There was a time, before Six Flags took over the nation, that traveling carnivals were normal to see coming to mid-size towns during the summer. Thus is the setting for "The Funhouse." Teenager Amy Parker and her friends Liz, Ritchie, and Buzz have piled into Buzz's muscle car for a night at the carnival - the same carnival were some teenage girls had disappeared a year previous.
After getting high and taking in a few rides, the group proceeds to take in the freak of nature tent, a magic show, get their fortunes told, and sneak a peek at a girlie show. Towards the end of the evening, Ritchie gets the bright idea to spend the night in the Funhouse, challenging the others to do the same.
The four teens enter the Funhouse and proceed to ditch their ride cars. After the carnival closes, the group of kids starts a make out session in the dark when they hear a noise. Looking through the floorboards, they see that the Funhouse worker Gunther (made up to look like the Frankenstein monster) is paying for sexual favors from the fortuneteller (Sylvia Miles of "Midnight Cowboy"). When he "jumps the gun" so to speak, she berates him and refuses to give his money back. This sends Gunther into a frenzy and he proceeds to strangle her to death. Having witnessed this, the kids decide to try to get the hell out of there.
Making their way around the darkened corridors with nothing more than a lighter, the foursome try to find the exit. Ritchie discovers the dead body of the fortuneteller and says he's going to check on her to make sure she is in fact dead. When he returns, he finds Buzz has indeed found the exit, but it is a steel door that has been padlocked. They decide to try and see if the entrance is open. On their way towards the front, they see a light wink on below them. The carnival barker has walked into his office and has discovered that Gunther has killed the fortuneteller.
Be it that the barker is in reality Gunther's father, he decides that they will get rid of the body and blame it on the local townsfolk. When Gunther gives back the money he took from the cash box to pay the fortuneteller, the carnival barker discovers that the rest of the money is missing. Enraged, he incites Gunther into beating himself up, to the point where he rips the Frankenstein monster mask off exposing a horribly deformed person underneath. Shocked by what they see, the kids shrink back from the sight, only to lose the lighter through the floorboards. The clatter makes a noise, and the carnival barker stops his tirade with Gunther when he realizes they are not alone...
This is one of those movies I BEGGED my parents to see when it first came out. The commercials for it looked AWESOME. Unfortunately as a whole, it did not totally live up to my expectations once I saw it. For one thing, the Funhouse itself is an impossible structure. The thing has a sub basement in it for Pete's sake. This thing is supposed to be mobile? There is no way this thing traveled with the rest of the carnival. Plus, back in the day, there was some false advertising. Two different commercials had been cut. One of these had footage of the two actors (Cooper Huckabee and Elizabeth Berridge) being chased by Gunther through sets that did not even exist in the movie. I hate when production companies do that, as it misrepresents what is up on the movie screen.
Of course, the carnival barker firing up everything in the Funhouse well after midnight must have gone over really well with the nearby carnies trying to get some sleep.
Back in the day I believe this was made for 2.5 million dollars. Please keep in mind that was a BIG budget for a horror movie. The money definitely went towards the production design. Technically, it is a good movie. All of the moods are there, and the sets for the Funhouse itself are impressive. The music by composer John Beal is tremendous, and adds a lot to the overall flavor of the movie. Noted makeup artists Rick Baker and Craig Reardon did a credible job with the makeup of the deformed Gunther. Unfortunately there was not a lot of articulation in the prosthetic, and it comes off more like a mask at times.
Director Tobe Hooper has had a spotty career that has had more ups and downs than a carnival roller-coaster. He of course is known for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" back in the mid 70s, but since then he has had a hard time matching the "feel" and effect that his initial foray into terror had. This movie is very sluggish at times and even when the action picks up, the pacing feels like it is going in several different directions.
As to the death scenes, they are on a whole pretty unspectacular. Mind you, this was back at the height of the early 80s horror resurgence, so it was odd that with such a story and location that so little was done with it. What this movie has going for it is atmosphere, decent acting and good character development.
A tidbit: The large bald mechanical clown head seen in the background of a few shots ended up as a mask in Rob Zombie's "House of 1,000 Corpses."
After getting high and taking in a few rides, the group proceeds to take in the freak of nature tent, a magic show, get their fortunes told, and sneak a peek at a girlie show. Towards the end of the evening, Ritchie gets the bright idea to spend the night in the Funhouse, challenging the others to do the same.
The four teens enter the Funhouse and proceed to ditch their ride cars. After the carnival closes, the group of kids starts a make out session in the dark when they hear a noise. Looking through the floorboards, they see that the Funhouse worker Gunther (made up to look like the Frankenstein monster) is paying for sexual favors from the fortuneteller (Sylvia Miles of "Midnight Cowboy"). When he "jumps the gun" so to speak, she berates him and refuses to give his money back. This sends Gunther into a frenzy and he proceeds to strangle her to death. Having witnessed this, the kids decide to try to get the hell out of there.
Making their way around the darkened corridors with nothing more than a lighter, the foursome try to find the exit. Ritchie discovers the dead body of the fortuneteller and says he's going to check on her to make sure she is in fact dead. When he returns, he finds Buzz has indeed found the exit, but it is a steel door that has been padlocked. They decide to try and see if the entrance is open. On their way towards the front, they see a light wink on below them. The carnival barker has walked into his office and has discovered that Gunther has killed the fortuneteller.
Be it that the barker is in reality Gunther's father, he decides that they will get rid of the body and blame it on the local townsfolk. When Gunther gives back the money he took from the cash box to pay the fortuneteller, the carnival barker discovers that the rest of the money is missing. Enraged, he incites Gunther into beating himself up, to the point where he rips the Frankenstein monster mask off exposing a horribly deformed person underneath. Shocked by what they see, the kids shrink back from the sight, only to lose the lighter through the floorboards. The clatter makes a noise, and the carnival barker stops his tirade with Gunther when he realizes they are not alone...
This is one of those movies I BEGGED my parents to see when it first came out. The commercials for it looked AWESOME. Unfortunately as a whole, it did not totally live up to my expectations once I saw it. For one thing, the Funhouse itself is an impossible structure. The thing has a sub basement in it for Pete's sake. This thing is supposed to be mobile? There is no way this thing traveled with the rest of the carnival. Plus, back in the day, there was some false advertising. Two different commercials had been cut. One of these had footage of the two actors (Cooper Huckabee and Elizabeth Berridge) being chased by Gunther through sets that did not even exist in the movie. I hate when production companies do that, as it misrepresents what is up on the movie screen.
Of course, the carnival barker firing up everything in the Funhouse well after midnight must have gone over really well with the nearby carnies trying to get some sleep.
Back in the day I believe this was made for 2.5 million dollars. Please keep in mind that was a BIG budget for a horror movie. The money definitely went towards the production design. Technically, it is a good movie. All of the moods are there, and the sets for the Funhouse itself are impressive. The music by composer John Beal is tremendous, and adds a lot to the overall flavor of the movie. Noted makeup artists Rick Baker and Craig Reardon did a credible job with the makeup of the deformed Gunther. Unfortunately there was not a lot of articulation in the prosthetic, and it comes off more like a mask at times.
Director Tobe Hooper has had a spotty career that has had more ups and downs than a carnival roller-coaster. He of course is known for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" back in the mid 70s, but since then he has had a hard time matching the "feel" and effect that his initial foray into terror had. This movie is very sluggish at times and even when the action picks up, the pacing feels like it is going in several different directions.
As to the death scenes, they are on a whole pretty unspectacular. Mind you, this was back at the height of the early 80s horror resurgence, so it was odd that with such a story and location that so little was done with it. What this movie has going for it is atmosphere, decent acting and good character development.
A tidbit: The large bald mechanical clown head seen in the background of a few shots ended up as a mask in Rob Zombie's "House of 1,000 Corpses."