The Funhouse has just begun!

The Son of Madblood: Late For The Party Again Post

sorry I'm late.. I was..um... working...

Well, kids - the good Doctor has lagged behind again: after getting all worked up for The Final Girl Film Club Funhouse Edition he finds himself, yet again, sucking dust... And Final Girl is The Son of Madblood's favorite internet reading! (You can find more of The Son of Madblood's undying devotion for Final Girl, Stacie Ponder HERE).

While narrowing down, whittling down and honing the Faves List for The Son of Madblood Horror Elections Poll 2010 - the realization that it was becoming a bit Hooper heavy led to the unfortunate striking of The Funhouse from the list. It wasn't until after that I'd realized I'd already dropped Salem's Lot from the list, hence - no Hopper-heaviness to worry about.. Alas, The Funhouse - you fell through the cracks, slipped through my grubby fingers.. But, fear not, kids - don't fret, Fans - with the help of The Son of Madblood's trusty way-back machine we'll be transporting you back in time, back in action, back in black and back to where you once belonged. Yes - back when The Son of Madblood had something to say about The Funhouse. So, close your eyes and relive some long-ago days with the Doctor.. oh - wait - you might need to open them to read this:

(Just remember, kids - this is the past we're traveling to - all dates mentioned have already happened... it's magical how this works...)

BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN ALL WAS WELL:

And - as we're not the kind to quit while the quittin's good.. to dally when the dolly's done (?), to nap while the iron's hot - nope, not us - not the Gang here at Madblood Manorette... no siree, kids - it's just about time for the Next Episode of The Son Of Madblood! Yes - coming this Sunday, December 14th we're baaaaaaaack! Indeed - it's the beginning of our Big Second Season - our Season Premier, so to speak - Premire de Saison, as the French would have it..

I'm thinking of starting this season with a nice little shocker called The Funhouse.

Don't cry - cuz this is a good one! It's one of Tobe Hooper's most under appreciated film (the MOST most under appreciated being Eaten Alive which we'll be seeing later this season if I have my 'druthers). On the surface it appears as an almost routine teen-slasher genre film - but it's where it veers away from those tropes that it really gets good AND creepy. To quote myself from an earlier post: "Hooper brings enough imagination and detail to set it apart from the routine slashers that were being made at the time. He devotes a lot to the setting of the carnival, it's other-worldliness and strange characters - even just the weirdos milling about in the crowd - and the funhouse, itself, is perfectly atmospheric and nerve-jangling. He also is able to make a little go a long way in creating a slasher-flick scenario with only 4 characters, one of whom you kinda know is going to survive anyway! Yes, this one does pretty much play by the rules. And yet it still manages to deliver the frights in a somewhat old-fashioned-monster-movie vein. A lot of the chills come from the rantings and ravings of the monster hinted at in the poster - and something that could easily have come off as ridiculous is, instead, what really makes the film succeed. It's a classic monster in the Frankenstein/Wolfman mode: always scary, always dangerous, but also sympathetic; and it's performed so pitch-perfectly that you won't soon forget it."

And Amy's odyssey from frustated fighting with her horror-fan-boy snot-nosed brother, through her first date with the jock-ish, annoying lunkheaded Buzz (really?) and, finally, just trying to survive the terrors inside The Funhouse - makes for one heap of a coming of age story. One that leaves her battered and bruised, shocked and scarred - sometimes growing up can be tough! Hooper gets great mileage out of Elizabeth Berridge's Amy: she doesn't really seem to like this date she's on but you get the feeling she wants to at least try, at least be doing something, at least start growing up. In the end what's left is a feeling that something's been lost and this has been one very rude awakening to the passing of youth. It's apparent that the ride wasn't really worth it. An air of sadness hangs over The Funhouse.. You see? FUNhouse = NOT FUNhouse...?


That Tobe Hooper was approached by Steve Spielberg with an offer to direct a movie about a friendly alien living with some kids - and Hooper turned it down because he wanted to do this - only makes me love it and him even more...

Not that anyone is really paying attention - but please forget all I've just said about the movie when you come to the Manorette to see it on the night of
Sunday, December 14th! You'll be scared...

Now this is creepy!

PLUS it has that heart-throb, William Finley, in it!

I'm watching you...

AND wait til you see the Mad-raffle prizes! (Next post, maybe..) Curious?

Who will DARE enter? Who is BRAVE enough?



Which Finley Do YOU Fancy?

Just a few of the many faces of Finley.. It's getting more and more likely that he'll be our man in one form or another for this next Episode of The Son Of Madblood.. Make your pick:


Family Man Finley - Eaten Alive?


Magic Man Finley - The Funhouse? (did I say "heart-throb"?)


Musical Man Finley - Phantom of the Paradise?

For me - any Finley is good Finley.. I'm particularly partial to the highly stressed-out Father (go)figure of Eaten Alive.. And, ok - so Eaten Alive is not really in the running for this next Episode - but someday soon - I'm promising you.. Oh - and then there's that sweetheart Emil from Sisters.. talk about suave...

Rico Suave Finley - Sisters?

The Famous Son of Madblood Mad-raffle!

Well, kids - it may just have to be that we show The Funhouse considering that I just found this on the streetcorner. A more perfect Mad-raffle prize I could hardly imagine. I do love novelizations - ever since elementary school thanks to Alan Dean Foster and Alien - and I do love giving them away as prizes. That Dead & Buried one was a real find. I'm still hoping to show the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers so I can raffle off this FOTONOVEL(tm) version of it that I found a while back. Plus - reading is good for you! Almost as good as watching movies. And with a novelization - it's kinda like doing both! (Pssst: Owen West is Dean R. Koontz! Larry Block is... Lawrence Block!)


THE FUNHOUSE UPDATE:

The same minds at The Son of Madblood who didn't want me to show Black Christmas also tried to talk me out of The Funhouse. Well, if you were at that Black Christmas screening you know just how wrong they were: people were screaming! Screaming! We still have those who refuse to come back to the show because they were so scared.. So - so much for not showing The Funhouse! We did it and I'm proud to say: MORE SCREAMING! A banner night for the Gang at Madblood Manorette - we love hearing our audience scream (at the movie, not at us) - it's why we do this....


AND, NOW: BACK TO OUR FUTURE...

Or is it our past participle? We hope you enjoyed this blast-from-the-past-perfect-tense and we hope you'll come back for more of The Son of Madblood..

Goodnight, gang - and thanks for turning us on...