The Funhouse

This review is for Funhouse on Good Time's dvd and not by what appears to be a studio version of the film. Good Times is a company that releases cheap dvds and sometimes the picture is not always the best. Halloween 2 for example on Good Times dvd was bad. This is why I want to make sure people know the difference. I bought the studio version and the seller sent me the good time version and I said "Oh crap", yet the film is fine and the picture is good.

The Funhouse has an excellent atmosphere. The opening credits are creepy and im not even afraid of carnivals. The film follows a good plot and I enjoyed it overall. Not alot of gore but the carnival is creepy enough, isnt it? I'm surprised they did not make a sequel to this film.

The Funhouse is a really good 80's slasher. Four teens decide to spend the night in the funhouse, then something bad happens, they try to leave, but they are locked in with a deformed man in a Frankenstein mask. Will they survive? I just love how the movie looks with spooky clowns and carnival gags. If you love horror, slashers, and monsters, you'll love THE FUNHOUSE!!!

The funhouse is a fairly decent 80's horror movie. It's very different, because it's not a typical slasher flick. It's about a group of kids who go to a local carnival, filled with weird carnies. The boss of the carnival has a strange secret that has to do with his "Son". When the group decides that they want to sleep in the fun house, the secrets are revealed. The kids are doomed, within the fun house, as there are traps around every corner...

"Funhouse" does to carnivals what "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" did to slaughterhouses. Both movies were directed by Tobe Hooper. The latter movie is a classic. When "Funhouse" was first released, I was under eighteen and not allowed to go to R-rated movies. However, I read the Jove novel based on the screenplay; it was written by Owen West, which is a pseudonym for best-selling author Dean Koontz. The novel was much better than the movie; it explains the relationship between the heroine and the monster. For years, the carnival barker has been searching for the offspring of his beautiful ex-wife who slew their monster child. He finds her daughter and traps her and her friends in the funhouse.

"Funhouse" mimics "Halloween" very closely. Almost to the point of copyright infringement. A little boy dons a mask and pretends to do a "Psycho" number on his sister who is taking a shower. The movie drags to the point of boredom, especially when the four teens first arrive at the carnival. The body count could've been higher. There is talk about disappearing girls in other towns where the carnival visited but none of the killings are shown, not even in flashbacks. The movie should've began with teenagers being slaughtered in the funhouse at another town.

The acting was good and the settings were nice. However, some of the props used in the funhouse were real. There were real mallets, swords, and other instruments of death that wouldn't have been present in an actual funhouse because of safety concerns. Also, there would've been more exits in case of a fire.

In "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Tobe Hooper was trying to put us in the place of the cattle that are slaughtered for food. Like some of the victims, they are hit in the head and hung on hooks. I think twice about eating red meat. In "Funhouse," I think Tobe Hooper is trying to teach us that funhouses are actual houses of terror. Funhouses depict people being maimed and tortured; it may be fun when it is happening to someone else but it is never fun when it's happening to us.

If there had been more deaths to keep the plot moving at a steady pace, I probably would've given this movie at least four, maybe five stars. As it was, there were too many times when it was unnecessarily stagnant.

This movie is awesome. This movie defines exactly what horror was during the late 70's and early 80's. Tobe Hooper directed an instant classic with this one. The movie follows a small group of teens who decide to camp out one night inside the local carnival's funhouse ride. Once inside the ride they realize that the ride's operators are less than desirable. Now that they have become trapped inside the attraction, they must formulate a plan to stay alive and hopefully get out. Every single time I hear about or see a carnival I think of this movie. Remember what "Jaws" did for ocean goers? Funhouse did the same thing for carnival enthusiasts. Great horror film!