I can’t think of a bad horror movie that’s set in a carnival. They’re all good. Here’s one from the 80s slasher bin. It works even though it doesn’t have the highest body count around or the goriest kills. It might hold back a little because this is a major studio release (Universal). Or it could be because the producers didn’t want to risk an X-rating from the MPAA, who came down extra hard on chop-’em’-up flicks right after Friday the 13th. Or it could be because director Tobe Hooper doesn’t need the jumbo-sized bucket of fake blood to make a good movie. Some creepy performances and the sights and sounds of the funhouse after closing time are eerie enough. That’s where two teenage couples out on a double date decide to sneak in and spend the night. Naturally, the funhouse is run by a boozy psycho with a deformed son who looks like something from the Star Wars cantina scene. Sometimes, every now and then, when the mood strikes, they both kill people (Hooper has a thing for killer families, I guess). Meanwhile, Hooper gives us great views of the bright lights and colors of the carnival at night while one of the most underrated orchestral horror film scores (by composer John Beal, who mostly did television work) charges beneath.
Sometimes horror fans debate over who invented the slasher movie. Tobe Hooper’s name comes up often. So does Alfred Hitchock and John Carpenter. Whomever you choose, Hooper doesn’t seem to mind. The very first minutes of The Funhouse are a double-homage to Psycho and Halloween that combines take-offs on two of their most famous moments in one scene.