Director: Tobe Hooper
Year: 1981
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Heading off with her friends, a group of teens decide to spend the night in a local carnival's funhouse and notice that a deformed, masked worker who killed a fellow member is now out to kill them in order to cover up the crime forcimg them to have to get past the killer and the rest of his family.
Review:
This here wasn't all that bad of a slasher. One of the better features here is the appropriately dirty and somewhat sleazy atmosphere around the carnival which makes this one really feel like an authentic location. The attention to detail he gives the carnival at the beginning is amazing, even the stuff that is going on in the background. Filled with plenty of actual rides and attractions, such as haunted mazes or animal freak shows as well as the general feel around the camp with the crowds and carnival barkers themselves who are weird and seedy, this whole section is really life-like so that the scenes of the group in the exhibits has a lot to like. By taking a trip through the garish freak-show, which includes on exhibit a two-headed cow and a deformed, bottled fetus, the mechanized fun-house creatures, the deformed inbred monster, the creepy surreal barkers and more, the groundwork is laid for some real fun. This is obviously thrilled by the colors, textures and shadows of the carnival and capably turns the place into a menacing and alien environment.
Even better is that the switchover to the stalking and slashing in the second half has a lot to work off of, from the inadvertant peeping of him killing off the prostitute while they're spying from above, the whole scene of them trying to get away in the darkened attic and then being spotted as they plan their escape give this a strong strart for the confrontations inside. These here are really enjoyable, from the surprising leanings inside the rides which later prompts them to be placed inside the attractions as well as the big battles they get into from there as they get involved in the intense brawl inside the attractions of the carnival alongside the strong finishing chase through the hall of mirrors down into the gears of the facility. The fun-house itself is a great set, with loads of evil-looking mannequins brandishing knives and spinning around, dimly lit corridors, noises whirring in the background and dummies popping out to scare people, is all very colorful and really adds to the freakiness factor of the setting and provides an ideal place for a series of stalk 'n' slash moments. Alongside the great look of the killer when finally unveiled, these here are what hold this one up as there really isn't a whole lot wrong with this one.
One of it's problems is the slow pace in the beginning as the opening setup for the walk-through of the carnival takes a large amount of time to get started. There's around an hour of material before the killer even gets started, and while it builds up atmosphere, this really could've been trimmed down a tad and replace most of the running around. The subplot involving her brother at the carnival is one of those big reasons which also holds things up and ultimately never comes to anything, despite the build up it is given. It's quite hard to believe that the outcome is really all that deserving, and it in itself is just an awful plot-line that holds up even more time. There's also the issue here with a really weak and unspectacular finale showdown in the basement with the killer which is somewhat shorter than expected and doesn't seem to have any kind of impact here. The film's other big problem is the lack of gore in the kills as despite the variety featured here such as an ax in the head, a sword in the back, a stabbing and being crushed by hydraulic equipment, this has far less gore and it really could've used more.
The cast here is appropriate for this type of gene effort. Elizabeth Berridge is merely serviceable as lead Amy Harper, who really only stands out here as being one of the few final girls who was nude at some point in the featured film yet otherwise is mainly just there. She's not that proactive and let's things happen but she doesn't grate on people's nerves so in te end it doesn't amount to much either way here. Cooper Huckabee as her date Buzz Klemmet is a bit better as he's a big proponet of listening to her and trying to be reasonable in the situuation which manages to keep him on the bright side of things here. However, he doesn't have much else beyond this so he's a fine nice guy caught up in this but doesn't really standout here. Largo Woodruff as Liz is also nice if only for the fact that she's serviceable as the slutty one of the group but isn't fleshed out much beyond that. Miles Chapin as her date Richie also doesn't do much here and is bland that he just slinks into the background before he's killed off here which makes the acting on the whole quite bland. Otherwise, this one here was quite nicely done.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
With only a few nagging problems, this really is quite an underrated slasher film with a lot to like about it. It's creepy, frightening enough and full of intense action leaving it a film full of entertainment and a full recommendation for the hardcore slasher fans in the crowd while those not into these types of efforts should heed caution.
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