The Funhouse

 

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a hard act to follow. Although there are some legitimate duds in TOBE HOOPER's resume (SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION), most of his output gets unfairly shirked when compared to his early masterpiece. 1981's THE FUNHOUSE in particular gets short changed. Often lumped in with the cash-in slashers of the same year, it's actually an exuberant collision between classic monster tropes and the splatter body horror of its day. Dismissing the winking (literally) homages to HALLOWEEN and PSYCHO in the films opening sequence as brain-dead wheel spinning, most audiences where blind to the originality that was to proceed.ELIZABETH BERRIDGE plays Amy Harper, a young woman on the verge of adulthood. She's leaving behind the childish ways of her youth represented by an obnoxious younger sibling (SHAWN CARSON). With the aid of a small lie, she plans to attend an ominous visiting carnival against her parents' approval. What she's really toying with is the idea of losing her virginity, not exactly a novel concept in the realm of '80's horror geared toward teen audiences, but the price Amy pays for opening her Pandora's box is.Although the likable enough Amy is clearly our final girl from the get go, the way she is represented is unusual. Her first scene is a nude one and we are shown early on a harsh glimpse at her caged anger when a prank is played. Next we are shown an unflattering Polaroid that her brother has taken of her mid-scowl while the audio from THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN plays in the background, declaring simply "She IS the Bride of Frankenstein!" Amy is smugly dishonest and although coy about the possibility of sex, she's not exactly nixing the idea either. This is a far cry from the stalwart Girl Scouts and lovable tomboys we're used to. Amy is not the golden girl, she's not a pillar of truth, she skates gray areas that are in fact, closer to real human behavior. Upon arriving with her friends and a suitable beau to the traveling show, Amy is accosted by an old crone who repeatedly warns, "God is watching." (Would any good horror movie be complete with out the aged doomsayer?) The night is alive with excitement and every other scene explodes with the colors of a smashed gumball machine. Amy is feeling freedom and perhaps the power to fulfill her wishes. She is at the high point of her life, too young to give a shit, but old enough to have real adult fun.Having an excellent time walking the line of innocent amusement and irresistible attraction to life's grittier side, Amy and her friends decide to stay over night within the titular funhouse. This not only gives them a chance to get down to that sex business, but to also witness prostitution, premature ejaculation and murder. They also make the mistake of swiping some cash from the till and discovering the secret inhabitant of the ride, the yin to Amy's yang. If Amy is "the Bride," than he is her groom. He's even wearing a FRANKENSTEIN mask in case there's any confusion. Unfortunately his fantasy horror mask hides an even more horrifying reality. He is a physically deformed representative of adolescent sexuality, a hideous monster that can't be easily controlled.Once the cat is out of the bag, there is no turning back for Amy or any of her friends. There is no returning to the innocence of youth. This is beautifully illustrated when her parents come to fetch her younger brother who has also been up to curiosity inspired mischief on the fairground. Watching from an upper fan enclosed portal, Amy screams for their aid to no avail. She might as well be screaming through Alice's looking glass from another dimension. Her parents extract her brother from the nightmare and exit oblivious. Apparently her sibling's youth makes him savable and eligible for protection. More subtly than in most slasher films, Amy's pals fall and die according to their now unusable usual survival techniques. Buzz's muscular heroics are a no go. Liz's attempts to use her beauty are a failure, and Richie, a tricky prankster, is off-ed by a regrettable misread of information (and an axe). Did they get off easy next to Amy?Amy does indeed survive the night, but the victory is hollow and she appears more damaged than relieved. It's not moxie, but dumb luck that allows her to live. She does not turn into LINDA HAMILTON at any point of the film. She escapes the machinery of life's funhouse simply because the monster was just slightly a bigger loser than she…

Obviously death would never be the outcome for our Amy in THE FUNHOUSE. Instead she is awoken into the world that HOOPER has been rubbing our noses in ever since we arrived on the scene. Rather than spooking us with images of murder and mayhem, we have been treated to body mutation, both human and animal, and mounds of aging twisted flesh, the real horror of mortality and age. Happy clown faces, images of childhood crack, peal and mockingly laugh. This ride has been going on forever. Something wicked does indeed, this way come… 

As Amy leaves the funhouse she passes the old hag who repeats, "God is watching." This God, rather than inflict moral punishment on Amy for discovering her sexuality, has something else in mind. He's going to take away her youth and shove her on life's conveyer belt toward old age and death. Amy's discovery of sex puts her in the same boat as the fleshy strippers that "wiggle" for the crowds and the aged bloated psychic (SYLVIA MILES). What Amy is really discovering about her body and this mortal coil, is that there's nowhere to go but down.