The Funhouse
| The Funhouse | |
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Original U.S. theatrical poster, a parody of The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster
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| Directed by | Tobe Hooper |
| Produced by | Steven Bernhardt Derek Power Mace Neufeld Mark L. Lester |
| Written by | Larry Block |
| Starring |
Elizabeth Berridge Cooper Huckabee Largo Woodruff Miles Chapin Kevin Conway Sylvia Miles William Finley |
| Music by | John Beal |
| Cinematography | Andrew Laszlo |
| Edited by | Jack Hofstra |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7.8 million |
The Funhouse is a 1981 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. It was written by Larry Block and stars Elizabeth Berridge, Kevin Conway, William Finley, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, and Sylvia Miles. The film's plot concerns four teenagers who become trapped in a dark ride at a local carnival and are stalked by a deformed killer.
A masked intruder attacks Amy as she showers (resembling the famous shower scene from Psycho). The attacker turns out to be her younger brother Joey, a horror movie buff, and his weapon is merely a fake knife. He has played the first of several practical jokes on her.
Against her father's wishes, teenager Amy visits a sleazy traveling carnival with her new boyfriend Buzz, her best friend Liz, and Liz's irresponsible boyfriend Richie. At the carnival, the four teens smoke marijuana, peep into a 21-and-over strip show, heckle fortune teller Madame Zena, visit the freaks-of-nature exhibit, and view a magic show.
Richie dares the group to spend the night in "The Funhouse", which is actually a dark ride. After the park closes, the teenagers settle down inside the ride, at which point they witness the ride assistant, a silent man in a Frankenstein's Monster mask, engage Zena as a prostitute. He experiences premature ejaculation, but despite his request Zena will not return her $100 fee. He murders her in a violent rage.
The teenagers try to leave, but find themselves locked inside the ride. As they attempt to escape, Richie secretly steals the money from the safe from which the masked assistant took Zena's fee. The ride's barker, Conrad Straker, discovers what his son Gunther Twibunt (the masked assistant) has done to Zena. Conrad also realizes that the money is missing. Thinking Gunther took it, he attacks him. Gunther's face is revealed to be gruesomely deformed with sharp protruding teeth, long white-thinning hair, and red eyes.
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Wikipedia