I'm not entirely certain where all of the high praise for this film comes from, as it is one of the most boring things I've ever seen in my life. Self-indulgent to a fault, it spends too long wasting time with four unlikable supposed protagonists at a carnival that actually seems amusing, not unsettling or eerie at all. Hooper fails utterly to build any suspense whatsoever, and instead opts for making it seem like a lengthy ordeal...and what a lengthy ordeal it is. The film clocks in at just over an hour and a half, but it seems like trying to get through Berlin Alexanderplatz; it's a dull slog in which nothing interesting happens, and even when the monster is unveiled, it's neither shocking nor even mildly engaging.
That's the most inexcusable aspect of The Funhouse: it's boring and at no point does the direction build any tension. It's not scary. It's not funny. It's not even exciting. It seems almost pretentious in its self-indulgence, but there's absolutely no artistic statement to it, possibly because there's also no art to it. This is as imaginative as paint-by-numbers, and about as unexceptional. If you ever wondered why you haven't heard of The Funhouse, try to sit through it. Unless you're the type of person who really and truly enjoys watching obnoxious people spend an utterly unexceptional evening at a carnival, you won't get much out of this. At best, most viewers will probably be inspired to go out to an actual carnival by this film, because even the worst carnival will be more entertaining than The Funhouse.
That's the most inexcusable aspect of The Funhouse: it's boring and at no point does the direction build any tension. It's not scary. It's not funny. It's not even exciting. It seems almost pretentious in its self-indulgence, but there's absolutely no artistic statement to it, possibly because there's also no art to it. This is as imaginative as paint-by-numbers, and about as unexceptional. If you ever wondered why you haven't heard of The Funhouse, try to sit through it. Unless you're the type of person who really and truly enjoys watching obnoxious people spend an utterly unexceptional evening at a carnival, you won't get much out of this. At best, most viewers will probably be inspired to go out to an actual carnival by this film, because even the worst carnival will be more entertaining than The Funhouse.