In 1974, an up-and-coming director Tobe Hooper delivered one of the most frightening and disturbing movies of all time. It was rated the second scariest film ever made by “Entertainment Weekley” and was banned in many countries across the globe. It was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A few years after the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe would go on to direct a few more movies before coming to a stop with a movie based around your average carnival (well in the 80’s). Again, Tobe Cooper would redeem himself, introducing us to a movie with a very real and possible story. This, like many other horror movies released during this era, have been forgotten and sold off in discount bins marked $.99. Well just because they’ve been forgotten, doesn’t mean theyre not any good, I introduce The Funhouse.
Story:
Four teens set out on a double date to visit a carnival just outside their local town. After walking around and seeing the attractions, the four decide to stay the night, hidden within the funhouse amusement ride. This soon becomes a mistake, as they witness a murder committed by one of the carny folk who hides his face behind a mask of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. Before they know it, they are running for their lives while the masked villain stalks them, knocking them off one by one.
Characters:
This movie works on many levels, one in particular is reducing the amount of characters within the film, and paying attention to the four who must get out of the fun house before it’s to late. You have the very attractive and talented lead Amy played by Elizabeth Berridge. Her natural look and “innocence” make her a very believable average teen back in the 80’s. We also have Cooper Huckabee playing her boyfriend Buzz Dawson, the one you would expect to be the captain of the foot ball team and classic “bad boy”. Largo Woodruff plays Amy’s friend Liz who’s chemistry together makes it seem as if they’ve been friends for years. Liz’s boyfriend is played by Miles Chapin as Richie who at first glance might be branded as a brainiac but soon as his character is exposed more and more throughout the film. you soon find out that he is no more of a brain than anyone else. Without him, a group like this just would not work.
Impression:
Knowing who Tobe Hooper was and having seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre more then a dozen times, I felt I knew what I was getting into. Unlike some other horror films out there, this one doesn’t rely on graphic content such as gallons and gallons of blood or the fear of something lurking in the shadows which is never truly seen. No, this movie works on the idea of realism, as close as one could get to realism. Everything (minus the creature) in this movie is something that could easily happen, which is why it ends up being quite terrifying. Another difference that I enjoyed in this movie compared to other horror movies is the ability to write a characters action based on a given situation reflect those of what the watcher themselves may fell they would do in the same situation. Other movies cause you to not only shake you head at the idiotic actions the main characters make they may even make you yell at them for being “fuck’n idiots!”. My ownly complaints about this picture are 1) The size of the funhouse. Exactly how big this this place? It appears to have three floors, including a basement that could never be. Funhouse’s like these are portable and it wouldn’t make any sense at all to dig a seven foot deep basement for the ride, just doesn’t make any sense. 2) Why have real, sharp weapons used as decoration? not only is it dangerous, in case someone ran into a sword and lost an eye, it would give people you are trying to kill something to defend themselves with.
If your a huge fan of older horror films and want to see something original, say in a theme park, look no further, The Funhouse is the right one for you. Just don’t mistake this one as another movie also known as “The Fun House” as the UK did and decided to ban it. The ban didn’t last long after they realized they had banned the wrong movie, instead the movie they thought it was, was The Last House on Dead End Street which had also had the alternative title “The Fun House”.
