30 September Slashers: Day 8-Funhouse

When you are asked to name the heavyweight directors of horror cinema over the last twenty years, there are a handful of names that always seem to come up.  Among the names mentioned is usually always the great Tobe Hooper.  While his films Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist are always mentioned in horror top film lists, he has several great films that rarely get mentioned.  On day 8 of 30 September Slashers, we will look at one of those films, the 1981 slasher classic The Funhouse.

Day 8: As promised….The Funhouse

Sometimes the plot and characters of a film can really take a backseat to the production value of a film and that is defiantly true in this case.  Four teens go to a carnival and decide to stay the night in a funhouse(great idea…not).  While in the funhouse, they witness a brutal murder at the hands of a deformed carnie.  They must try and escape the funhouse or face sure death at the hands of the Quasimodo like character and his father.

I had a damn good time watching this film and the horror doesn’t actually start until about the 60 minute mark(the film is only  90 minutes).  So what was it that kept my attention?  The production value was fantastic and the tone of the film hearkened back to the Universal Monster classics.  Gone is the gritty look of Hooper films like Texas Chainsaw and Eaten Alive and it is replaced with a slick looking film that showcases the workings of a thirties style carnival, complete with dancing girls, a barnyard freakshow, and fortune tellers.

The two villains in the film were scary and the father of the deformed carnie’s acting was a notch above the rest but the real star of the film was the Funhouse itself.  From the King Kong mouth, to the track laden with dummies waiting to pop out, the house not only invoked fear but laughs as well.  In fact, that’s what a real Funhouse is supposed to do isn’t it?

In short, if your looking for a film that had quick scares and has a high body count, this probably isn’t the film for you but if your willing to be patient and have your eyes be treated to a great looking piece of cinema, then by all means you should give this one a shot.  I hope your ready to play a game tomorrow because our 9^th day we will take a look at the 1986 film Truth or Dare.

The Funhouse on Netflix