The Funhouse (1981)

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The first must-see film of the year.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A good popcorn horror. I sat there and ate food whilst this scary movie took me on a hellish night. The main girl is pretty and the main monster hideous. It works really well. The early parts of the movie seemed a little dull in places and there weren't enough killings but it was gruesome with some shocks.

This film goes to show how stringent the English film board was back in the eighties as this got an X certificate on release and then ended up banned... and now in its UNCUT version, it rates a 15 certificate.To be truthful though, after watching - and still viewing - the video nasties list I cannot understand why or how this film achieved a banned status. In Tobe Hooper's other banned film Eaten Alive there are scene's of torture and animal cruelty, whereas in Funhouse there's nothing along these lines. In fact, this is pretty standard fayre in the slasher mould.You have a deformed man who is unable to find love due to his looks and personality buying sexual favours from the carnival's fortune teller. Unfortunately, for her, he finishes prematurely and when she demands money for services rendered he gets upset... and she gets dead. This interlude is viewed by four teenagers who thought it would be fun to hide out in the ghost train. Of course, one of them makes a noise and draws the attention of the deformed killer who must dispatch them to keep his secret safe.Though the concept is good its development onto film is strained. As most of the action takes place in a limited area Tobe Hooper should have tried to develop a tension of claustrophobia as our witnesses find it increasingly difficult to escape the funhouse. However, the carny ride appears massive and unending - could it be a Gallifreyan Time Machine(?) For me, there wasn't enough tension or excitement and at times I found my attention drifting.The actors are above average and cope well with building their characters and making them realistic, though none of them stands out above the others. It would have been nice to have been introduced to some of the major characters back stories and more personal insights so the viewers could relate to them a little more. This would make their murders more emotionally stronger and bring the viewer into the story more.There is one brilliant thing about this film and the writer, Lawrence Block, and the director should have tried to work it into the story more as it would have added more depth, mystery, and paranormal atmospheres if done correctly. At each of the carnival's rides and shows, there's a barker shouting the attractions merits to entice the people in. Though the barkers are constantly at their positions and could not be the same person, each one is played by Kevin Conway. This is a subtle thing that when spotted adds a mysterious element to the story, which is then completely ignored. It's like somebody had an idea but couldn't come up with a suitable resolution to it.This is not a bad film, by any means, it's just average; one of those films you'd watch if you'd not seen it before and there was nothing else on. Worth watching at least once. Not Tobe Hoopers best film and not his worst.

"The Funhouse" has an excellent atmosphere. The opening credits are creepy and i'm not even afraid of carnivals. The film follows a good plot and I enjoyed it overall. Not a lot of gore but the carnival is creepy enough, isn't it? The atmospheric build-up is fascinating. The shots of the carnival really capture a weird and incestuous world which only becomes totally apparent on a second viewing. Hooper really knows his stuff and the ideas contained in this piece are quite remarkable as is the notion of multiple casting of some of the characters. The film revolves around a group of teenagers who decides to spend the night inside a dark ride (The Funhouse) and witness a murder between two members of the circus. After this they are hunted by the by the deformed killer and his father and... well, the rest is the usual nerve wrecking scenes.The cast is great as well. The beautiful Elizabeth Berridge makes a great screen debut. Cooper Huckabee is also good as Berridge's date. Kevin Conway however is the best of the cast, in his sinister performance as he plays a trio of carnival barkers. Kudos also go to makeup artist Rick Baker for one memorable creation! The story moves around a group of teenagers who decide to break into a carnival funhouse and spend the night there for a bit of fun. Soon they're stalked by a ghastly freak from the carnival. "The Funhouse" is no "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" from 1974 or even "Poltergeist", but Tobe Hooper really creates some thrills and a good deal of suspense. The carnival atmosphere that was created for this movie is superb. There is everything you'd see at an 80's carnival - rides, freaks, a funhouse, tents, a striptease show, a fortune teller, everything. The after hours night-time atmosphere is creepy. The mannequins and various props inside the funhouse are very creepy. I like the fat lady prop at the entrance to the fun house. Her laugh is super creepy. If you want to see a largely forgotten horror classic, see this movie. They don't make 'em like this anymore...Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Director Tobe Hooper is not one to have many theatrically released films under his belt but for it's his earliest efforts people seem to remember them the most. Most notably would be The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), but that also means including this one. Although it is not as cleverly crafted nor as strangely terrifying as Mr. Hooper's first outing; it does have some redeemable qualities. The part that works the best to this picture's credit is the idea of which it focuses on. Funhouses are never what they promise, anywhere. The only intent funhouses are made for are to have fun by being creeped out. Nobody really goes there for actual fun and games.Well not according to these characters. Meet Amy (Elizabeth Berridge) a young teen girl looking to have fun with her hotshot boyfriend Buzz (Cooper Huckabee) and two other friends. Together they head out to the local carnival that's running in town and decide to be there snobbish young selves. Adding to that particular attitude is completely ignoring her parents wishes of not attending the carnival since there were some issues with it from the year before. Oh but no harm should come this time, it was all a misunderstanding - sure. Protagonist wise there isn't any particular actor that stands out. Lawrence Block's screenplay is at best average. It has interesting ideas but doesn't bother to conclude them with much closure except for its main plot.Funny thing is that Block only wrote for one other production and that was the failed and now cheap looking Captain America (1990). But perhaps even stranger is that there are various elements to the story that are similar to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Specifically that some characters have the Southern accents, work as a family and do not have normal lives. All very similar to the cannibal family that Leatherface belonged to. The man in charge of this family is The Barker (Kevin Conway - who would play better roles later on his career). Conway is probably the best part when it came to characters but sadly he was underused. Along with Conway were other strange characters that appeared from time to time. An example of this would be of some old preacher woman. And her significance was for?As for the funhouse itself, since that is where our story takes place mostly, it works at times. Some of the vintage props look great because by today they look rather creepy. But there were also other items that felt like something today's funhouses would include too. The best particular scene would be the chase in the basement. That was creepier than the actual funhouse. Andrew Laszlo's cinematography, the guy behind First Blood (1982) got some nice shots of the carnival but once inside the funhouse, nothing was really interesting. John Beal's music was alright occasionally. He did have some creepy tunes but other than that it wasn't very memorable. It's not unwatchable but there are better things to see unless carnivals are truly unsettling to you.The setting can't fail at being creepy because what funhouse isn't? What makes it average though is its non-engaging characters and flimsy writing.