New On Netflix: The Funhouse

Beware the traveling circus shows, kids — or, at least, beware them after dark. In this only vaguely remembered ’80s horror flick, four teenagers smoke pot, heckle the carnies, giggle at the freaks of nature and end up spending the night on a dare in “The Funhouse,” a pretty lame haunted house ride. Unfortunately, this attraction is run by a psycho and his deformed, deranged son who don’t take to the kids witnessing Junior kill the fortune teller in a fit of sexual rage. Sharply directed by Tobe Hooper of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, who’s right at home in this House, delivering a claustrophobic thriller filled with clever flourishes (every prop in the ride is a potential murder weapon) and impressively seedy production design. Pretty tasteless from the start, and goes way too far at the end, but if you’re a nostalgic horror fan of sorts, The Funhouse will strap you in and take you back to a time when these kind of movies weren’t afraid to go for those extremes.