The Funhouse (1981)

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writer:

Lawrence Block (writer)

Release Date:

13 March 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Something is alive in the funhouse...something that, tonight, will turn the funhouse into a carnival of terror!

Plot:

Four teenage friends spent the night in a carnival funhouse and are stalked by a deformed man in a frankenstein mask.

Plot Keywords:

Funhouse | Night | Carnival | Murder | Deformed Man

Cast

Elizabeth Berridge	...	Amy Harper
Shawn Carson	...	Joey Harper
Jeanne Austin	...	Mrs. Harper
Jack McDermott	...	Mr. Harper
Cooper Huckabee	...	Buzz Dawson
Largo Woodruff	...	Liz
Miles Chapin	...	Richie
David Carson	...	Geek (as D. Lee Carson)
Sonia Zomina	...	Bag Lady
Ralph Morino	...	Truck Driver
Kevin Conway	...	Funhouse / Freakshow / Stripshow Barkers
Herb Robins	...	Carnival Manager
Mona Agar	...	Mona - a strip show dancer
Wayne Doba	...	The Monster
William Finley	...	Marco the Magnificent

Also Known As:

Carnival of Terror
'n afgrijselijk gebeuren (Netherlands) [nl]
Carnaval del terror (Argentina) [es]
Das Kabinett des Schreckens (West Germany) [de]
Il tunnel dell'orrore (Italy) [it]
Kummitusjuna (Finland) [fi]
La casa de los horrores (Spain) [es]
Massacres dans le train fantôme (France) [fr]
Panoptikum (Czechoslovakia) (informal title) [cs]
To tunnel tou tromou (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

96 min | Sweden:90 min (cut) | Belgium:80 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

West Germany:18 (cut) | UK:15 (re-rating) | Norway:15 (2009) (uncut) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) | France:-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | Norway:(Banned) (1981-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

North Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

Mace Neufeld Productions

Trivia:

Dean R. Koontz wrote a novelization of the screenplay under the pseudonym Owen West. The book contains a lot of backstory added by Koontz. Because of this, and the fact that the book was released before the movie due to a delay in post production, it is often mistaken that the movie is based on the book, but the book is in fact based on the movie.

Quotes:

Funhouse: [to the freak] Hit yerself, you ugly thing!

Movie Connections:

Features Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Possibly the last watchable Tobe Hooper's horror film.

"The Funhouse" is based on a screenplay by Larry Block and Dean Koontz's "The Funhouse" novel was written and released as a tie-in with Tobe Hooper's movie,under the pseudonym of Owen West.The story moves around a group of teenagers who decide to break into a carnival funhouse and spend the night there for a bit of fun.Soon they're stalked by a ghastly freak from the carnival."The Funhouse" is no "Texas Chain Saw Massacre"(1974)or even "Eaten Alive"(1976-check out my review of it!),but Tobe Hooper really creates some thrills and a good deal of suspense.The film probably ended up on a video nasties list by mistake,as it may have been confused with "Last House on Dead End Street"(1977)which was also known as "The Fun House".So if you like horror genre-check out this quite sleazy and occasionally very scary film.