Jason versus The Funhouse

The Funhouse is one of those notorious horror movies I grew up with but never watched, mostly because there was no way I could convince my parents to let me see a Friday the 13th movie when I was nine, never mind something by the guy who made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

So when the flick turned up on my VOD queue, I thought I'd give it a try. How does this 33-year-old slasher movie rate? Stick with me!

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

The Funhouse, much like TCM, isn't as brutal or gory as its reputation suggests. In fact, The Funhouse is a kids' movie by TCM standards, not that I'd recommend young children watch it. Nor is it particularly scary or disturbing, a few select sequences aside.

But we do get boobs, which is a good thing.

Tobe Hooper does deserve credit for taking time to develop the characters, although it does take 38 minutes for them to actually get into the funhouse in question. Another 20 or some more pass before the real stalk and kill begins.

When Hooper does deliver the goods, they are more or less worth the wait. I especially liked one nightmarish sequence inside a ventilation shaft. And the funhouse attraction itself is unnerving.

I'm glad I finally caught up with The Funhouse, but wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. Which, by Basement standards, means it's a Bad. This is disappointing, as I'd hoped to dig it a whole lot more given the pleasant surprises that were The Prowler and Dead and Buried.

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