Movie Review: The Funhouse Massacre (2015)

movies and tvJuly 5, 20161 comment

The Funhouse Massacre

The Funhouse Massacre is a recent horror film, but it heavily evokes horror films of the 80s.

The plot is that six of the world’s scariest psychopaths escape from a local asylum and proceed to unleash terror on the unsuspecting crowd of a Halloween Funhouse, where the themed mazes are inspired by those killer’s various reigns of terror.

The spoiler-free review is that if you like the cheesy-slasher/horror-comedy films of the 80s/90s, you’ll like this. The kills are good and gory – they definitely work that R-rating. The jokes are uneven, but mostly funny. Plus there’s quality work from the likes of Robert Englund, Jere Burns, Clint Howard, and Scottie Thompson.

Possible spoilers come after this mark, so don’t scroll farther if you don’t want to see them…

After reading the synopsis of the movie, and seeing it had stars like Robert Englund, Jere Burns, Clint Howard, and Scottie Thompson, I had to check it out.

The movie opens with a tour of the asylum given by the Warden (Englund), where we meet the killers, and see them escape. The killers have names like Mental Manny (Burns), Dollface (Candice De Visser), and Animal the Cannibal (a chef who liked to serve his customers to his customers).

Before the opening title credits roll, we see three kills. Then we meet the “unsuspecting crowd” – none of whom are very likeable. Sheriff Kate (Thompson) is called in to investigate. Her response? “I hate Halloween.”

The killers discover the aforementioned Funhouse, where it seems the designers have used these killer’s histories to devise scary rooms in the maze.

The killers are suitably unimpressed with mistakes in the details. So they get stoned and take over their rooms from the Funhouse’s paid actors, who turn out to be the first of many victims.

In a small twist, it turns out the maze was actually planned by the killers, with some outside help, and they’re ready to have some bloody fun of their own.

Then some radio/podcast hosts show up to broadcast live from the Funhouse, and all hell beaks loose, as the crowd finds the doors to the building are chained and locked shut. There’s no escape!

The body count quickly rises and some of the kills are rather inventive (check out the head getting ripped off).

If you enjoy campy 80s/90s classics like Sleepaway Camp, Happy Birthday to Me, The Dentist, and Silent Night, Deadly Night, this film should be added to your Netflix DVD queue. Director Andy Palmer has created one of the better slasher movies of recent years with The Funhouse Massacre.

Plus, it’s not another horror remake. PS: Don’t turn it off when the closing credits start to roll as there is a mid-credit scene and one after the credits end.

Disclaimer: I rented this with my Netflix DVD account. I was not asked to write a review.

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The Funhouse Massacre

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Director: Andy Palmer
Cast: Robert Englund, Jere Burns, Scottie Thompson, Clint Howard, Candice De Visser, E.E. Bell
Website: funhousemassacremovie.com

Purchase at Amazon

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The official trailer

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About zengrrl

I'm Michelle Snow, the writer and creator of Zengrrl. I write about travel, entertainment, women's issues, health, body positivity, and more, both for this blog and freelance. I have also authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida. If you aren't already following me, the links are below, as well as on the top right of this page. Thanks!

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1 comment

  1. Elmer Anderson July 7, 2016 at 1:07 am

    Now I’m curious.. I need to watch this film..