Customer Reviews:
Legitimate creep fest.......2008-03-06
Now I have seen just about all horror films going, and it is really REALLY hard to uncover a genuinely creepy film. I first watched this as a kid, and bought it again a couple of years ago. If your like me and find those pikey funfairs deeply disturbing, and whats more find clowns worthy of gassing, then this is right up your street, if your looking for something a little different.
I would not expect less from Tobe Hooper, but to be honest I did not expect to be quite so freaked out by the atmosphere created once the kids are inside the attraction. God damn it, this is good scary stuff. WATCH IT ALONE
All the Fun of the Fear.......2007-12-30
During the early 1980s, slasher films were very popular; there seemed to be at least one released at the cinema every week. One of the best from this time is Tobe Hooper's `The Funhouse', a highly visual piece that has, at long last, been released on DVD.
Amy (Elizabeth Berridge) is all set for her first date with Buzz (Cooper Huckabee). Along with friends, Liz (Largo Woodruff) and Richie (Miles Chapin), they visit a travelling carnival. A ride on the ghost train gives them more than they bargained for when they decide to spend the night there.
There is little in the way of character development for our four friends. Their dialogue consists of little more than banalities. However, Amy seems to be almost hypnotically aware of the barkers trying to drum up trade for their various exotic delights. Their one-note patter seems to be directed at her, "Alive, alive, alive," intones one in an eerie invitation to peruse his collection of animal freaks.
The film is populated by weird characters, for example, the scavenging bag lady who spouts hellfire and damnation, and the truck driver who invites Amy's yong brother, Joey (Shawn Carson), to take a ride with him before aiming a rifle at the boy. However, most of the tension is gathered from the carnival itself. There are a number of short, clipped scenes with Amy and company on various rides and amusements. For all its gaudy splendor, the carnival is presented in such a way that you feel its inherent malevolence is always about to surface. The sequences inside the funhouse are neatly handled. Its automated models, designed to scare the ghost train riders, become more spooky as they sit lifeless in the shadowy darkness, only to reanimate unexpectedly in front of our blundering foursome.
If you're a gorehound, be warned: for a slasher movie, there's not much on show here. Most of the violence happens off-screen. `The Funhouse' relies more on atmosphere for its chills and in this respect it achieves what it sets out to do. It does come a little unstuck with its lack of character development, and because we don't know enough about the characters' backgrounds, it's difficult to care overly about them on a personal level. Nevertheless, this is an effective piece of horror entertainment. It's a pity that the DVD includes no bonus material.
A DECENT ENTRY.......2007-10-26
Wanting to go out for the night, Amy Harper, (Elizabeth Berridge) her date Buzz Klemmet, (Cooper Huckabee) Liz Duncan, (Largo Woodruff) and Richie Atturbury, (Miles Chapin) decide to go on a double date to a Carnival that has just arrived in town. As they enjoy the night on the town, witnessing all the games and attractions, she doesn't realize her little brother Joey Harper, (Shawn Carson) has snuck inside to follow her. Deciding to stay there after it closes, they accidentally witness one of the carnival workers murder another worker, and are soon found out. Still trapped inside the carnival, they are soon slaughtered one-by-one by the killer. Trying to find a way out of the demented sideshow, they have to get past the killer and the rest of his family.
The Good News: This is an effectively underrated slasher entry. One of it's most impressive feats is that it gives us a nice carnival atmosphere with some interesting sights. The setting is the best thing about this, as great pains is taken to turn the early part into setup, and this does create a great atmosphere for later on in the film. By taking a trip through the garish freak-show, which includes on exhibit a two-headed cow and a deformed, bottled fetus, the mechanized fun-house creatures, the deformed inbred monster, the creepy surreal barkers and more, the groundwork is laid for some real fun. The attention to detail he gives the carnival at the beginning is amazing, even the stuff that is going on in the background. This is obviously thrilled by the colors, textures and shadows of the carnival and capably turns the place into a menacing and alien environment. Even the carnival workers themselves are weird and seedy. The fun-house itself is a great set. There are loads of evil-looking mannequins brandishing knives and spinning around on the spot. It's all very colorful and really adds to the freakiness factor of the setting and provides an ideal place for a series of stalk 'n' slash moments with it's dimly lit corridors, noises whirring in the background and dummies popping out to scare people. The film's main positive point, though, is the extremely great showdown at the end. There's rarely been a better one in the annals of the slasher genre, starting inside a hall of mirrors and wandering through the back-rooms, down into the bowels of carnival, finally ending up in the machinery room. It's quite impressive and really stands out in the field. The stalking inside the fun-house generates some great tension as well, including a couple crashing through doors and some real surprise pop-ups from the other carnival attractions. The film even includes a few stand-out scenes, where the killer takes off a mask and reveals a real inhuman visage, and a particularly harrowing image where the heroine is calling to her parents through a large, wildly-spinning exhaust fan, but they cannot hear her because she is too far away. With a surprisingly sleazy way of getting events started, this one has a lot to like and becomes a really underrated slasher.
The Bad News: There really isn't a whole lot wrong with this one. One of it's problems is the slow pace in the beginning. By using the opening as the setup for the walk-through of the carnival, this here takes a large amount of time to get started. There's around an hour of material before the killer is even getting started, and while it builds up atmosphere, this really could've been trimmed down a tad and replace most of the running around.. The sub plot involving Amy's Brother is one of those big reasons, also holds things up and ultimately never comes to anything, despite the build up it is given. It's quite hard to believe that the outcome is really all that deserving, and it in itself is just an awful plot-line that holds up even more time. The film's other big problem is the lack of gore in the kills. For such takes as an ax in the head, a sword in the back, a stabbing and being crushed by hydraulic equipment has so little gore in the film, and it really could've used more. Otherwise, this one here was quite nicely done.
The Final Verdict: With only a few nagging problems, this really is a quite underrated slasher film with a lot to like about it. It's creepy, frightening and full of intense action, leaving it a film full of entertainment and a full recommendation for the slasher fans in the crowd.
Customer Reviews:
tobe hoopers best movie.......2007-10-28
people always talk of "the texas chainsaw massacre" when tobe hooper is
mentioned but this 80s classic proves his directing talents.
a group of teenagers hide in "the funhouse" a sort of ghost train @ the carnival as we would know it.they witness a freak in a frankenstein mask
murder a fortune teller who prostitutes herself to him .one of the teens steals the freaks fathers money & from then on its hell for them,one by one killed until one girl is left fighting for survival. as she goes deeper cogs & machinery to escape there is a fight & the freak who is a
badly deformed man is dragged into the cogs to his death,one minute she is
trying to escape the next she is reaching out trying to save him? very gory stuff as you would expect from tobe hooper but very entertaining.
Once again, Tobe Hooper fails to impress me.......2006-08-25
As a huge horror fan, I've always felt as if I should really like and appreciate Tobe Hooper - but I just don't, really. I keep giving him chances to impress me, and he never does. The Funhouse is a case in point, as it fails to deliver a single memorable moment. When I look at this film, I see a completely predictable story, several irrelevant plot points, a hackneyed ending, and no success whatsoever in delivering even a single "made you jump" moment. Things get off to a bad start, with Hooper totally ripping off Halloween for the opening scenes, and things slowly go downhill from there. Hooper does succeed in generating a few moments of suspense, but that can only take you so far.
Maybe I should confess my own personal abhorrence of carnivals - the seedy atmosphere, the crooked games, the "scary" rides, and everything else about them. The funhouse is basically the penultimate carnival experience - patently fake and thus not scary at all. Still, I certainly wouldn't want to spend a whole night in one of them; only really dumb teenagers like the ones in this film go in for that kind of senseless challenge. Our main character, Amy Harper (Elizabeth Berridge), should have known better, but she apparently chose this night to rebel against her nice girl image. It's her first date with Buzz Klemmet (Cooper Huckabee), an older guy from the other side of the intellectual tracks. His hobbies include smoking dope while driving, putting the moves on young, inexperienced girls, and sneaking peeps at adult shows featuring some of the oldest, most disgusting dancing "girls" ever to shake their drooping ta-tas. I guess she feels safe enough in the company of her girlfriend Liz and her nerdy beaux Richie, but look where it gets her - trapped in a funhouse with a human monster trying to kill her.
To cut to the chase, these four young funhouse trespassers are lured away from groping each other long enough to witness a murder by a weird dude in a Frankenstein mask. Before they can escape, "Frank's" father shows up, learns that he has unexpected and most unwelcome visitors, and sets out after them, alongside his horribly deformed son. That's when the drama and suspense finally kick in. Well before the end, though, the whole concept of funhouse gadgetry and animatronics grows tiresome. Then comes the final straw in the form of a most unoriginal (and thereby quite disappointing) climax.
I'm sure inexperienced horror viewers will find more to enjoy about The Funhouse than I did. The basic idea behind the film is a good one, but Hooper just doesn't take the chances necessary to make something special out of it. I just keep coming back to that ending, as it is just so clichéd. As a result, I look at The Funhouse as a merely competent horror film.
funhouse(carnival of terror).......2005-03-23
I watched this film in the cinema,and without a doubt, its the best horror i have ever seen. I am glad to see it out at last on dvd. Everytime i have gone into a haunted house since it has made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, just wondering whats round the next corner. Ive spoken to my three children about it, all three now 18plus ,their the new generation and they want to watch it with me, will it have the same effect on them, as it had on me, all those years ago???
close you eyes..........2004-07-07
i think tobe hooper's chainsaw massacre is overrated. i think his recent output has been awful at best. this little gem from 1981 took me by surprise, not just for its minimum bloodletting but because i'd never heard of it. its good - its better than good. it has a genuine sense of dread and a fear and paradoxically, an understanding of human vulnerability and mutation.
like chainsaw massacre, this challenges our perception of physical appearance and those who live outside the perceived 'norm'.
this also manages to be terrific excercise in suspense and homage (referencing among other things, todd brown's freaks and hitchcocks psycho). it works as a straight ahead horror and also as social commentary in a way that the best horror movies do.
why have you never heard of it? you tell me...
Customer Reviews:
tobe hoopers best movie.......2007-10-28
people always talk of "the texas chainsaw massacre" when tobe hooper is
mentioned but this 80s classic proves his directing talents.
a group of teenagers hide in "the funhouse" a sort of ghost train @ the carnival as we would know it.they witness a freak in a frankenstein mask
murder a fortune teller who prostitutes herself to him .one of the teens steals the freaks fathers money & from then on its hell for them,one by one killed until one girl is left fighting for survival. as she goes deeper cogs & machinery to escape there is a fight & the freak who is a
badly deformed man is dragged into the cogs to his death,one minute she is
trying to escape the next she is reaching out trying to save him? very gory stuff as you would expect from tobe hooper but very entertaining.
Once again, Tobe Hooper fails to impress me.......2006-08-25
As a huge horror fan, I've always felt as if I should really like and appreciate Tobe Hooper - but I just don't, really. I keep giving him chances to impress me, and he never does. The Funhouse is a case in point, as it fails to deliver a single memorable moment. When I look at this film, I see a completely predictable story, several irrelevant plot points, a hackneyed ending, and no success whatsoever in delivering even a single "made you jump" moment. Things get off to a bad start, with Hooper totally ripping off Halloween for the opening scenes, and things slowly go downhill from there. Hooper does succeed in generating a few moments of suspense, but that can only take you so far.
Maybe I should confess my own personal abhorrence of carnivals - the seedy atmosphere, the crooked games, the "scary" rides, and everything else about them. The funhouse is basically the penultimate carnival experience - patently fake and thus not scary at all. Still, I certainly wouldn't want to spend a whole night in one of them; only really dumb teenagers like the ones in this film go in for that kind of senseless challenge. Our main character, Amy Harper (Elizabeth Berridge), should have known better, but she apparently chose this night to rebel against her nice girl image. It's her first date with Buzz Klemmet (Cooper Huckabee), an older guy from the other side of the intellectual tracks. His hobbies include smoking dope while driving, putting the moves on young, inexperienced girls, and sneaking peeps at adult shows featuring some of the oldest, most disgusting dancing "girls" ever to shake their drooping ta-tas. I guess she feels safe enough in the company of her girlfriend Liz and her nerdy beaux Richie, but look where it gets her - trapped in a funhouse with a human monster trying to kill her.
To cut to the chase, these four young funhouse trespassers are lured away from groping each other long enough to witness a murder by a weird dude in a Frankenstein mask. Before they can escape, "Frank's" father shows up, learns that he has unexpected and most unwelcome visitors, and sets out after them, alongside his horribly deformed son. That's when the drama and suspense finally kick in. Well before the end, though, the whole concept of funhouse gadgetry and animatronics grows tiresome. Then comes the final straw in the form of a most unoriginal (and thereby quite disappointing) climax.
I'm sure inexperienced horror viewers will find more to enjoy about The Funhouse than I did. The basic idea behind the film is a good one, but Hooper just doesn't take the chances necessary to make something special out of it. I just keep coming back to that ending, as it is just so clichéd. As a result, I look at The Funhouse as a merely competent horror film.
funhouse(carnival of terror).......2005-03-23
I watched this film in the cinema,and without a doubt, its the best horror i have ever seen. I am glad to see it out at last on dvd. Everytime i have gone into a haunted house since it has made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, just wondering whats round the next corner. Ive spoken to my three children about it, all three now 18plus ,their the new generation and they want to watch it with me, will it have the same effect on them, as it had on me, all those years ago???
close you eyes..........2004-07-07
i think tobe hooper's chainsaw massacre is overrated. i think his recent output has been awful at best. this little gem from 1981 took me by surprise, not just for its minimum bloodletting but because i'd never heard of it. its good - its better than good. it has a genuine sense of dread and a fear and paradoxically, an understanding of human vulnerability and mutation.
like chainsaw massacre, this challenges our perception of physical appearance and those who live outside the perceived 'norm'.
this also manages to be terrific excercise in suspense and homage (referencing among other things, todd brown's freaks and hitchcocks psycho). it works as a straight ahead horror and also as social commentary in a way that the best horror movies do.
why have you never heard of it? you tell me...
DVD Review:
- The Grudge 2 (Ju-On) [2003]
- The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
- The Hills Have Eyes (2 Disc Special Edition) [1977]
- The House by the Cemetery [1981] (NTSC)
- The Howling [1980]
- The Hunger - Complete Series 1 Box Set (Exclusive To Amazon.co.uk)
- The Legend of Hell House [1973]
- The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires [1974]
- The Mummy [1959] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Omen Trilogy [1976]
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