Prime Video Now Streaming Lost Slasher from the Director of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’
The late Tobe Hooper was as authentic a filmmaker as any. Sure, everyone knows The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but why I first fell in love with Hooper was everything else he helmed on the periphery. There’s a grit, a kind of indomitable independent spirit, present in every movie he made, and it makes titles like, say, Crocodile so much more impactful and full of character than they otherwise might have been.
Hooper was, after all, a rural boy trying to make it big in Hollywood against all odds. And he did. Poltergeist was his biggest mainstream breakthrough, and that classic is assuredly, objectively the work of Hooper’s singular perspective on modern suburbia and capitalistic rot. There were no other filmmakers, especially horror filmmakers, quite like him, and his early filmography, especially, is a gold mine of surprises and earnest, gnarly art. One such title is currently trending on Prime Video. It might be better known, at least among horror audiences, though I’m willing to bet it’s been a moment since you visited The Funhouse.
Per Prime Video: A carnival attraction holds grisly death for four teenagers.
Like John Carpenter’s classic Halloween, The Funhouse is unexpectedly patient. It’s not the nasty gore fest Chain Saw fans might be expecting. Largely, it’s a slow burn, prioritizing tension and mystery over gruesome deaths. There are still some of those, don’t worry, but The Funhouse is as much a calling card for Hooper’s development as it is a slasher movie. Frankly, it’s gorgeous, and Hooper’s clever subversion of the then-young tropes continues to impress.
Our own Tyler Doupé made the argument that The Funhouse has all the makings of a great slasher film. In a retrospective for the film’s 40th anniversary, he wrote, “The film starts off great, with an opening scene reminiscent of the first several minutes of Halloween. However, Tobe Hooper slyly subverts expectations and goes in a different direction than first-time viewers are likely expecting. And that’s a smart move because it puts the viewer on edge and also does something unexpected.” The Funhouse is smart, and it’s emerged as one of the era’s most underrated slashers because of that.
What do you think? Do you have any plans to check out The Funhouse on Prime Video? If you do, let me know whether you had a fun time or not over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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