The Funhouse

Palpably inept and interminable, The Funhouse follows several friends, including Elizabeth Berridge’s Amy and Miles Chapin’s Richie, as they decide to spend the night within the title attraction and subsequently find themselves pursued by a malevolent force. Filmmaker Tobe Hooper, armed with a script by Larry Block, kicks The Funhouse off with a decidedly far-from-impressive opening that couldn’t possibly be less promising, although, as becomes clear, that opening is certainly a whole lot more engaging and entertaining than virtually everything that comes later – as Hooper spends much of the movie’s endless runtime focused on the one-dimensional protagonists’ meandering, hopelessly tedious exploits. (This is particularly true of a protracted midsection devoted to scene after scene in which nothing of any real consequence occurs.) And while the third act does, finally, contain some otherwise-absent instances of violence and gore, The Funhouse has been saddled with a dimly-lit atmosphere that essentially (and effectively) drains the life from the proceedings and renders its thrilling moments moot – which ultimately does cement the picture’s place as a mostly worthless endeavor that squanders an admittedly compelling setup.

* out of ****