Friday, March 10, 2017

Every Haunting Hour Ever #57: Funhouse


Season: 3
Episode: 17
Original Airdate: October 19, 2013
Director: Michael Robinson
Writer(s): Erik Pattenson and Jessica Scott

So today's episode is a rather interesting one. The best way I can describe the plot is that it's a mix between Headshot and A Creature Was Stirring. But does this mean that the episode is good? Well, let's find out. 

Bitter and angry over his father abandoning his family and his mother too busy with work to care, a boy named Chad becomes addicted to visiting a traveling fun house, where he can let out his familial frustrations with sadistic glee by smashing a model replica of a family arguing at the dinner table, but the more time Chad spends at the fun house, the meaner and more addicted to the violence he becomes. 

One of the things I liked about the episode was the main character. In this episode, Chad gets quite a bit of development. In other words, we really get a sense of how he feels about the situation and how he tries to handle it. However, he isn't exactly pitch perfect. For example, after destroying a model of a family arguing in the fun house, he gradually becomes more obsessed with it to a point where he becomes extremely violent. Because of this, it was easy for me to care about him and get wrapped up in his story. 

The other thing I liked about the episode was the source of the horror. In this episode, the main source of horror is Chad's descent into madness and it's both horrifying and tragic at the same time. Not only does Chad's behavior grow uglier but he also starts to become physically deformed the more he goes into the fun house. Honestly, this was hard for me to watch because I've seen just how anger and sadness can sometimes make a situation worse that it was before from my experience living through a divorce. 

Despite this however, I have a couple of issues with this episode.

One of the problems with the episode is the pacing. At times, it can be a little too fast. Although it's nowhere near as bad as it was in Night of The Mummy, it's definitely noticeable. 

The other problem with the episode is the main character's acting. Don't get me wrong! His acting isn't anything terrible but at times, it can get a bit too hammy. Honestly, for me, it's borderline distracting. 

Overall, Funhouse is a rather solid episode and honestly, that's all I have to say about it.

Overall Grade: B+

1 comment:

  1. I love the symbolism in this one. I wish more horror stories were psychological like this one and not the badly written gore-fests we see so much of nowadays. Like you say, descending into madness and being consumed by negative emotions can be a frightening thing.
    -Raidra

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