There was a period, from the 1970s into the ’80s, when Tobe Hooper was one hell of a filmmaker. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive, Salem’s Lot, Poltergeist, and today’s film, The Funhouse, are all excellent showcases of his talents. Afterwards he took those talents to Cannon and, well, that’s another story. But, there are countless filmmakers who would kill to have a run like the one above.
The Funhouse, released in 1981, was Hooper’s followup to Salem’s Lot. The movie has a simple premise. Four teens, Amy, Buzz, Liz, and Richie (Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff, and Miles Chapin), out on a double date to a carnival, decide it would be fun to sneak in and spend the night in the funhouse ride after everything closes for the night. This was 1981, folks. Teenagers back then were even more desperate to find something to do than they are now. Basically all there was to do was smoke grass and have sex. And that’s all these teens planned to do in the funhouse. I suppose it was a nice change of pace from someone’s basement lit by a single red bulb. Anyway…
The teens are not alone in the funhouse. Down in the guts underneath the ride and animatronics is the lair of a monster. Really more of a dingy bedroom, but the monster is for real. He’s Gunther, the deformed son of the funhouse barker (Kevin Conway, who plays two other barkers at the carnival, as well). In a fit of rage brought on by sexual humiliation and a dispute over money, Gunther strangles the 
carnival’s fortune teller, Madame Zena (Sylvia Miles, who was a real treat). Unfortunately for the teens, they witness the murder. The barker discovers them, and decides that, to keep Gunther safe, they have to die. What follows is a cat and mouse game throughout the funhouse that was quite suspenseful.
This is a movie with a very limited scope, allowing Hooper to focus on the nuts and bolts of a horror story. The funhouse itself is a bit larger than what one finds at a carnival out here in the real world, but still a cramped place. The majority of the action takes place in only a handful of rooms. Childhood games of hide and seek are more expansive. Yet, it works.
Part of this is because the chase sequence of the film doesn’t begin until the end of a lengthy first act. Hooper spent the better part of 45 minutes following the teens around the carnival, riding the rides, walking the midway, seeing the freaks, grabbing a peek at the adults-only burlesque show, etc. This act has a wonderful, naturalistic feel to it, as if Hooper trusted his cast to improvise an evening at the carnival. Of course, the caveat being that this act comes from the days before our precipitous decline in attention spans, so new viewers could find it tedious. I dislike having to write that about every film with a deliberate pace, but ignoring 21st century realities doesn’t do justice to viewers, either. Just know that, when this film came out, lengthy setups were common, for the simple reason that we, as a society, used to be more patient.
Once the killing does start, though, this movie has a rapid pace that eats up the remaining running time. The barker and Gunther make for a disturbing pair of killers, with Gunther being a standout.
Gunther was mostly mute, making the performance a physical one. Played by Wayne Doba, a mime, Gunther’s raging and gesticulations could have been campy, but they’re not. The range of emotion feels real. Also important is Gunther’s deformed appearance, designed by horror icon Rick Baker. The mask Doba wears is very unsettling, even for a horror veteran. It put me off a turkey sandwich.
The Funhouse is tight, suspenseful, well-acted, well-directed, well-written (by Lawrence J. Block, not to be confused with this one, or this one), and all around fun. It’s a prototypical horror flick, tailor-made for those who love the genre, and a welcome addition to the Horrorshow.