Sun 23 Apr 2017
A Horror Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE FUNHOUSE (1981).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews[9] Comments
THE FUNHOUSE. Universal Pictures, 1981. Elizabeth Berridge, Kevin Conway, William Finley, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, Sylvia Miles. Directed by Tobe Hooper.
This stylish, if somewhat mediocre, horror film might as well have been entitled The Good, the Bad, and The Very Ugly. Because let me tell you: the monster in this Tobe Hooper directed feature is not just ugly; he’s very ugly. Hideous actually.
Unfortunately, aside from the shock value of the creature’s disfigurement and the crisp photography, there’s not all that much that makes Funhouse an overly memorable horror film. That’s not to say that it’s a particularly bad film. It’s just that, overall, the film lacks both the character development and requisite memorable dialogue that could very have made it something that stood out from the pack.
There were just so very many horror films released in the 1980s, many of which followed the standard plot of a final girl facing off against some sort of evil figure that it’s difficult to consider each one without reference to all the others. Indeed, in this particular regard, the plot of Funhouse doesn’t stray too far from the proverbial straight and narrow. There’s a female protagonist who, against her better judgment, gets caught up in a life-or-death situation and who, despite her meek nature, ends up defeating the evil antagonist. She is, in every respect, the final girl. The one who ends up surviving all the mayhem that transpires throughout the course of the film.
Amy Harper (Elizabeth Berridge) is a small town girl who lives with her parents and her kid brother. The latter is a prankster and something of a brat, it would appear. Against her better judgment, she ends up going with her friends to the carnival that has recently arrived in town. There, she and her date, as well as another couple, will make the fatal decision to spend the night in the funhouse.
But, alas, something lurks – and drools – in the funhouse. And it’s not fully human. And it kills. This is essentially the entire plot. One, it should be noted, that doesn’t truly come into fruition until at least thirty or forty minutes into the film.
Now again, don’t let me make you believe that Funhouse isn’t worth seeing. In many ways, it is. It’s actually, believe it or not, a fun movie, one that thankfully relies far more on atmosphere than gore to convey a general air of creepiness at the carnival.
Harper, along with Sylvia Miles who portrays a fortuneteller, are strong female characters in a movie filled with overall unpleasant or just plain dull male characters. So the movie’s got a few things going for it. Just not enough to make it one that’s especially compelling, or one that stays in your mind for any length of time after you’ve left the movie theater. If you like horror movies set at carnivals, however, this one’s definitely worth checking out.
April 23rd, 2017 at 5:05 pm
A couple of thoughts. The subplot involving Amy’s younger brother just didn’t seem to go anywhere. Based on the opening scene, a prank that’s also an homage to the shower scene in PSYCHO, we expect Amy to return the favor at some point or another — and apparently the brother does too — but all the anticipation in that regard goes for naught.
Secondly, from the outside the fun house is no larger than a trailer car, as it would have to be as the circus travels from town to town. But on the inside, it’s huge, with not only an upstairs level, but living quarters and, believe it or not, a basement, or so it seems, filled with all kinds of things mechanical, pulleys, gears, and whatnot — all very deadly when it comes down to it as well. Utterly marvelous!
April 23rd, 2017 at 5:09 pm
Might be worth it just for Kevin Conroy, the voice of the animated Batman.
April 23rd, 2017 at 5:36 pm
With a script from Larry Block (whom I believe is NOT mystery writer Lawrence Block). The tie-in novel was by “Owen West,” who is Dean Koontz.
April 23rd, 2017 at 5:38 pm
The tie-in novel was written by Dean Koontz using the name Owen West.
April 23rd, 2017 at 6:57 pm
Jerry and David
I knew that Owen West was Dean Koontz, and that Owen West had written a novel called THE FUNHOUSE. What I didn’t know that the book had anything to do with the movie. (Thanks to you both for that information, submitted only a couple of minutes apart.)
And after reading a lengthy synopsis of the book, there really isn’t much resemblance at all:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Funhouse_(novel)
The characters have the same names as those in the film, but not much more. The movie is gruesome enough, but from the synopsis, the book seems to go at great lengths to be really repugnant.
Some sources say the movie was based on the book, but others explain that away by saying the movie was so long in production, the novelization simply came out first.
And no, the Larry Block who wrote the screenplay is not the Lawrence Block of Scudder fame.
April 23rd, 2017 at 9:39 pm
The three barkers are Kevin Conway, with more than three decades of disreputable screen and TV roles (saw him just today on one of his many sleazy Law & Order appearances).
(Kevin Conroy, the Batman voice, isn’t in this movie.)
April 23rd, 2017 at 11:28 pm
Thanks, Mike. I might have caught that myself, if I hadn’t been away from the computer most of the afternoon. That’s Conway, in the third photo down. Not only is he the sleazy barker, but he’s also the father of the monster. Of all the people in the film, he’ll be the one I’ll remember the most. Other than the monster, of course, but that was all done in makeup.
April 24th, 2017 at 5:53 am
Berridge did go on to the multi-Oscar winning film AMADEUS, as the title character’s wife, three years later.
April 24th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
Now that’s jump and a half, isn’t it? I didn’t recognize her name, but overall I see that she’s had a decent acting career, including lots of roles on TV.