Folks who think Tobe Hooper was a fast flash in the pan who dropped a bunch of cinematic turds after his inaugural effort, tend to forget he also directed Poltergeist. And they should also give The Funhouse another look, too (– and Lifeforce while they’re at it.) The film also kinda marks a turning point in the Stalk ‘n’ Slash boom where it started to become less about whodunit and more about howtheydunit; and how the homicidal psychopaths were slowly being replaced with nigh indestructible killers, making it more of an outright monster movie. (It’s a Universal Picture; it’s a tradition, ‘natch.) Anyhoo, mutant freak aside, the film is just oozing with atmosphere that Hooper wrings from the seedier side of the carnival well off the bright lights of the midway’s beaten path and it’s aged a lot better than you’d think.
Other Points of Interest:
Poster campaign for The Funhouse at the Archive.
The Funhouse (1981) Mace Neufeld Productions :: Universal Pictures / EP: Mark L. Lester, Mace Neufeld / P: Steven Bernhardt, Derek Power / AP: Brad Neufeld / D: Tobe Hooper / W: Lawrence Block / C: Andrew Laszlo / E: Jack Hofstra / M: John Beal / S: Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Jeanne Austin, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, Kevin Conway, Wayne Doba
Scenes from the Morgue 
