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...
UK DVD:
- The Gods Must Be Crazy/The Gods Must Be Crazy II (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Inspector General [1949]
- The Irony of Fate [1975] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Santa Clause 2 [2002]
- The Simpsons - Season 8 (Ltd Edition 'Maggie' head)
- The Sunshine Boys [1976] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Tao Of Steve [2001]
- Tortilla Soup [2002]
- Triggermen [2003]
- Unknown Chaplin
UK DVD List
UK DVD
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