The Funhouse

Rating:
Summary: DATED HORROR FILM GETS RESPECTABLE DVD TRANSFER
Review: "The Funhouse" is one of those wacky tacky slasher flicks from the early 80s that used to seem like the height of terror, but since then has transmuted to merely a dated footnote in the annals of horror films and cinema in general. It stars Elizabeth Berridge (of Amadeus fame) as Amy Harper. Amy and her troupe of teen toughies, Buzz (Cooper Huckabee), Liz (Largo Woodruff) and Ritchie (Mile Chaplin) are your typical pack of oversexed morally bankrupted adolescences. Living in a small dead end town they get their kicks by getting high and into trouble.

So when the circus/sideshow comes to town it seems like the perfect place to indulge in the perversions of youthful folly. Unfortunately for Amy and Co. this traveling show is home to a hideous and horny little monster (Wayne Doba) - - sort of a cross between a midget, an ape and the killer's mask from "Terror Train." Amy and friends think it's cool to crash the circus after all the performers have gone to bed. But when they accidentally stumble across Madame Zena (Sylvia Miles) getting raped and murdered by the monster they retreat with fear into the funhouse where, naturally, the monster sets to work picking them off like flies, one by one. Clearly inspired by visions of Tod Browning's illustrious scare fest, "Freaks", director Tobe Hooper tries to recapture some of the taut tension of Browning's classic, but ultimately succumbs to the urge of creating a gore fest. This he effectively does but the result is less of a classic and more of a passing fancy on celluloid. The final experience: pay to get in, pray for it to be over.

Universal's anamorphically enhanced 2:35:1 DVD looks rather good considering the age and prestige of the production. Colors are fully saturated - - if dated - - with mostly accurate flesh tones, deep - - mostly solid - - blacks, and considerable fine details emerging from the contrast and shadow levels. Film grain is kept to a minimum and age related artifacts on the whole are absent. The audio is 2.0 mono and nicely cleaned up. It suffers from a dated characteristic with frontal sounding dialogue and directionalized effects but this is as the producers intended it to be. The only extra is the film's theatrical trailer.



Rating:
Summary: Pay to get in. PRAY to get out.
Review: "Thet boy just ain't right" If you've seen this movie, then you'll know what I mean. Lately, I've been collecting late 70's, early 80's horror movies and I came across The Funhouse (1981). Directed by Tobe Hooper, best know for 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I thought this movie would be fun and it was.

The movie is slow going for the first hour, and then things pick up from there. This provides a slow build up of the tension, which I enjoyed. Basically you have a small group of teenagers who decide to spend the night in a carnival funhouse, and most don't live to regret it. There are some thrilling/scary moments, but the movie is more low key than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The gore is very limited, and a lot of it is off screen, but as a choice of direction, I thought it was better that way, for this movie. The settings are very effective, using natural lighting in most scenes, giving the movie a gritty feel. The actors, I feel, did an effective job in portraying their characters, giving them a little more depth than what we used to in these types of movies. The one minor issue I had was I thought the monster make up might have been a little over the top, in that I thought it would have been more effective had it been toned down a notch. The monster, by the way, is the son of a carnival worker, and is very disfigured to the point of being grotesque. I am not giving away anything here, as we learn this about midpoint in the movie, and it's not a shocking revelations or anything.

While this movie shared many elements of other horror movies, teenagers, creepy location, psycho killer, it rises above it's peers somewhat in the gritty realism. Again, I want to stress that this movie is slow going through the first hour, but was worth it to me for the last half hour.

Rating:
Summary: Step right up for Chills! Spills! Thrills!
Review: "Two young couples decide to spend a night in a carnival funhouse, only to witness a murder. Now they find themselves trapped by the sadistic funhouse owner, and his deformed, psychotic son. This exercise in horror was directed by genre regular Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist)." - jacket description.

Two young couples venture into the underworld of the Carnival, behind the wholesom facade of Rockwellian depiction, to reveal a world of murder, sadism, and physical contortion. No one escapes the Funhouse. The laughing fat lady echoes jollyingly throughout the makeshift faregrounds, seemingly amused by the eustress of the rubes who subject themselves to the many freakish attractions and displays, including a two-headed cow. Yet nothing quite compares to the dreaded funhouse, where all manner of shadowmantic manifestation lays dormant to arise from the dark side of the minds of the observers. The couples witness too much for comfort, & are heralded into situations of true distress, from the menacing stare of the showman with his menacing dialogue, to the twisted horror of the lusts of his horridly-deformed son, of whose monstrosity The Elephant Man cannot compare.

From the grotesque clown heads who laugh diabolically, to the actual homicidal intentions of the inhabitants, The Funhouse provides an environment of true horror amidst the couples. Only one girl survives, yet is driven insane by the terrors of the Funhouse.

Rating:
Summary: "The Funhouse" (AKA Carnival of Terror)
Review: After the success of the shocking slasher, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the eerily vampire tale of "Salems Lot", horror master Tobe Hooper came out with one of his most highly anticipated films yet! While being not as popular as some horror movies, this very rare gem was sadly neglected and barely even heard of throughout the years. Heck it may be low-budget, but I think that during its release it proved to be a very original and nightmarish work of art, showing us the more darker side of how a carnival REALLY can be!

Originally released as a motion picture in the theaters back in 1981, "The Funhouse" was quite the treat for the fan of homemade horror movies. (Those are always the best!) The storyline concerns two young couples who decide to spend the night in the carnival funhouse... BIG MISTAKE! They witness a murder from inside and soon are stalked by a bloodthirsty monster that lurks from inside. One-by-one they fall prey to the numerous booby traps and terrifying surprises until only one remains in a desperate fight for survival against the horror from within!

The actual funhouse itself is a really eerie set, and features some of the most scariest animatronics you'll ever see! (the fat lady one still haunts me today due to that I can't get that bizarre laugh out of my head!) I'd have to say that this may not be all big and bad as Tobe Hooper's other masterpiece, "Poltergeist" (which came out one year later) but it still packs quite punch that no other horror movie can do anymore.

I first saw this on the A&E network a long time ago when I was in the third grade and it scared the hell out of me! It aired again on the Sci-Fi channel and that's when I really started to get into it! Over and over I'd watch and never EVER get tired of it! The actors and actresses did a very good job for their roles and are very convincing that you actually start having sympathy for them. (I felt so sorry for that poor blonde haired girl who becomes the monster's second victim) The soundtrack is also one of the best I've ever heard from a horror movie with it's scary carnival-like organ music.

The effects for the monster were most excellent and truly brought the creature to life with all the fake drool and snot detail. Although there isn't much blood and gore to be found here, "The Funhouse" mostly focuses on the heart-stopping suspense and atmosphere. You want a horror film that's both original and scary? "The Funhouse" is a non-stop thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat and is all-in-all a FUN (literally) movie! No horror collection is complete without this! I also recommend, "The Tourist Trap" and "Black Christmas". Both of those movies carry the same similarities to suspense just like this one and are some of the best in classic horror history! They just don't make 'em like they used to! ^_^

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to The Funhouse !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Ever been to a small town carnival ? Ever seen a freak show ? Well if you have or havent this 80's gem is for you . It will make you think diffrent next time you go to the carnival .
Enjoy !!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie For A Rainy Night!
Review: First off, don't think I didn't like this movie from my 3 star rating. I did enjoy it.Now, with that out of the bag, The Funhouse is a great B-movie horror flick by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). It's somewhat dark tone of the circus world is without a doubt creepy at best. (This is coming from someone who hates clowns and the circus!) The lighting and angles realy make the film work.It's pretty much the same premise as the good 'ol 80's horror movie. 2 boys and 2 girls want to have fun, so they decide to sneak inside a funhouse to spend the night. One by one, they get axed. And dare I say the ol' cliche'd "view through the mask" scene was quite familier..(uh...Halloween? ).All in all, it's a fun movie to snuggle up and turn the lights down on a rainy night. The only problem was the disk itself. NO EXTRA'S! Not even a trailor! Why? The one good thing is, we see it in the beauty of the 2.35:1 widescreen, which looks great. Soundwise, it's decent. For true horror fans, pick up a copy.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good horror film- 3.5 stars
Review: Funhouse was directed by TObe Hooper , same guy who directed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is in noway as good as TCM but it is a good horror film. I admire Tobe's directing. The movie is about 4 kids who go to a carnival and sneak into a funhouse on a dare. They encounter a freak and his father or master and the freak trys to kill em all, they are locked in the funhouse. This reminded me a little bit of texas chainsaw massacre only in the sense that they had the freak who acted like leatherface , who cowared when the master or father came home ( back to the funhouse). The begining scenes of the freaks from the funhouse and dolls were creepy and so was the atmosphere but like i said this in noway compares to the masterpiece tcm. It is worth owning though if your a horror fan.

Rating:
Summary: You CAN'T escape the horrors of "The Funhouse !"
Review: I first saw this movie on A&E a long time ago when I was in the 3rd-Grade . GEEZ, it scared the hell out of me ! Later, they started showing it on Sci-Fi channel and a couple others . Its now one of my all-time favourite horror films, along with: "Nightmare on Elm Street"(1984), "House on Haunted Hill"(1999), and last but not least: "Resident Evil"(2002).

But none of these scared me as much as the REALISTIC look of "The Funhouse !!" Its a fun, chillingly gruesome, nightmarish monster B-movie about 4-teens looking for mischief at the County Carnival--and MAN DO THEY FIND IT !

After going on a couple rides, and seeing a bit of the other sights, they decide to spend the night in the Funhouse . BIG MISTAKE !!! Once they are inside, they discover that this ain't no ordinary funhouse ! This one's got sum'
murder-and-mayhem, and a trip into the terrifying unknown !

Released in 1981 as a blockbuster-hit, but low-budget motion picture, "The Funhouse" is a very fun thrill-ride, and is considered in my opinion: "Psycho" and "The Amityville Horror" rolled into one !!

Rating:
Summary: The film is something more than it`s looks.
Review: I remember, seeing the film, when i was young. The scene in thefilm, i will always remember-The actor played by William Finley as Marco the magnificent asked a young teenage girl to come and go inside the coffin, outside the coffin, there`s is a hole hear the heart. He stab her with his wooden stake thought her heart, blood coming out of her mouth, audiences thought it`s was real and turn out to be a illusion and young teenage girl was his daughter on the show, enough to said.

The Funhouse is one of the best horror films to come out in the early eighties. The best thing was the suspense, that holds the film well and the Teenages played by Elizabeth Berridge(Amadeus)in a good performance, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff and Miles Chapin, they look more real than any another teenage slasher films. Terffic score by John Beal. It`s kind of fun to see-Shawn Carson, who played`s Berridge sister in the movie. Because young Carson also had his troubles was in a different carnival film, after the funhouse was relase. He was in Something Wicked This Way Comes, written by Ray Brudbury. Strong Performance by Kevin Conway as The Barker also in two another roles. Wayne Doba is good, playing the monster in the film. Tobe Hooper(The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Lifeforce) did a outstanding job, directing this classic, thanks for his editor, cinemagraphy and production design. Rick Baker(An american werewolf in london) did Make-up effects, which are good looking. Opening scene for doing tribute for Halloween to Psycho is funny and clever at the same time.

On the DVD is in non-anamorphic Widescreen 2:35.1 Format is great, to seen any horror film in a Panavision or Cinemascope format, it`s feel larger than life. It`s has good Dolby Surround 2.0 Sound. Good Production Notes. Always remember Goodtimes DVD Video don`t that much extras, that why price are always decent. Grade:A-. Panavision.

Rating:
Summary: Rather disappointing
Review: My best friend and I first discovered the book when going through some old stuff left behind by her sisters when they moved out. We both really loved the book. Then one day we discovered the movie at a rental store, we were really excited when we realized it was based on the book. I can't tell you how disappointed we were. We didn't even finish watching it. If I hadn't previously read the book I don't think I would have known what was going on. I gave it two stars because maybe my expectations were too high after reading the book.