[UPDATE: Eli Roth has recently said he will not be directing the remake of The Funhouse, but as far as we know is still involved with developing it for Universal. For more on what Roth had to say you can head here].
21st century gore-horror director Eli Roth may have a couple of projects already lined up – a full-length version of his Thanksgiving trailer from Grindhouse and his first sci-fi film Endangered Species – but hasn’t stopped him from piling even more projects on his plate.
In an interview with Fangoria, Roth says he’s currently talking to Universal about remaking Tobe Hooper’s (Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) 1981 horror film, The Funhouse.
Known for the ultra-gory content within his movies, Roth is planning to go his usual filmmaking route with The Funhouse remake. The original film follows four teenagers who spend a night in a funhouse at a carnival, and are stalked by a deformed man in a Frankenstein mask. It is said to stand out amongst horrors because it goes out of its way to subtly portray the killer as someone to be pitied as well as feared.
While promoting the upcoming mockumentary Cotton that he produced, Roth spoke with Fangoria about wanting his version of Funhouse to ramp up the disgusting factor, in his usual style [warning: the following contains spoilers about the original Funhouse]:
“THE FUNHOUSE is a movie where the first half is brilliant – they set up these great characters – and then they pay off none of them. You have Marco the Magician sawing his daughter in half, the brothers who run the carnival and the funhouse setting. And then it’s all about this weird mutant thing.
It should be about the kids getting killed in horrible ways, put in different contraptions in the funhouse and the final girl being strapped into the ride and sent into the tunnels to be confronted by terrifying tableaux of her dead friends. A smart remake could be so much fun. Kill the kids in fabulous ways and continually reuse the bodies by making them freaks in the freak museum, sew their eyes shut, waxworks… That’s the stuff I want to do in a remake of THE FUNHOUSE.”
For the rest of Fangoria’s interview with Roth, where he talks about Cotton and his other movies, you can head here.
Inside the original 1981 Funhouse.
Although I am looking forward to Roth’s sci-fi film Endangered Species, I am not so sure about him remaking The Funhouse. I must admit I’ve never seen the original, but by the sounds of what Roth wants to do with it, I think it’ll probably end up being another Hostel-like piece of nonsense. Roth clearly has a passion for the extreme and gory side of the horror genre, and I understand there is a strong audience out there for that kind of thing. But I must admit it’s not my cup of tea, and so I can’t say Roth remaking The Funhouse appeals to me.
However, if Roth does end up remaking The Funhouse, I hope he keeps the the angle that the stalker is to be pitied as well as feared. To me that is an interesting idea, as it’s unique amongst most horrors that paint the killer as evil and nothing else. But something tells me Roth will be far more preoccupied with splitting open people’s heads and dismembering their bodies. Ya’ know, the quality stuff…
Would you like to see Eli Roth remake The Funhouse? Are you a fan of the original movie?
The Funhouse is currently just talk and no release date has been set as of yet.
Sources: Fangoria via First Showing
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