38: The Funhouse

03/18/24 • 92 min

This week Bryan and Dave take a look at the criminally underrated horror movie by Tobe Hooper, The Funhouse from 1981. Tobe Hooper caught everyone's attention with the absolutely legendary horror movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and continued to toy with the tropes established in that movie through his other killer hillbilly movie, Eaten Alive, and straight into this one when he finally seems to get it all out of his system.

Universal Pictures at the time, with their own legacy of classic black and white horror movies, wanted a piece of that hot slasher movie action of the era and secured Hooper with the hopes that he'd turn in something tuned to the expectations of the time but he surprised everyone and decided to give them a proper monster movie in the mode of their own black and white horror movies. The disparity between the studio's intentions and the director's vision results in a monster movie that succeeds despite the challenges Tobe Hooper faced.

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Previous Episode

(Preview) Get Crazy | 99 Cent Rental

This week Dave and Bryan take a look at Allan Arkush's follow up to Rock n Roll High School, the rock musical Looney Tunes mayhem of Get Crazy. It's a story of three filmmakers butting heads over the movie they were trying to make. Arkush intended for a nostalgia-drenched tribute to his teenage years at The Fillmore East in the style of Scorcese's The Last Waltz, the producer wanted a fast and stupid visual comedy in the style of Airplane! and the Executive Producer wanted a movie that was going to fail and fail badly so his tax shelter investors could turn a healthy profit. Somehow, they all got what they wanted in the end.

Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pZahfL6mvtNXXxPgqPqDZ?si=38a7ea5689da4912

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Next Episode

(Preview) Sunset Boulevard | 99 Cent Rental

This week, Bryan and Dave are ready for their close-up as they address a listener request to explore Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard through the lens of horror and cult and, well, they don't exactly pull it off but they do turn in a deep dive into Hollywood's silent era, the golden age of sound, and how it manages to keep up the fabulous illusion of fantasy with a ruthless stranglehold on every piece of machinery that surrounds it and supports it, including the very people that make it all possible.

Sunset Boulevard is a drag queen's dream come true. Silent star, Gloria Swanson returns to the screen to portray the larger-than-life fallen star, Norma Desmond with grand sweeping gestures and some of the most quotable dialog in Hollywood history. Every aspect of this movie is lifted up and supported by every other piece. From Billy Wilder's writing and direction, to the photography of John Seitz, to the costuming of Edith Head, to the score provided by Franz Waxman.

Join us for a deep dive into one of the greatest movies ever produced by Hollywood.

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