The Funhouse

Summary

Tobe Hooper’s film The Funhouse has recently been given an excellent 4K UHD release by Shout! Factory. This release updated Shout! Factory’s prior Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Released in 1981, The Funhouse is one of Tobe Hooper’s better directorial efforts. The original plan for The Funhouse was to make the film as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Hooper had already done a solid job of bringing films in on a budget with Eaten Alive and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like those films, the villains in the movie are also somewhat backwoods characters, but The Funhouse has a few unique twists that set it apart. As executives at Universal Pictures began to see the film as a competitor against slashers such as Friday the 13th, they decided to allow for a larger budget of $3 million. Tobe made The Funhouse into a much more polished film with the increased budget.  The film was a mild success at the box office bringing in nearly $8 million, and it also received decent reviews from critics at the time who gave the film solid marks for its tense finale and for the lack of gratuitous gore in the film. The film also helped Hooper to land his job working with Steven Spielberg on the iconic Poltergeist. The Shout! Factory 4K UHD features all of the supplements from the prior release alongside four new interviews conducted for the release. 

As the film begins, teenage girl Amy Harper (Elizabeth Berridge) takes a shower that is interrupted by her little brother Joey (Shawn Carson) who dresses in a costume and wield a fake knife in an attempt to frighten her. She lets her brother know that she is not going to take him to the carnival that night in retaliation for his actions. Amy is going out for a double date with a gas station employee named Buzz Dawson (Cooper Huckabee,) her friend Liz Duncan (Largo Woodruff,) and Buzz’s pal Richie Atterbury (Miles Chapin.) The parents (Jeanne Austin and Jack McDermott,) who have gulped down a few cocktails, tell Amy that she needs to stay away from the carnival that is in town because there were some local town folks that died the time the carnival came to a nearby town. Amy agrees to take their advice, and heads out with Buzz when he arrives to pick her up. Amy tries to have Buzz switch up their plans to possibly catch a movie that night, but Buzz is not agreeable to a change of plans. They pick up Richie and Liz and head to the carnival, despite Amy’s worries. At home, the parents tuck in Joey. Joey, not wanting to miss out on the carnival, sneaks out a window and makes his way towards the carnival. Amy and her friends begin to have a good time viewing different attractions and smoking a little grass. They visit a fortune teller named Madame Zena (Sylvia Miles) and she becomes upset with their giggling. Amy becomes warmer to Buzz, and doesn’t rule out losing her virginity to him. Buzz and Richie convince the girls to stay the night in the funhouse. Amy and Liz call each other’s parents to say they are staying at each other’s houses. When the carnival shuts down, the group of friends sneak into the funhouse and begin necking. Meanwhile, Joey sneaks around the carnival. Inside the funhouse, the friends accidentally view a murder. The murder is initiated by a seemingly retarded carnival worker wearing a Frankenstein’s monster mask (Wayne Doba.) When the masked worker’s father (Kevin Conway) realizes that there are witnesses to the crime, they lock down the funhouse and begin to search for the teenagers.

The Funhouse is an entertaining and enjoyable horror film that benefits from colorful and inventive production design, solid cinematography, and a couple enjoyable twists that set it apart. The script by Lawrence J. Block is set up at first as a fairly normal morality tale that reminds viewers to obey their parents, but the second half of the film has a nice twist that *spoiler alert* turns the film into a creature feature. I really enjoyed the way that the slasher elements blended with the creature horror aspects. The script has plenty of predictable notes, but it still works well as a whole.

Tobe Hooper plays up the carnival atmosphere of The Funhouse with aplomb. The Funhouse was filmed in Miami, but that would be impossible to tell when viewing the film (which is set in the midwest.) The amusement park rides and attractions in the film were purchased from a defunct carnival in Ohio and were used to create the carnival set. The carnival atmosphere that the impressive sets achieve is one of the best aspects of the film and they set the film apart from run-of-the-mill horror films of that era. Another great aspect of the film is the choice made to repurpose actor Kevin Conway in three roles in the film as different carnival workers, including one of the main villains. Conway is obviously a chameleon, because it would be quite possible for an audience member to watch the film without fully detecting this sleight of hand. Tobe Hooper draws enjoyable performances from his actors and the cast is up to the challenge. While Kevin Conway may be the most memorable actor in the film, Elizabeth Berridge is a likable heroine. Sylvia Miles chews up the scenery as the outrageous Madame Zena. Largo Woodruff is a likable enough companion, and Cooper Huckabee and Miles Chapin are both fine in their respective roles. The cinematography by Andrew Laszlo is excellent and really brings the festivities of the carnival to life. There is a lot of motion in the film, and a lot of color, so the viewer should find themselves caught up in the proceedings. John Beal’s score is very well composed and brings the very best out of the film.

While The Funhouse is not on the same level as Poltergeist or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it is a fun and entertaining horror film with enough tension and interesting production design to warrant a viewing. Check it out!

Video

This is a great looking 4K transfer. Clarity is very good, with fine film grain, but the film never tries to change the softer aspects of the cinematography by Andrew Laszlo. The colors have an additional pop from the HDR, but the color timing is excellent and true to the original source. I can’t imagine that the film looked this good theatrically. This is a fantastic way to experience the film.

Audio

Shout!Factory has repurposed their solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 track from their prior Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. The movie sounds pretty great to my ears. John Beal’s score is well composed and comes through well on the track. While not as immersive as some more recent releases or in competition with the Atmos track performed for some of John Carpenter’s recent reissues, this is a pretty good track. Immersion is pretty solid and clarity of dialogue is not an issue. I was happy with the track overall.

Supplements:

The original supplements from the prior Collector’s Edition Blu-ray appear on the Blu-ray in the set alongside four new features. The 4K UHD disk only carries the audio commentary track:

• Audio Commentary: Director Tobe Hooper and Moderator/Filmmaker Tim Sullivan.
• Trailers & Radio Spots 
• The Barker Speaks!
• Something Wicked This Way Comes
• Carnival Music
• Audio Interview with William Finley
• Book Advertisement 
• Carnival of Blood: Largo Woodruff on The Funhouse
• Let’s Spend the Night: Miles Chapin on The Funhouse
• Dance in the Dark Ride: Wayne Doba on The Funhouse 
• Alive, Alive, Alive: Craig Reardon on The Funhouse  

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Funhouse is one of Tobe Hooper’s better films. Given a fairly large budget of three million dollars, Hooper was able to bring Lawrence J. Block’s script to life with excellent production design and strong attention to pace and overall tension. The film sets itself apart from other slashers of the era with some interesting twists and its strong carnival setting. The cinematography by Andrew Laszlo and score by John Beal help to bring the film to life. The new Shout! Factory 4K UHD is a fantastic way to view the film with an excellent transfer and the same solid surround track featured on the prior release. All of the  supplemental features from the prior Collector’s Edition are present on the Blu-ray, alongside four new interviews. I definitely recommend checking this release out!