The Funhouse Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
The carnival is a place for fun and laughter, but not for Amy and her friends. When their childish dare to stay all night in the spooky funhouse backfires, it leaves a trail of dismembered teenagers a mile long in Tobe Hooper’s classic video nasty era slasher.
I'm going to get you so bad you're never going to forget it!
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, and it's all funhouses and teenagers acting stupidly until one or more of them gets killed. Director
Tobe
Hooper's Funhouse is nowhere near as spine-tingling horrific and depraved as his macabre masterpiece The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but it's at the very least a competent
and fun
little
slice of Horror cinema that takes a slasher-type formula and transforms it into something a little more monstrous. The movie suffers through
unimaginative characters and dialogue, but it excels in the areas of mood, atmosphere, location and creature design. In fact, the film's boogeyman
looks like it
could have been an inspiration for Sloth from The Goonies or one of the aliens from The Last Starfighter. But even beyond that circus freak's terrifying
appearance,
Hooper's 1981 picture almost magically creates an environment that's at the same time friendly and inviting and terrifying and dark. The movie is
all
about its feel rather than its plot specifics, specifics that are rather uninteresting and a feel that's as tasty as a big clump of cotton candy, as odd
as a bearded lady, and as scary as a haunted house ride.
This one's one-way.
Amy Harper (Elizabeth Berridge) is no fan of her younger brother's Horror obsession, but his childlike antics are nothing compared to the terror that
awaits her on a fateful date at the carnival. Amy, her new boyfriend Buzz (Cooper Huckabee), her friend Liz (Largo Woodruff), and Liz's boyfriend
Richie (Miles Chapin) attend the carnival despite her parent's wishes (and, in this case, better judgment) and the foreknowledge that it's been host
to untimely deaths. The gang soaks in the sights and sounds,
including an eerie run-in with a old woman promising the wrath of God and a foul-mouthed fortune teller (Sylvia Miles). The foursome chooses to
make a night
of the event by sneaking off a haunted house ride and hiding out inside until the park closes down. It seems like a great idea until they witness a
hulking man in a Frankenstein costume murder the fortune teller in cold blood. Frankenstein and his close companion Conrad (Kevin Conway)
discover that the foursome has witnessed the murder. They set out to eliminate the witnesses and effort not to reveal Frankenstein's dark secret.
Can any of the teenagers survive until dawn?
Funhouse captures the essence of a classic Monster movie intermixed with 1980s Slasher elements. The film begins with a
playful homage to all things Horror in a scene that combines the genre nerd's dream come true with the classic opening sequence of Halloween and the famed shower scene from Psycho. But that's about as close as the movie gets to true
and classic "Slasher" formula, though the movie certainly incorporates elements thereof. At its center, Funhouse is a moody and
somewhat novel Survival Horror flick, about finding the truth behind the exterior or, in this case, the mask. It's a classic "bend the rules and break
the rule bender" sort of tale, about pulling back the curtain on oddity at best
and depravity at worst passing off as family-friendly entertainment and becoming trapped in a world designed to scare, only this time with a
real boogeyman lurking in the shadows, not harmless animatronic figures. The movie is far from perfect, but the quality production design,
uniqueness of the tale, and the
accomplished setting make for a fine and fun little escapist Horror picture that combines formula, novelty, and relatable scares with remarkable
efficiency.
The movie is largely superficial then, but that's par for the course for the Horror genre. The picture introduces completely generic characters whose
names matter not and whose back stories matter even less. Director Tobe Hooper understands where, when, and how to butter his bread, however,
and he
focuses on all of the most important aspects of the film and leaves well enough largely alone with the unimportant details. The movie doesn't waste
too
much time slugging around in needless character construction, spending only a few opening minutes establishing the heroine-to-be and moving on
to poking around the carnival for the rest of the first act, establishing that critical mood and atmosphere that enhances the mystery and unsettling
nature of the second act and betters the reveal and panicked pacing of the final act. Hooper gets the most out of every square inch of each frame,
crafting a mesmerizing world of the macabre disguised as evil in plain sight. The picture's makeup effects are great, and while the kills are rather
tame even by early 1980s standards, The Funhouse feels more frightening thanks to both that makeup and that critical dark, eerie carnival
ambience that the film so expertly constructs.
The Funhouse arrives on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory's new Scream! Factory label. The result is very impressive 1080p high definition transfer.
Presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, the movie looks fantastic, generally, offering very crisp, film-like details. Grain remains throughout and
solidifies a pleasant, natural filmic texture. There are plenty of softer shots scattered throughout -- some blurry edges and a few smudgy details -- but
it's clear that this is The Funhouse as it was intended to be seen. The image's crisp elements truly impress with natural, well-defined objects
such as clothing, the Frankenstein mask, wear and tear around the carnival, and complex facial textures. Colors are largely fantastic, with oftentimes
brilliant
splashes to be seen all over the carnival, from bright yellows to vibrant blues. Flesh tones are accurate, and blacks are acceptable, though perhaps a
little pale in places throughout what is a fairly dark movie. The image sees a few scattered white speckles and a couple of random vertical lines, but on
the whole this is a very well balanced and authentic 1080p transfer of an old favorite looking better than ever on home video.
The Funhouse features a wonderful DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. From the great opening title music forward, this audio presentation
impresses at worst and dazzles at best. That opening music plays with a big, well-spaced, and completely immersive sensation, offering precision clarity
and the feel of a live performance. The carnival atmosphere proves most sonically impressive; the listener often feels completely immersed within the
environment, enjoying the din of games and barkers and music scattered amongst general crowd ambience. Such scenes make use of the entire
soundstage and prove enjoyable and critical both in pulling the audience into the movie and establishing the environment to enhance the terror that
comes later. There are some very big, potent, and spooky sound effects -- such as booming thunder -- to be a heard during the haunted house ride.
Bass is deep and aggressive but not overly so. Various mechanical sounds near the end nicely fill the soundstage and play with an evident and crucial
surround element. Dialogue is clear and accurate, though microphone dialogue playing through carnival speakers comes through with an
understandable, and even welcome in the name of authenticity, muffle. Overall, this is a fantastic soundtrack that serves the movie and the audience
both very well.
The Funhouse contains a new audio commentary track, several interviews, deleted scenes, and more.
Audio Commentary: An all-new-for-Blu-ray commentary with Director Tobe Hooper and Moderator/Filmmaker Tim Sullivan. Subjects
include Hooper's
career and landing the job for The Funhouse, the picture's aspect ratio, the picture's throwback style, influences, casting and performances,
photography and technical details, the benefits of Blu-ray, specifics of the shoot, Hooper's inspiration and lifelong love of film, and much more. This is
a very well spoken track, extremely insightful, and a pleasure to hear. Fans will definitely want to give this one a listen.
The Barker Speaks! An Interview with Actor Kevin Conway (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 11:15): The actor recounts his experience acting
on his first Horror film, working with Tobe Hooper, his contributions to the film beyond acting, filming a death scene, his mother's visit to the set, and
more.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: An All-New Interview with Executive Producer Mark L. Lester (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 8:44):
Lester shares his passion for classic Horror and low-budget exploitation. He speaks on his involvement in the film, beginning with his attachment to
the project and moving on to cover the script, the picture's budget, shooting locations, the film's success, and more.
Carnival Music: An Interview with Composer John Beal (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 10:01): The composer discusses his work history and
his natural career marriage of music and movies, how his score was crafted to serve as an atmosphere for the film rather than detached music, the
technical specifics of the music, and more.
Audio Interview with Actor William Finley (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 3:25): A clip featuring the late actor, sourced from a 2005 interview
with Edwin Samuelson of The Cine-Files and AVManiacs.com
Deleted Scenes (480p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5:26). Scenes added to the network television broadcast to augment a runtime cut short due to
censorship.
TV and Radio Spots (480p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 4:28 cumulative runtime).
The Funhouse Trailer (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 1:28).
The Funhouse isn't a traditional 1980s Slasher. It combines the teenage victim angle of that style, however, and mixes it with a moody,
wonderfully atmospheric classic Monster flick. It's a winning combination that impresses through just about every second of its lean runtime. It's a little
dated and rather tame in hindsight, but The Funhouse holds up as a movie working wonderfully on the back of a great atmosphere and a
director who understands what the movie requires to work. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release of The Funhouse features very good video, strong
audio, and a nice array of extra content. Highly recommended.
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