The Funhouse
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| The Funhouse | |
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.jpg/200px-The_Funhouse_(Film).jpg) Original 1981 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Tobe Hooper |
| Produced by | Steven Bernhardt Derek Power |
| Written by | Larry Block |
| Starring | Elizabeth Berridge Shawn Carson |
| Music by | John Beal |
| Cinematography | Andrew Laszlo |
| Editing by | Jack Hofstra |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 13 1981 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 96 min. 90 min. (Swedish cut) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Funhouse is a 1981 slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Larry Block. The original music score is composed by John Beal. The story went out of its way to subtly portray the antagonist as someone to be pitied and not just feared (since most critics have pointed out that He tended to only kill out of pain!)
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[edit] Cast
- Elizabeth Berridge.... Amy Harper
- Shawn Carson.... Joey Harper
- Jeanne Austin.... Mrs. Harper
- Jack McDermott.... Mr. Harper
- Cooper Huckabee.... Buzz Klemmet
- Largo Woodruff.... Liz Duncan
- Miles Chapin.... Richie Atterbury
- Kevin Conway.... Funhouse Barker (Conrad Straker)
- Wayne Doba.... The Monster (Gunther Straker)
- Sylvia Miles.... Madame Zena
- William Finley.... Marco the Magnificent
[edit] Taglines
- Pay to get in. Pray to get out!
- Something is alive in the funhouse... something better dead!
- Something is alive in the funhouse... something that has the form of a human, but not in the face... something that feeds off the flesh and bone of young innocents...
- Something is alive in the funhouse... something that, tonight, will turn the funhouse into a carnival of terror!
[edit] Synopsis
Against her father's orders, Amy goes to a sleazy travelling carnival with her new boyfriend Buzz, her best friend Liz, and Liz's boyfriend Richie. Unbeknownst to the four teens, Amy's prank-happy little brother Joey (who happens to be obsessed with classic horror movies) sneaks out of the house and follows them to the carnival... which Amy's father was opposed to because a couple of Girl Scouts were found murdered at its previous location; no one knows who killed the two children or how, although both girls had to be identified via dental records.
At the carnival, the four youngsters smoke marijuana and sneak into a 21-and-over striptease joint. They heckle Madame Zena the Fortune Teller, visit a freaks-of-nature exhibit, and view a magic show.
Finally, the foursome telephone their parents and lie to them, so they can spend the night in the carnival's funhouse - actually a darkride - after it closes. While Joey waits for them to emerge, the teenagers enjoy a sexual romp in the dark funhouse. Then they notice the Funhouse Barker's assistant - a huge man in a Frankenstein suit who never speaks - making out with a lingerie-clad Madame Zena (who is old enough to be the teens' grandmother). She demands a hundred dollars from "Frankenstein," and then refuses to "go all the way" as agreed. When she won't give back the money, "Frankenstein" attacks and strangles her.
The four teenagers attempt to leave the funhouse, but it is locked up. Richie, who suggested spending the night in the funhouse to begin with, adds insult to injury by cleaning out the steel strongbox from which "Frankenstein" got Madame Zena's hundred dollars. The kids have to hide again when the Funhouse Barker, Conrad Straker, returns and sees what "Frankenstein" - actually his son Gunther - has done to Madame Zena. After giving Gunther a violent reprimanding for what happened, Conrad gets an idea: they'll deposit Madame Zena's body to make it look as though she was killed by "the locals". Then Conrad discovers that all of the money from his strongbox is missing. At first, he jumps to the obvious conclusion that Gunther has it or at least took it; accordingly, Conrad tortures him until Gunther rips off his Frankenstein mask.
To the teens' shock, Gunther is gruesomely deformed: head and nose twice as wide as they should be; with oversized mouth, huge sharp teeth, and ruby-red eyes. At this impromptu revelation, Richie accidentally drops his cigarette lighter on the floor. Conrad promptly discovers the lighter; evidently, he and Gunther are not alone. Even worse, it is likely that whoever dropped this lighter also witnessed Gunther's killing of Madame Zena. This witness (or witnesses) will have to be found, slain and buried... as surreptitiously as possible. It won't be the first time, either: Conrad and Gunther had to murder a pair of Girl Scouts for tripping over their secret; had word gotten out, Gunther would have been lynched and butchered (like his mother), or put on display in the freak exhibition (like his late younger brother Tad).
After killing Richie with a hangman's noose, actually a funhouse prop, Gunther captures Liz with a trapdoor and then fatally rapes her. Conrad tries to shoot Amy, but Buzz jumps him for his pistol. It fires, killing Conrad. Then Gunther attacks Buzz for the gun, while Amy runs for it. The pistol goes off again, this time killing Buzz.
Gunther chases Amy into a room filled with hydraulic machinery, huge sprockets, and the like. He tries to knock her head in with a crowbar, but misses and hits the fusebox instead... electrocuting, but somehow not killing, him. Caught between the two primary gears, he attempts to drag her between them with him. She tears herself free as he is crushed to death.
At dawn, Amy exits the funhouse. An animated fat lady laughs uproariously as Amy - her clothes ripped, her makeup running, her shoes gone - proceeds to walk home.
[edit] Novelization
- Main article: The Funhouse (novel).
A novelization of the screenplay was written by Dean Koontz, under the pseudonym Owen West. As the film production took longer than expected, the book was released before the film.
[edit] External links
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