Review of The Funhouse (1981) by Dougal S — 17 Mar 2012

With most of the original video nasties you generally end up wondering how they ever ended up on a list of banned films. With 'The Funhouse' the reason is a little clearer - the authorities thought they were prosecuting the considerably sleazier film 'Madhouse', which highlights the ludicrous nature of the whole affair as they obviously didn't bother to watch it! Conversely where an appearance on the DPP's list of unsuitable films has given some of it's number a cult status way beyond their merits, with Tobe Hooper's Funhouse it seems to have had the opposite effect - consigning this gem of a slasher to the realms of the forgotten.

A travelling carnival arrives in a mid-west town and despite warnings that some kids had disappeared when it visited the neighbouring state the year before a bunch of high school kids decide to stay the night in the funhouse (apparently the American term for a ghost train) as a dare. When they see the be-masked ride operator killing one of the carnival folk in a hidden room within it they face a desperate race to escape as the ride owners seek to prevent them from telling anyone what they've seen.

Although the plot is pretty basic Hooper manages to draw a great sense of tension from the setting, making the rickety old ride seem genuinely unsettling and generating plenty of shock moments. Prior to this the fairground scenes give real sense of the seedy underbelly of such operations and it's surprising this setting hasn't been used more often in horror fare.

Despite the concerns of the DPP there is in fact very little violence or nudity here but we do get an effective killer with an (almost) believable back story. The kids are despatched one by one leaving the standard sole heroine to face her tormentors in the climactic scenes.

Hooper will always be better remembered for Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist but this really does deserve to be seen as one of his greater works and at least deserves it's place alongside the likes of Halloween or Friday 13th.