While the superhero genres open up to letting their most evil counterparts become the heroes alas SUICIDE SQUAD, so too does the horror genre, kind of. With THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE, the crazies are released from a high security asylum to wreak havoc on the population of a small town.

 

A cult leader, a clown, a psychotic harlem, a taxidermist and a dentist walk into a funhouse. No this is not the start of a terrible joke but it is the beginning of an awesome blood splattered horror film that’s as fun to watch as it is to wince at the gallons of blood and guts splashed across the screen.

When a band of teens (as ever) come across a haunt on Halloween, themselves and the hundreds that have flocked their soon learn that the imitations of the true folklore are infact the real macoy and they intend on bringing the horror to proceedings.

 

Where THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE succeeds where so many other straight to DVD films fail is its passion for the genre. Not only does Andy Palmer bring a band of clichéd villains together but he does so in such a way that they all feel like original incarnations of their imitations. The cult leader is reminiscent of Jim Jones with a sinister charm and Ms Quinn needs no introduction while an Ed Gein inspired taxidermist balances weirdness with an introverted realism. Everything about the film has its charm and when police deputy Doyle comes on the scene, the fun really begins with more slapstick approach to events to balance out the buckets of blood spread by the real death squad.

 

If your Saturday night needs an injection of laugh inducing humour with claret and blood and guts, then THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE certainly hits all the right spots. A likeable bunch of villains matched with a punchy script gives an added layer to a tried and tested formula that should fail but instead rises from the ashes like a sucker punch to the groin.