"The Funhouse" (1981) directed by Tobe Hooper

I consider this one of the most underrated and scariest films I’ve ever seen. The monster makeup was horrifying.

The book it’s based on is very good. In the book, the monster and the final girl were actually siblings but neither sibling knew that.

Cooper Huckabee was hot in this.

Only memorable for actor Cooper Huckabee who was at his finest in 1981. He's aged like milk, but Good God -- then! That body alone.

And more Cooper without the jacket. Those arms! I need my smelling salts.

WHET Largo Woodruff? She had a nice screen presence in this and was very beautiful. I found her more likable than Elizabeth Berridge. I am sort of surprised she didn't have a bigger career.

I want cooper in my pooper.

R2, I read the book years before seeing the movie and was actually disappointed in the film because the book was so much better developed. Unusual for a screenplay novelization but it’s by Dean Koontz under a pseudonym so the talent was better than average

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate the film for what it is. Some really creepy atmosphere and great supporting characters. Love the super creepy animatronics in the opening credits

The scene in the fortune teller's tent where Miles gets pissed at the kids and lapses from that phony European accent into her raunchy New Yorker accent is golden.

I think it's underrated.

It's a slice of seamy atmosphere and captures the sleazy, off-kilter, surreal and slightly menacing vibe of a 1970s/80s carnival.

The opening scene is an annoyance and the little kid brother subplot is never integrated into the film.

The novel is surprisingly good. A remake that followed its greatly expanded plot would be a potential new horror classic.

Koontz wrote it under the name Owen West.

I thought Owen West was Ramsey Campbell?

The Funhouse definitely plays much better than the usual early 80s slasher film. Whatever people think about Hooper, he took his work seriously and he knew how to make a horror film. He had just done the TV miniseries of Salem's Lot, which was excellent. Unfortunately, the whole Poltergeist controversy killed his career. Personally, I believe he directed the entire thing. I think Spielberg was up his ass, and probably insisted on certain things done certain ways (and also tried to undermine him), and once you go up against Spielberg, your career is over.

The Funhouse is one of my favorite horror films and I've bought it in almost every iteration, VHS, DVD, US blu ray, UK blu ray and now 4K.

Elizabeth Berridge had an odd career. This film then Amadeus then nothing else of note. Funny she got Amadeus when she was best known as a scream queen. (After Meg Tilly had to drop out of Amadeus due to injury.)

Eaten Alive is also underrated. It's very well-acted and a portrait of intersecting madness - every single character is nuttier than a fucking fruitcake, but only one has a pet crocodile.

I heard Stephen King once threatened to kick Dean right in the Koontz bone.

R14 agreed, Eaten Alive is way underrated and so whacky. Great cast, too.

This was the first movie playing when I started as an usher in school. Now I have the DVD signed by Miles Chapin. Thanks CHILLER!