As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....
We recently lost another horror icon in director, Tobe Hooper. Granted, I've never been an overall fan of his body of work, but I can respect what he brought to the terror table. His most notable work, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', has inspired countless film makers and consistently makes the top 10 lists of all time horror films ever made. That's not something that's to be taken lightly and I can't say that I disagree with any of the reviewers who place him on that pedestal. The man brought to life some of the most iconic characters in our beloved genre. Leatherface, alone, is enough to leave a mark, but when you factor in all of the members of his family too.... it's no wonder Tobe was looked at as one of the patriarchs of the modern era. In the course of his time making films, he also brought us 'Poltergeist' and 'Salem's Lot', not too mention so many others. One of his other well known films, was 'The Funhouse'. A film, that up until today, I'd never seen before. Wanting to honor his legacy and to indulge myself in another of his revered pieces of 80's slasher fare, I sat down and fired up this one to see what all the fuss was about.
Taking a different slant on the masked killer trope, Tobe instead opted for a masked killer that was more terrifying with it off, than when it was on. A mutated and deformed man child, who seemed to be more of a confused creature, than a murderous madman. He was being controlled by those around him, only occasionally pushing things to far and killing what he didn't understand. We first meet the creature known only as 'The Monster', while he's dressed up as Frankenstein's monster, helping push the carts into the Funhouse. Our 4 main characters, Buzz, Liz, Richie and Amy are enjoying a night at the carnival, when they decide it would be fun to stay there overnight. What they don't realize, is that they've been followed by Amy's little brother, Joey. He ends up following them and before long, is trapped inside the carnival too. When the friends witness The Monster killing another of the carnival workers, they realize it's time for them to get out quick, before they're his next victim. What they didn't know, until it was too late, was that Richie had stolen the money made from the carnival that night. Pursed by The Monster, they fight to stay alive and try to make it out in one piece.
I can't say that I overly enjoyed this film, but 'The Funhouse' is not without its 80's charm. However, it's severely lacking in regards to some major pacing issues and some incredibly bizarre make up decisions made by Rick Baker. Let's face it, The Monster is a mess. Granted, I get what he was going for, with the foreshadowing of the other freak show animals, having the split faces, but it just ends up looking like a cheap Halloween mask with goo coming out of the mouth. The Monster is also rather puny and not very intimidating. Like a Leatherface knock off, but without the pathos. There is also some heavy borrowing from the original 2 entries in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', in regards to the family dynamic and horror hillbilly stereotype. It's almost as if Tobe was using the same playbook to craft this film, hoping no one would notice the similarities. Perhaps it was unintentional, but it ultimately became a distraction. There were plenty of great moments, like the ax to the head and the use of the animatronics to create jump scares. Sadly, the ending was telegraphed from a mile away and took so long to get to the payoff, that I was wondering why we were waiting for the inevitable to happen? In the end, I found myself not really caring about anyone in the story and was anxious for it to be over. I wish that I hadn't felt this way, considering how long I'd been putting off seeing this film, but it just wasn't one of Tobe's better outings.
Despite my lackluster opinion of 'The Funhouse', it still fares better than several other horror films that came out around the same time. Tobe had a knack for making a very simple and straightforward story line, interesting. There isn't a lot going on in this film, but you feel like there is. The reality of the story is: 4 kids go to a carnival, make a mistake, are chased by a monster and some of them die. The end. It's not an involved plot with giant character arcs or deeper motivations behind our protagonists and antagonists. Everybody is in this film to showcase the Funhouse and to try and scare the audience. I truly believe that with a different monster make up design and a bit longer run time, this could have been so much more than it ultimately was. Not just padded time to increase how long it was, but more flushing out of the characters and maybe even a bit of backstory behind The Monster himself. Perhaps I missed something, while watching it? My personal feelings on this one, is that it's a 2 out of 5 star movie. I'll give it an additional half of a star for the Funhouse design. That was the best part of the film. Tobe had greatness in him and we've seen it in his other works. Unfortunately, this was not one of those films.
If you want to see some other Tobe Hooper films, check out: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' 1 and 2, 'Poltergeist' and 'Salem's Lot'
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