By Richrd Winters
My Rating: 5 out of 10
4-Word Review: Terror at the carnival.
Amy (Elizabeth Berridge) is a teen who goes out on a double date with her new boyfriend Buzz (Cooper Huckabee) along with her friend Li (Largo Woodruff) and her boyfriend Richie (Miles Chapin). Despite her reluctance, and promising her parents that she wouldn’t, she goes along with the three to the traveling carnival that is in town. While there Richie comes up with the idea that they should spend the night in the funhouse as a dare. The four sneak into the attic, but then witness, through the cracks in the floorboards, one of the carnival workers, who wears a mask to hide his hideously deformed face, kill Carmelita (Sylia Miles) the fortune teller. When the funhouse barker (Kevin Conway) realizes they’ve witnessed it, as well as stolen their money, they go after the kids, who are now trapped.
While the plot has some intriguing elements and the pacing manages to keep things creepy, I did feel that the creativity was lacking. Nowhere is this more evident than the opening bit where Amy’s kid brother attacks her with a rubber knife while she’s in the shower that is a complete rip-off from both Psycho and Halloween. The storyline is bland and predictable. I was hoping for something more surreal like they go into the funhouse and all these freaky things begin to happen to them and then find themselves trapped inside and forced to fight off a mysterious demonic power.
The killer that is named Gunther and played by Wayne Doba I didn’t find scary at all. He wears a Frankenstein mask most of the time and then when his true hideous face is exposed it really wasn’t the shocking moment that I think the filmmakers had intended. Despite being created by noted special effects artist Rick Baker I felt it looked very much like a plastic mask that just didn’t seem all that grotesque. You also feel somewhat sorry for the guy. Like he’s someone who’s been mistreated and not necessarily fear. In Larry Block’s original script Gunther was shown raping and killing another couple who had come to the funhouse earlier. While this would’ve been much more violent, I think it would’ve also heightened the tension. It’d make clear right from the start that this was a dangerous guy with bad intent instead of sitting around for the first 30-minutes not knowing exactly what’s going to happen, or even who the true villain is.
The acting is good all-around especially Berridge who has a natural beauty and behaves the way a shy, awkward teen would, and you feel bonded to her emotionally. In fact, for me the scariest part of the whole film, and the most memorable, is when she sees her parents at the carnival, while she’s trapped in the funhouse, and she scream out to them for help, but they can’t hear her due to the large electrical fan.
Spoiler Alert!
The supporting cast is good too as each of the teens has a distinct personality and avoid for the most part as coming off like caricatures. Miles Chapin plays the guy that just keeps getting the group in more and more trouble. First, he’s the one that comes up with the idea of spending the night there, then he steals the money, which makes the barker want to go after them and then it’s his lighter that falls through the floorboard cracks that alerts everyone to their whereabouts. He was such an idiot that when his dead body, that has an ax through the back of his head, comes wheeling by, I felt the remaining three should’ve cheered it instead of being horrified. At least when he’s dead, he can’t get them into any more of a mess.
Conway is excellent and so is Sylvia Miles, who at the time was the most well-known member of the cast. I loved the moment where she’s giving this fake psychic reading and her accent changes midway through. Having her get killed though was a real disappointment as keeping her working alongside the two men to get the kids would’ve made it more interesting. I didn’t feel the scenes where Gunther pays her to have sex with him and then prematurely ejaculates was even needed. Just having the kids steal their money would’ve been enough motive to have them chased down.
In 2017 writer Larry Block was able to buy back his screenplay in an attempt to produce a remake that would stay more loyal to the way it was originally written. I think it’s worth a shot as this version misses-the-mark though there’s been no updates about it since then.
My Rating: 4 out of 10
Released: March 13, 1081
Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
Rated R
Director: Tobe Hooper
Studio: Universal
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Video
