Horror Movie Review: The Funhouse (1981)

The Funhouse is a slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper, releasing in 1981. The film focuses on four teenagers who become trapped in a funhouse ride at a local carnival and are stalked by a deformed monster serial killer inside.

The film opens with teenager Amy having a shower. She is pranked by her younger brother Joey, who pretends to stalk and stab her with a rubber knife. She’s rightfully furious and promises that she will get him back in the worst way possible. Afterwards, Amy visits a sleazy traveling carnival with her new boyfriend Buzz, her best friend Liz, and Liz’s boyfriend Richie. This is very much against the wishes of her father. You see, in the previous year 2 girls had been murdered in a location not too far from the carnival. Amy attends anyway, telling her dad that she is going to see a movie and then spending the night with Liz.

At the carnival, the four teens smoke marijuana, peep into a 21-and-over strip show, heckle fortune teller Madame Zena, visit the freaks-of-nature exhibit, and view a magic show.

Richie dares the group to spend the night in “The Funhouse”. After the park closes, the teenagers settle down inside the funhouse. Soon after, they witness the ride assistant, a silent man in a Frankenstein’s Monster mask, engage Zena as a prostitute. The man doesn’t feel he gets what he paid for and demands his money back. When Zena refuses, he strangles her to death.

The teenagers try to leave, but find themselves locked inside the funhouse and attempt to escape.  Richie secretly steals the money from the safe from which the masked assistant took Zena’s fee. Conrad discovers what his son (the masked assistant) has done to Zena. This leads to the man being unmasked which reveals him to be gruesomely deformed with sharp protruding teeth, long white thinning hair, and red eyes.

The teens see this, and Conrad realizes someone is watching after Richie’s lighter falls on the floor from the ceiling he and the others were hiding in. Will they be able to escape “The Funhouse”?

I can see exactly why Tobe Hooper was brought in to direct this film. The similarities it has to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are glaring. The Funhouse has a very similar vibe to that film and is filled with eccentric characters as well. I mean, to start with this is all about a group of friends who find themselves trapped and held hostage by a bunch of crazy people. One of them happens to be a huge, simple minded, deformed brute. He may not have a chainsaw but he is wearing a mask, at least at first.

The characters are supposed to feel like realistic, boring people and that is achieved. You learn next to nothing about any of them. It makes it easier to imagine yourself in such a scenario this way so I do believe it was intentional to have them be such blank canvases.

As this is called The Funhouse, you’d expect there to be a funhouse and there is indeed. In fact, that’s the primary location for the film and it doesn’t disappoint. It looks fantastic. The old timey models and puppets are pure nightmare fuel. Add to that a hideous creature hunting people and you definitely have tension. The creature itself looks really good. I mean, you can clearly see it’s a rubber mask as it doesn’t really move that much but it’s still a highly effective.

Sure, you have some predictable tropes like people not running away when they should and just screaming nonsensically. Also, the film is disappointingly tame in terms of actual gore. There’s a little bit but I would have liked more. The setting is ripe for possibilities. Also, It’s really slow at the start and takes some time to get going. It does make you wonder what exactly is going to happen because it doesn’t give you any hints at all.

Overall, if you enjoyed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre then I highly recommend you check this out. It’s nothing ground-breaking but there are far worse ways to spend your time than with The Funhouse.