With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
Released in the middle of the slasher craze, Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse takes a unique approach in that it’s really a creature feature disguised as a slasher. It pokes fun at slasher tropes from the very beginning, the opening scene that introduces us to protagonist Amy (Elizabeth Berridge) sees her getting attacked by an intruder while in the shower. The masked assailant turns out to be her younger brother playing one of many pranks on her, but the scene itself is an overt nod to both Halloween and the famous Psycho shower scene. All of the familiar slasher tropes are at play for the four teens that decide to spend the night in a traveling carnival dark ride and find their lives on the line as a result. There’s even a masked killer on the loose. But what’s underneath the mask is much scarier.
With a core group of four being stalked in the extravagant and atmospheric dark ride, there are long stretches of not a whole lot happening. The body count is low, so things can drag at times. Luckily, between Mort Rabinowitz’s production design and gorgeous cinematography by Andrew Lazlo (The Warriors, Streets of Fire, Poltergeist II: The Other Side), there’s a lot of great visuals to get lost in. Of course, the most fun part of The Funhouse is the monster.
Hooper’s son happened to be a fan of Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London), and so Baker was approached to not only handle the film’s makeup but actually play the monster as well. The script’s description of the monster didn’t have much to go on, other than he was more of a carnival freak with a severe birth defect, and very muscular in stature with an 8-foot height. But Baker felt guilty about the concept of a creating a straight freak and took it to more monstrous levels while still retaining the described cleft-head deformity. He also had other projects he was committed to, so after designing and sculpting the head, he passed the rest of the work to Craig Reardon (Poltergeist, The Goonies, Thir13en Ghosts). Reardon casted, molded, painted the creature’s head from Baker’s design. He handled the creature’s hands, glowing eyes, and any onset makeup- including the vast amounts of snot and saliva oozing from the monster’s head per Hooper’s instruction.
Since Baker wasn’t able to play the monster, mime Wayne Doba (Scarface, Monkeybone) was hired. Being that he was even shorter than Baker, who didn’t meet the 8-foot-tall description of the creature in the script, the Monster wound up being a lot less bulky in stature than originally conceived. But Doba’s physicality and the strength of the creature design meant an unnerving presence without the added height.
The Funhouse is a movie made more memorable by its creature design and expansive carnival setting. It embraces the tropes of slasher films while merging it with a creature feature. In terms of narrative, it’s not the most exciting, but it does make you wish there were a lot more carnival set horror movies with this attention to detail.
