“The Funhouse Massacre” is a screwy slaughterfest filled with more ingenious moments than problems, giving fans of the horror genre much to rejoice about, leaving outsiders in the cold. If you buy into the conceit, you are in for a ludicrous, gory romp. 

On a dark, stormy, autumn night, the warden at the local loony bin (Robert England in a scene chewing cameo) agrees to give a tour to of the facility and its inhabitants to a “reporter”. We are introduced to a maniacal menagerie of maniacs that have been locked up for various reasons. These are folks that would make even Jason Vorhees shudder. There is Rocco (Mars Crain), a brute wrestler with psychotic strength,  Dr. Suave (Sebastian Siegel), a dashing dentist with a penchant for extraction, Animal (E.E. Bell), a culinary mastermind with cannibalistic tastes, Taxidermist (Clint Howard), a master at skinning and stuffing everything, Mental Manny (Jere Burns), A Jim Jones type with a taste for flames,  and Dollface / Ms. Quinn (Candice De Visser), a vicious, clown-faced ne’er-do-well.

A jailbreak ensues and the psychopaths open a haunted house attraction that recreates their heinous crimes.  Hundreds of locals flock to the new haunted house, on their way to becoming unwitting victims in a new wave of violence at the hands of the criminals.  Among the lemmings are Morgan (Matt Angel), Christina (Chasty Ballesteros), Gustavo (Erick Chavarria), Mikey (Michael Eric Reid), and Randall (Leigh Parker). Workers at the corner diner, this group of friends hears about this new attraction on the radio and heads on over for a night of fun.

As the titular haunted house opens its doors for the night, Sheriff Kate (Scottie Thompson) and Deputy Doyle (Ben Begley) are piecing together the trail of murders left in the wake of the asylum escape. Begley, who also wrote the script for the film, plays up the bumbling deputy bits with plenty of cheese. Thompson’s Sherrif Kate is a level-headed law enforcer, playing foil to Begley’s comedy.

The night goes on people are picked off in the haunted house as they walk through and made into permanent residents.  Not all at once of course, but slowly, methodically.  Who would notice these disappearances what with the concert going on, the carnival games happening, and the copious amounts of pot in a great big Halloween festival? What’s more, the revelers have no idea that things have just gotten even more dire.  The gates have been locked, trapping everyone inside to be killed at the hands of the haunt proprietors.

While a huge amount of fun, the film is not without its problems.  Time and money definitely worked against this movie, limiting what could have been accomplished had there been more budget.  The bigger festival scenes are shot tighter than they should have been, sets are used and reused, having an overall claustrophobic effect to the proceedings. The timeline of the film is muddy, leaving us still to question if this story takes place in one night, or over a series of nights. The irreverent quips spat out by characters in film provide comic relief at times, but occasionally go too far, removing us from the moment.

Despite those issues “The Funhouse Massacre”, delivers exactly what is promises; comedy and gore. Director Andy Palmer knows that, in order for this film to work, the audience needs to believe the threat and like the characters. Palmer never allows reality to creep in and keeps his viewers hooked from frame one. Credit must also be given to the irreverent script by Begley which never takes itself too seriously, having as much fun as it can with the idea and developing a slew of fascinating characters to enjoy. The film also features spectacular gore effects by David Greenhouse and Robert Kurtzman that raise the pedigree of this film considerably. A particularly wicked kill happens during a fist fight in a bathroom.  Just look for it.

If you can forgive the minor issues, “The Funhouse Massacre” is with your time.  It’s part Jurassic Park, part Zombieland, and part The Devil’s Rejects along with a small dash of every carnival movie you have ever seen until now.