularly interesting, but the actors do their best with what they are given. The creature is the real center of the movie, presented as both monstrous and mistreated. The first appearance of Gunther is him in a Frankenstein suit, which really sets the tone for his arc. Conrad, Gunther’s father and the carnival barker, has the queasy charm of a cult leader. The pair make for good antagonists that you love to despise. Unfortunately, no other character has that kind of forethought put into them.
The makeup and overall design of Gunther is fascinating. He is deformed and fanged, with wisps of white hair going everywhere. He drools near uncontrollably and has a harelip that seems to go into his forehead. And even though it is just a mask and some makeup, those bright pink eyes are unsettling and emotive. The kill makeup gets the job done, but the real cool thing is how amusement rides are used. The teenagers are systematically dispatched with props, rail cars, and all manner of funhouse paraphernalia. It adds some welcome dark humor to the movie, especially since you probably have not been taking it seriously.
Hooper is a talented director and that does show through in The Funhouse. He knows how to make a slow burn feel like no time at all. The first half of the movie is spent following the teens around the carnival and taking in its seedy wonders. The people who go there do not seem right, the barkers are a little too pushy, and the sideshows are genuinely creepy. By the time the group gets to the funhouse you feel ready for anything. Even if you know Hooper’s filmography, you are not expecting a family relationship straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From there, the movie lets you see some truly nasty work. And then there is that fat, laughing lady animatronic outside the funhouse. That thing is just disturbing.
Overall, The Funhouse is an enjoyable little flick. It is not the best Tobe Hooper movie, nor is it the best horror movie about carnivals. It is a good choice if you are brave enough to try something new the next time you are on Netflix.
7 out of 10
