Retrospective: The Funhouse (1981)

[Jerry Saravia]

THE FUNHOUSE (1981)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars

Out of all of the early 80's slasher flicks, "The Funhouse" is
slightly above most of them but there's not much more to say. Coming
from Tobe Hooper who scared the bejesus out of me with his
frighteningly intense and nightmarish "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," I
expected a whole lot more. After all the Hoop made the sensational TV
movie "Salem's Lot" and directed most of "Poltergeist."

Elizabeth Berridge (who some of you might know as Constance Mozart in
"Amadeus") is Amy, the virgin who goes on a date with a hot guy! The
guy is Buzz (Cooper Hucklebee) and they are on a double date with
Amy's friend, Liz (Largo Woodruff), and her very nerdy boyfriend,
Richie (Miles Chapin). They are off to the funhouse, a traveling
carnival in town that has been plagued with trouble in other
locations. Amy doesn't want to go since she would rather see a movie
but Buzz convinces her. Once they are at the funhouse and see
attractions like a two-headed cow and various goblins and skeletons
and other spooky contraptions, the double daters decide to stay
overnight. Big mistake when you consider the occupants of this
funhouse including a foul-mouthed fortune teller (hilarious wickedness
from Sylvia Miles), a possibly deformed male wearing a Frankenstein
get-up, and the demented master of ceremonies (Kevin Conway, a sort of
poor man's Oliver Reed). A murder ensues witnessed by the pot-smoking,
sex-starved teens that leads to an inescapable dilemma.

I would almost recommend "The Funhouse" had it been more devilishly
fun and made better use of its ominous sets. There are good set-ups,
especially involving Amy's brother, Joey (Shawn Carson), who sneaks
out of the house and checks out the funhouse. Why? Maybe because he
fears for his sister's safety or because he has an affection for
Karloff's Frankenstein monster (which he keeps a poster of in his
house) or due to the strange Frankenstein-costumed carnival worker he
sees. Hmmm. There are a few scenes where Joey gingerly tries to avoid
getting seen after the carnival is closed but nothing comes of them.
When one of the workers calls his parents and they pick him up, you
kind of wished this whole subplot was eliminated altogether.

Little hints of something more foreboding are sprinkled throughout the
misguided screenplay. The scene where the carnival worker wipes Joey's
face while his parents look on is far more tense and scary than
anything else in the movie. I also like Berridge's scene in the car
with Buzz before they go to the funhouse where Buzz merely tries to
manipulate her and she sees through it, though she retains her naivete
(she also finds his jokes unfunny). It is such a good damn scene, so
perfectly written and acted, that it deserves better than what
follows.  And whatever hope there is, and it is suggested, of seeing
the glint of sadness in Kevin Conway's character is immediately
eradicated by the usual shocks and "who goes there?" cliches.

I am not totally dismissive of Tobe Hooper's "The Funhouse" and I do
see that he might have been trying for a more character-oriented
slasher film, dependent more on mood and atmosphere than bloody
mayhem. Unfortunately, there are one too many missed opportunities,
not to mention a silly looking monster, homages to "Halloween" and
"Psycho" and not much else. Elizabeth Berridge and the film's sense of
atmosphere almost make up for it, but this carnival could've had more
fright value.


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