Eli Roth Wants To Remake ’80s Horror Film ‘The Funhouse’
Jun 10, 2009 by Ross Miller[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 …
[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
Around the web:
Loading ...
Roth is such a fan of the film he’ll wrongly condemn it for what made it work. But I’ll do Roth one better. I don’t know if it is possible, but pursue also the Dean Koontz novel adapation of the film. (He originally wrote it under one of aliases) which fills in a lot more background of the mutant killer and his “father”.
But Roth is probably better remaking “Q The Winged Serpent” than he is “The Funhouse”.
One of the few movies that might be better if remade, but not if done by that no-talent Roth.
It would be fun to see this film remade if the director (whomever he would be) read the actual book and scripted it from there. The book storyline was way more creepier and concentrated more on the origins of the “freak” and the motive(s) behind the stalking of the lead female character, rather than another recycling of “maniac-kills-kids-in-sadistic-ways”…Boooring….
If done right,I would love to see a Funhouse remake!!!!!I would hate if it looked like Prom Night,Sorority row,etc…you know,the glossy,fake look,and feel.Id like to see something more dark,and realistic,like TCM,or Hills have eyes remakes.Make it gritty,and uncomfortable.Ive always loved the original funhouse,because for some reason it gives me an uneasy feeling.
Carnivals are supposed to be fun,but I think almost every carnival brings along crime,and creepy people.Adding the horror movie elements to that makes for a great horror film.
If done right,I would love to see a Funhouse remake!!!!!I would hate if it looked like Prom Night,Sorority row,etc…you know,the glossy,fake look,and feel.Id like to see something more dark,and realistic,like TCM,or Hills have eyes remakes.Make it gritty,and uncomfortable.Ive always loved the original funhouse,because for some reason it gives me an uneasy feeling.
Carnivals are supposed to be fun,but I think almost every carnival brings along crime,and creepy people.Adding the horror movie elements to that makes for a great horror film.
If done right,I would love to see a Funhouse remake!!!!!I would hate if it looked like Prom Night,Sorority row,etc…you know,the glossy,fake look,and feel.Id like to see something more dark,and realistic,like TCM,or Hills have eyes remakes.Make it gritty,and uncomfortable.Ive always loved the original funhouse,because for some reason it gives me an uneasy feeling.
Carnivals are supposed to be fun,but I think almost every carnival brings along crime,and creepy people.Adding the horror movie elements to that makes for a great horror film.
I’m sorry, but I personally do NOT want this film to be redone. Unfortunately, it will be done eventually. This movie to me is a classic and I don’t want it to be turned into something it’s not. I think instead of all these people trying to be like Rob Zombie and recreate classic horror movies, they should start being creative and come up with new ideas of their own. Don’t get me wrong, Zombie’s recreation of Halloween was genius, but a remake of The Funhouse would not be….For the reason being that everything would be done differently and they would probably have horrible actors playing in it too. True, since this has always been one of my favorite movies I will be biased, but I still think that these people should come up with new ideas instead of recreating someone else’s work that there is nothing wrong with.
A remake might be interesting if it’s done right. In the end I’ll always love the original because to this day it holds up very well and has something that most horror films today don’t and that’s class!
Also … Marco the Magician didn’t saw his daughter in half but drove a stake through here heart.