funhouse movie review 2019

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Exhibitionism is a sad business in “Funhouse,” a punishing social media satire that features, among other unpleasant attractions, a scene where a young woman sobs helplessly as she takes off her top. This is Ula La More ( Karolina Benefield ), one of a few D-list celebrities that participate in "Furcas’ House of Fun," a deadly reality show-style competition that’s basically “ Survivor ” by way of a snuff film. Unwitting contestants sign up because they’re hungry for attention and the game’s top prize: $5 million.

Still, Ula cries when she shows us her breasts, and her tears are meant to speak not only for her character, but her creators, whose pessimistic view of social media is less than convincing. Another character, in an earlier scene, is accused of crying “crocodile tears,” but Ula’s sobs are “more genuine,” according to sadistic gamemaster Nero ( Jerome Velinsky ). “People love authenticity,” he adds, boldly providing “Funhouse” with its epitaph.

The sight of a crying half-naked woman is exactly the sort of exploitative image that viewers are supposed to feel bad for gawking at. Ula is, after all, looking directly at the camera and flashing us from inside a “confession booth.” At the time, she’s trying to convince House of Fun viewers to vote for her so she won’t have to compete in the next elimination challenge, which, again, is fatal. The FBI is aware of Nero’s online game show, but cannot locate it in time to save contestants like Ula from killing each other.

So we’re stuck with Ula and the others as they fight among themselves and struggle to win the approval of Internet rubberneckers. If they don’t get enough votes, they must play degrading party-game-style contests, like “Piñata Party,” where one contestant is tied up and attacked with a spiked baseball bat; the other contestant (the one with the bat) is blindfolded and made to wear sound-proof headphones. Nero’s funhouse is a well-upholstered meatgrinder, complete with tacky upscale furniture and fixtures, like the nude, Korova Milk Bar-style mannequins that bookend the living room’s flat-screen. That groanworthy pop culture reference is as scathing as this media critique gets.

As for Ula: she’s one of a handful of meat puppet protagonists, none of whom are more sympathetic than their inhospitable circumstances. The same is true of the movie’s lead protagonist, backup singer turned reality show star Kasper Nordin ( Valter Skarsgård ). Kasper’s sometimes presented as a righteously pissed off voice of moral relativity, somebody who can respond to Nero’s speeches about the soulless and braindead “Internet Age.” “A woman's breasts are more censored than a slit throat, the word 'f**k' more than a severed head,” Nero says at one point. “And look no further than any comment thread of any social media platform to see how quickly a harmless debate can devolve into aggression, violence, and hate." Kasper’s clapbacks are unfortunately just as shallow—“What, mommy and daddy didn't love you enough? Couldn't get a date to prom?”—and only ostensibly more satisfying given how unconvincing the movie’s set pieces often are.

What’s the point in watching a feel-bad movie about simulated violence when the gore and gamesmanship are as perfunctory and vapid as Nero’s lazy button-pushing speeches? (My favorite one-liner: “no one really cares" about torture "unless it happens to a specific group of people, of a specific color, in a specific country.") In one scene, two unlucky competitors lunge at each other with battle axes; they can’t see each other, because the lights are out, but the other contestants can see everything through a two-way mirror in an adjoining room. The mirror is equipped with “night vision,” which is as sensible as this movie gets. Or how about when Nero challenges one contestant, a chess grandmaster, to a game of chess, which is played on ... a novelty-sized board? The game pieces aren’t people, the board looks like it was stolen from a nearby playground, and the dramatized gameplay is as rushed as it is sad-looking. Remind me what we’re supposed to feel bad about enjoying?

The action in “Funhouse” is consistently cheap and generally silly. That’s sort of the movie’s point, but it’s also sort of hard to care when everything else is so tacky. It’s also hard to feel dutifully chastened by the movie’s smug, nihilistic finale since, by this point, it’s obvious that the filmmakers were either uninterested or uncomfortable with their own high-concept premise. “Funhouse” might have been a more effective provocation if Lee and his collaborators were as good at needling viewers as they are at broadcasting their intentions. But too many punches are pulled, and the nastiest scenes are never quite nasty enough. Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

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Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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Film credits.

Funhouse (2021)

106 minutes

Valter Skarsgård as Kasper Nordin

Khamisa Wilsher as Lonni Byrne

Gigi Saúl Guerrero as Ximena Torres

Karolina Benefield as Ula La More

Amanda Howells as Cat Zim

Jerome Velinsky as Nero / Furcas

Christopher Gerard as James 'Headstone' Malone

Dayleigh Nelson as Nevin Evensmith

Kylee Bush as Darla Drake

Mathias Retamal as Dex 'El Shocker' Souza

Debs Howard as Gilda 'The Mad' Batter

• Jason William Lee
• Jason William Day

Cinematographer

• Shawn Seifert
• Blake Matthew

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Valter Skarsgård (Kasper Nordin) Khamisa Wilsher (Lonni Byrne) Gigi Saul Guerrero (Ximena Torres) Christopher Gerard (James 'Headstone' Malone) Karolina Benefield (Ula La More) Amanda Howells (Cat Zim) Mathias Retamal (Dex 'El Shocker' Souza) Dayleigh Nelson (Nevin Evensmith) Jerome Velinsky (Nero Alexander) Kylee Bush (Darla Drake)

Jason William Lee

When 8 celebrities from around the globe are invited to compete in an online reality show, they soon realize that they are playing for their very lives, as those voted off suffer horrific consequences, broadcast live to the entire world.

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FUNHOUSE: Gory Satire of Reality TV Comes Up Short

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Funhouse , directed and written by Jason William Lee , follows a group of D-list celebrities competing on a new reality show that takes its challenges to the extreme.

The group consists of Kasper Nordin ( Valter Skarsgård ), the ex-husband of pop star Darla Drake ( Kylee Bush ), Ximena Torres ( Gigi Saul Guerrero ) a tabloid blogger, Lonni Byrne ( Khamisa Wilsher ) a contestant on a Bachelorette style reality show, James ‘Headstone’ Malone ( Christopher Gerard ) an Irish MMA fighter, Ula La More ( Karolina Benefield ) an Instagram model type, Cat Zim ( Amanda Howells ) a chess prodigy and previous star of The Real Wiccans of Westchester, Dex ‘El Shocker’ Souza ( Mathias Retamal ), a rapper who feels of the Soundcloud variety, and lastly Nevin Evensmith ( Dayleigh Nelson ) a Youtuber who ranks other people’s viral videos.

The reality show is hosted by a voice-altered cartoon Panda as a front for an absurdly wealthy tech guy, Nero Alexander ( Jerome Velinsky ) who wants to prove that reality television and instant celebrities have made our world desire over-the-top gore and violence by making his own reality show which features over-the-top gore and violence.

Satire of Reality Television

Throughout the film, relationships develop between the group, but Funhouse misses out on the real potential of alliances and the drama which stems from that by making its horror obvious to everyone inside the house.

Funhouse is not saying nearly as much about reality television and the celebrities the genre creates as it thinks it is. Commentary on how people have become desensitized to violence is something that has been explored many times, and Jason William Lee is not adding anything new to the conversation with Funhouse .

As I watched Funhouse , I felt that its main goal was to be a satire of reality television, but there are no distinct moments connected to this that made me laugh. I laughed one time during the film and it was the first time Headstone called Kasper a ghost and he responded by stating that they didn’t have the cartoon in Sweden and recommended Moomin.

This moment gave a glimpse into the characters and started an interesting development between the two that could have lead to some moments of reality tv satire dealing with building alliances, even with the knowledge that both could not survive.

In the introductions to each character, we see glimpses into how they became celebrities. This montage of Youtube videos and reality tv introductions sets a welcome tone for the satire, but quickly this fades away, and some of the careers shown here barely come into play throughout the film. There was comedic potential in seeing their past experiences, but some were outright forgotten.

Gore Above Suspense

The satire does not land well because it is caught up with thinking that simply stating this idea about the nature of violence and gore is enough to hold up the film and make the audience scared or contemplate their own interest in seeing violence on screen.

Making the desensitization to violence the focus of a horror film centered around death scenes built to be gory above all else also gives the film a shallow tone. The moments of gore in Funhouse feel built around shock value instead of actually wanting to scare the audience, and even in this regard, the gore is not original or interesting.

In addition to the satire falling short, the horror aspects of Funhouse were too reliant on torture and gore and did not have enough of a focus on building frightening moments through the story and suspense.

The structure of Funhouse works to mimic a reality competition series but fails to capture the horror of the film’s premise. By showcasing the results of the public voting, Funhouse eliminates some of the suspense. We always know who is going to die, so nothing comes as a surprise.

There is also little surprise over who is responsible for this life-or-death reality show because we are shown who he is in the film’s opening scene. Starting the film with a scene from a past instance of this same person torturing a previous group is a nice way to build up the gore, but showing exactly who is responsible when they are hidden behind a cartoon panda for most of the film feels a bit lacking.

I do feel the film tried to develop the different characters, so we could feel connected to them and want them to succeed, especially with Kasper and Headstone. Christopher Gerard as Headstone gave the most memorable performances and made his character likable that when we see him forced into fighting inside the ‘funhouse’, we care what happens to him.

Kasper is the first character we really get to know establishing him as the protagonist, and this allows him to be given more moments that explore who he is and where he came from. Valter Skarsgård does well to make his ex-pop star who was famous only for who he married feel like the character the least interested in being a celebrity.

These moments of development make Funhouse a slightly better film, but too much of its characters are not given the moments they need to shine. Gigi Saul Guerrero does well with her tabloid blogger character, and I was looking forward to the interactions between her and Kasper when we learn her reporting was in part responsible for his divorce, but not much came of this reveal.

In addition to some of the death scenes being overused gore such as The Rack, others were so far removed from horror they felt close to parody–a life-or-death game of concentration and a game of chess played on a giant board you’d find in the park–, but taken too seriously to really feel as if the filmmakers were satirizing the violence of SAW inspired horror films.

Funhouse wants to be seen as a clever take-down of violence and reality television but does not quite hit the mark in either area, but certain characters including Skarsgård’s Kasper, Gerard’s Headstone, and Guerrero’s Ximena are given a little more background which leads to performances which give sympathy and emotion to their characters.

Does the idea of a horror film set within a reality television show interest you? Share your thoughts in the comments?

Funhouse released on May 28th in the US. 

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Amanda Mazzillo is a writer with an MFA in Dramatic Writing from SCAD and a BA in Writing & Linguistics and Film Studies minor from Georgia Southern University. She enjoys writing comedy and exploring all forms of media. Her Twitter name is a bad pun: @mazzillofirefox

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Directed by Jason William Lee

Break the internet - or it breaks you.

When 8 celebrities from around the globe are invited to compete in an online reality show, they soon realize that they are playing for their very lives, as those voted off suffer horrific consequences, broadcast live to the entire world.

Valter Skarsgård Khamisa Wilsher Gigi Saul Guerrero Karolina Benefield Amanda Howells Jerome Velinsky Christopher Gerard Dayleigh Nelson Kylee Bush Mathias Retamal Debs Howard Bradley Duffy Michael MacKinnon Dave Peniuk

Director Director

Jason William Lee

Producer Producer

Michael Gyori

Writer Writer

Editor editor, executive producers exec. producers.

Henrik Santesson Marcus Lilliehöök Per Berglund Niklas Bergman

Composer Composer

Blake Matthew

Ti Bonny Productions Sandcastle Pictures Invention Films

Canada Sweden USA

Releases by Date

25 oct 2019, 13 feb 2020, 25 sep 2020, 28 may 2021, 25 mar 2021, releases by country.

• Physical VM14 BluRay + DVD

Russian Federation

• Theatrical 18+
• Premiere Elmsta3000 Festival
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical 18

106 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by ohnoitshayze ★½ 5

Do you think the other Skarsgard brothers bully him?

Review by andy levy ★½ 1

sometimes you watch an entire movie and you don't know why. this was one of those times

Review by Dyrnott ★★★

I knew when I decided to watch this that I was not going to get much in the way of quality. It is a gimmick movie but it is not boring though the very end of the movie is corny. It even has a credit scene though it adds nothing and tries for a cheap laugh. I do want to say that it is cool that Gigi Saul Guerrero is in it. She is a Canadian Latina director that is one to watch out for. She also acts from time to time. Her role in this one was kinda small. This movie is fun at times and is slightly entertaining. Transition from scenes are a little messy but if you don’t expect much from the movie you might enjoy it. You can check it out on Hulu.

Review by el | ☆❁ 1

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why’d they lesbian-code cat like that and then

Review by jade ★★★

the kardashiazation of it all

Review by Warp ★★★½ 2

Is it good? No. Does it have a good script? No. Is it entertaining? Yes! Although concepts like this aren’t original at all, I’ll always have a weakness for them. Plus horror and social media is a fun combo. Despite its low budget it all looks slick, the gore is scare but when it’s on screen it’s pretty brutal. The critique on society is nothing new, something we’ve  seen dozens of times before, but it still has some truth in it. Add a few nice twists, a decent soundtrack, a romance that works surprisingly pretty well and all the fun panda stuff and you got yourself a highly entertaining flick.

Review by {Todd} ★

"You can expect much more pain... much more suffereing" -Fercus,

- 2021 Ranked: boxd.it/aL2Ys

I like the idea of killing online celebrities so how is this so bad?

The movie feels like it wants to do something dystopian like death race but place it in the context of an online reality show. It's a cool idea but you can't just recreate a perfect vibe like that. This movie is just boring... it's really boring. The dialogue sucks and the gore is super unimpressive. It has nothing interesting to say about society that hasn't already been said a million times in popular culture.

It's horrible.

Review by kay ★★

rich white guy watches people die for entertainment part 47

Review by Sean ★

This was not a very fun house at all.

Review by silvia ★½

i'm really just a hoe for the Skarsgård family huh?

Review by Paulaloveshorror ★★

It looks SO cheap... I honestly don't know when they thought making this movie was such a good idea. And well, at least it's not boring 🥴

P.S: Valter Skarsgard should find better roles than this honestly 😭

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MPAA Rating

Produced by, funhouse (2019), directed by jason william lee.

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Synopsis by Augustine Chay

Characteristics, related movies.

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• Khamisa Wilsher

• Christopher Gerard
• Karolina Benefield
• Amanda Howells
• Mathias Retamal
• Dayleigh Nelson
• Jerome Velinsky

• Bradley Duffy
• Dave Peniuk
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• "A misfired, misguided would-be satire of Reality TV (...) At its center, the film is weirdly soft and eager to please (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"  Chuck Bowen : Slant
• "There is an enjoyable fight scene and the production design and cinematography of 'Funhouse' do what they can with limited resources. One wishes the script hadn’t been the most limited resource of all."  Michael Ordoña : Los Angeles Times
• "The action in 'Funhouse' is consistently cheap and generally silly."  Simon Abrams : rogerebert.com

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Review: ‘Funhouse,’ one could argue, offers neither a house, nor fun

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If you’ve got a hankering for pseudo-intellectual drivel with your brutal murders, “Funhouse” … may … be for you?

Eight people famous for being famous go on a sketchy reality show that turns out to be a death trap with millions of viewers. First prize: $5 million. Second prize: You’re murdered. Rather than band together, they watch each other get picked off, one by one, in rigged “challenges.”

Despite its verbose pretensions, “Funhouse” isn’t exactly a dark “Network” -style satire of what drives viewership or how low people will go for fame or even survival. It’s more “Saw,” with its voice-altered puppet master playing sadistic games. It takes the occasional drunken stab at social commentary, but who are we kidding? The “fun” in “Funhouse,” for those with a taste for blood, is in its slasher-movie savagery. (The “house” in “Funhouse” is more of a bunker/low-budget studio.)

Audiences might savor the anticipated schadenfreude of stand-ins for “reality” stars they love to hate being dismembered, but the lack of persuasive character development robs even that twisted joy.

The film would have benefited from a compelling villain rather than its peevish, sneering dude dropping wan witticisms: “It looks like the one-trick pony has finally run out of tricks”; and deep thoughts from the shallow end: “Celebrating mediocrity has become the opiate of the masses.”

There is an enjoyable fight scene and the production design and cinematography of “Funhouse” do what they can with limited resources. One wishes the script hadn’t been the most limited resource of all.

'Funhouse'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes Playing: Available May 28 on VOD

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• When 8 celebrities from around the globe are invited to compete in an online reality show, they soon realize that they are playing for their very lives, as those voted off suffer horrific consequences, broadcast live to the entire world.
• Eight people (reality show star Kasper, bride-to-be personality Lonnie, chess master, actress and martial arts star Cat Zim, Instagram personality Ula, Youtuber Nevin, singer Dex, TV personality Headstone and blogger Ximena) known for being reality show stars and social media personalities have been invited to take part in a new reality show hosted by a CGI panda named Furcas. They will be filmed 24/7 and contestants can vote for which people they like the most. Every three days the contestant with the lowest number of votes must take part in a penalty game and if they lose, they are out of the running. If two contestants tie or nearly tie for the lowest number of votes, they must compete against each other in the penalty games. If they try to leave the house, they will be penalized and removed from the game. Unbeknownst to the contestants, the show is run by Nero Alexander, a wealthy and sociopathic man who is willing to pay people to commit murder and atrocities for his entertainment. Nero is also controlling the Furcas CGI. The penalty games are actually a matter of life or death, as the odds are high that the games will result in a gruesome death. Prior to the first elimination, the contestants all generally treat the show as they would any other despite clues that something is obviously wrong. For the first elimination, Lonni and Nevin are forced to participate in the game while the others watch in a soundproofed room. Lonni is blindfolded and instructed to smash a "pinata" while very loud music plays. As she is blindfolded she is unable to tell that the "pinata" is actually a gagged Nevin and unwittingly beats him to death. After the first death viewers and media outlets debate whether the show is real or fake. The ex-wife of Kasper is brought on a news talk show where she pleads for his return and for viewers to stop watching the livestream. In the show house, Dex unsuccessfully tries to leave and is forced to stand in a container of acid until he dies. As the game continues, every few days one of the contestants is forced to participate in games and face a gruesome death when they lose. Ula is forced to fight Ximena to the death. She kills Ximena, but then fails in the next round and is torn apart. During all of this, some of the contestants grow closer together, such as Kaspar and Lonnie, while others crack under the pressure. The FBI is also trying to find the location of the reality show. At one point Kaspar questions Furcas's reasoning for the torture, only for the host to berate him for being known as the ex-husband of a pop star and a failed reality show star. In the next round, Headstone is killed off, leaving Kaspar, Lonnie, and Cat Zim remaining. Kaspar and Lonnie eventually give into their mutual attraction and make love, Cat Zim tries to redeem herself by pleasuring herself, but it still fails, which results in Cat receiving the lowest ratings. Cat's challenge requires that she play a game of chess against Furcas. She loses and must spin a wheel to select her punishment. The wheel selects "Pass the Buck", which allows her to survive by making another contestant play a punishment game. Kaspar volunteers to go in Lonnie's stead, however Furcas forces both to participate in a game of dueling pistols. The FBI manages to track the signal and goes to what they believe is the right location, only to instead find a small container filled with the heads of the other contestants. Refusing to participate, Lonnie and Kaspar share a kiss and then turned their guns on themselves. Leaving Cat as the only person left alive, she wins the game and is given the prize money. Cat escapes the home and makes her way to a nearby road, where she is rescued. She is questioned by the police about the deaths but ultimately released. The FBI raids the house, but find only bodies. Cat Zim makes her way to Nero's home, where it is revealed that she was complicit in the entire scheme. It is implied that she was always intended to be the sole survivor, as she tells him that she will not let him win at chess "next time". (thanks to Wikipedia)

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[Movie Review] FUNHOUSE

• June 2, 2021
• Jessica Scott

Bored now that there are no more worlds to conquer, the young and smugly “self-made” billionaire Nero Alexander ( Jerome Velinsky ) tries to entertain himself with bloodsport. The film opens on Nero scrolling through his phone listlessly as a young woman beats another young woman to death in front of him. He then forces her to crawl to him and literally offer up the dead woman’s heart on a silver platter. His satisfaction only lasts a second or two, though, so he decides to seek greater fulfillment with Funhouse . Combining Saw and Hostel with Big Brother , Nero devises a reality show that confines eight D-list celebrities to a compound and asks viewers to vote for their favorite celebrity every three days. The person with the lowest number of votes has to complete a challenge to try to stay in the house. If they lose (and they almost always lose), they are brutally murdered.

Bizarrely, the reality show is originally called Furcas’s House of Fun , to be shortened later in the film to Funhouse . Furcas is a cartoon panda wearing a crown who interacts with the cast in real-time with a disturbingly gravelly voice. The viewer soon learns that Furcas is actually Nero in a motion-capture suit who acts out all of Furcas’s movements. Nero never seems to sleep: Funhouse is streamed live to audiences 24/7 over the course of a couple of weeks, and Furcas/Nero reacts to the goings-on in the house at lightning speed regardless of the time of day. In one of many missed opportunities in the film, FUNHOUSE never addresses how terrifying (and pathetic) it is that Nero seems to stare unblinking at his monitor for weeks on end just so he can torture captive strangers.

Of course, the eight victims don’t know that the premise is quite so punishing when they first sign up for the show. They arrive at the house — decorated like the Korova Milk Bar Lite — expecting a typical reality show experience full of drinking, hot tub shenanigans, and self-promoting confessionals. It isn’t until the first person is voted off that they discover that Furcas meant it literally when he said only one person would survive. The fictional audience watches the murders as well, and though public consensus seems split on whether the grisly executions are real or not, viewership increases after each death. Lee is clearly trying to implicate the real-world audience here and condemn our communal bloodlust; we are watching a film about gruesome murders for entertainment, after all. But given how wildly the tone changes and how confused the messages are — one scene decries people’s appetites for fame and attention, while the next asks the viewer to have empathy for people with those same appetites —the film’s intended criticisms never land.

FUNHOUSE alternates between scenes set inside the reality show compound and outside on news reports following the murders. It also showcases fictional viewers voting for their favorite celebrities and cheering on the competitors in the death matches. It is in these outside scenes that viewers catch fleeting glimpses of the morbidly funny movie Lee was trying to make, but the split-second bright spots only serve to make the film emptier and more frustrating to watch. The best moments center around Kasper Nordin (Valter Skarsgård), who is famous for being the ex-husband of world-famous singer Darla Drake (Kylee Bush).

A group of friends crowds around a laptop watching Funhouse and deciding who to vote for. A girl chooses Kasper, using the following reasoning: “The dude’s Swedish!” A boy responds: “…And?!” It’s a sly nod to pop culture’s obsession with Valter Skarsgård’s family (his father is Stellan Skarsgård and his siblings include Alexander and Bill Skarsgård) that becomes funnier when you read all the real-world comments on the film that express surprise over how many Skarsgård brothers are actors. Even better than this meta-joke is the gloriously cheesy Swedish Heat , a short-lived cop show Kasper starred in as an attempt to move past his infamous relationship. Sadly, we only see a short clip of the show, and by the end of FUNHOUSE, I found myself wishing that I’d been able to watch Swedish Heat instead.

The other celebrities being held at the Funhouse are: Lonni Byrne (Khamisa Wilsher), star of a Bachelorette ripoff who was jilted at the altar twice; Ximena Torres ( Gigi Saul Guerrero ), a gossip blogger who mines her housemates’ struggles and insecurities for clicks and likes; James “Headstone” Malone (Christopher Gerard), an MMA fighter with a penchant for violence outside the octagon; Ula La More (Karoline Benefield), an Instagram model who can’t stop vamping for the cameras; Cat Zim (Amanda Howells), an actress/fighter/chess grandmaster (don’t worry, it doesn’t make any sense in context either); Dex Souza (Mathias Retamal), a reality show star turned rapper whose sole hit “El Shocker” gives him the opportunity to make the titular hand gesture at every opportunity; and Nevin Evensmith (Dayleigh Nelson), a YouTuber who racks up millions of views rating viral videos. Nero has assembled these people with “wasted lives” in a misguided attempt at becoming the next Jigsaw, when he really just comes across as a peevish, sadistic tech bro.

That bro philosophy manifests itself most frustratingly in the film’s treatment of Ula. Both Nero/Furcas and Ximena attack Ula mercilessly with misogynistic insults. They slut-shame her at every opportunity — Ximena disparagingly calls her a prostitute for using her body to get votes and Nero mocks her “duck face and fish gape” — but Nero applauds Ula when she tearfully explains that she shows off her body because it’s all anyone has ever liked about her. FUNHOUSE wants to lecture women for embracing their sexuality and posting selfies online, but it forgives them as long as there’s trauma or insecurity involved. As long as Ula feels bad about herself for being an Instagram model, the film argues, she’s not such a useless person after all. For a film with such little nuance or grasp of its many lukewarm takes, its misogyny is the most infuriating part. Until we get to the final shot, that is.

FUNHOUSE begins and ends with an insufferable smirk. Nero isn’t a menacing villain. He’s annoying and highly punchable. Again, the film comes close to making a valid (if unoriginal) observation about the richest men in the world: they’re not Bond villains, they’re dweebs with half-baked 4chan philosophies and superiority complexes. Their power is what makes them dangerous, but FUNHOUSE doesn’t want to interrogate power dynamics or talk about race or gender or class in any meaningful way. It doesn’t want to examine why these eight people were so desperate for money that they agreed to a sketchy-sounding reality show in the mere hope of a large payday. It barely pretends to care who they are outside of their celebrity personas. The film would rather rehash old arguments about the “Kardashianization” of our culture (an actual quote from Nero) without bringing anything new to the table. If you’re not going to be innovative in your topic or your approach — and if you steadfastly refuse to say anything of substance — it helps to be entertaining. Sadly, FUNHOUSE doesn’t live up to its title.

FUNHOUSE is now in theaters and on-demand.

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Wow! This comment doesn’t have to do with the movie, but I have to comment to say that Garth Marenghi is one of my favorite authors. While his books have been bestsellers, people don’t talk about him the way they do King, Hendrix, Jones, and others. I’ll never understand why. He may be one of the greatest misunderstood artists in contemporary fiction.

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Funhouse (2019) Stream and Watch Online

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Need to watch ' Funhouse ' on your TV, phone, or tablet? Tracking down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Jason William Lee-directed movie via subscription can be tricky, so we here at Moviefone want to do right by you. Below, you'll find a number of top-tier streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'Funhouse' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'Funhouse' right now, here are some finer points about the Ti Bonny Productions, Sandcastle Pictures, Invention Films horror flick. Released October 25th, 2019, 'Funhouse' stars Valter Skarsgård , Khamisa Wilsher , Gigi Saúl Guerrero , Karolina Benefield The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 46 min, and received a user score of 52 (out of 100) on TMDb, which put together reviews from 126 well-known users. Curious to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Down and out backup singer and celebrity ex-husband Kasper is invited to compete in the Funhouse, an online '˜Big Brother'™ style reality show. To rebrand his image and tarnished reputation, Kasper reluctantly accepts the offer. Together with 7 other C-list celebrities from around the globe he will compete for the prize of 5 million dollars. At first, the Funhouse is just as the name suggests, full of wild times, budding friendships, love connections and brewing rivalries. To everyone'™s surprise, the fun quickly turns into misery when the first challenge leaves one of the contestants brutally murdered." 'Funhouse' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, Hoopla, Hulu , Google Play Movies, Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, and YouTube .

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Funhouse Reviews

Unevenly paced and insistent on spelling out its themes in leaden dialogue, Funhouse isn’t the trenchant social commentary it wants to be, nor is it fun enough to enjoy with your brain turned off.

Full Review | Dec 22, 2022

Occasionally even bad films feature great ideas.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 7, 2021

Even die-hard horror fans will be disgusted by the abyss of stupidity and awful filmmaking in Funhouse. There are trash dumps and toilets that have more redeeming qualities than Funhouse.

Full Review | Jun 13, 2021

Funhouse wants to be seen as a clever take-down of violence and reality television but does not quite hit the mark in either area.

Full Review | Jun 5, 2021

Funhouse is maybe a bit too self aware and sees itself as more clever than it is...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 2, 2021

A not-quite-soulless slaughterhouse thriller with dull deaths, drab staging and funereal pacing.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 29, 2021

Funhouse has a clever idea, but this is the kind of movie that continually comes up just a bit short in every area.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 28, 2021

A punishing social media satire.

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4 | May 28, 2021

There's some severe mixed messaging going on here.

Full Review | May 28, 2021

Funhouse is, at best, confused and, at worst, cruel.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | May 28, 2021

The film would have benefited from a compelling villain rather than its peevish, sneering dude dropping wan witticisms...

Critics who trashed the recent Spiral should be forced to sit through this one, as I feel that's an apt punishment.

Full Review | May 26, 2021

The movie isn't an effective takedown of reality show stupidity, but Lee is certainly trying to make a difference with the endeavor.

Full Review | Original Score: C | May 26, 2021

'Funhouse' finds out what happens when C-list celebrities stop being polite, and start getting real...underwhelming given iffy effects at times and glancing commentary blows.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 25, 2021

Throughout, it's difficult to sort the contrivances that writer-director Jason William Lee is parodying from those he's indulging.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 25, 2021

...for a film that incorporates so much gore, I didn't expect to be as bored as I was.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | May 24, 2021

BLOOD RED REVIEWS

Reviews of the Best, Worst and the So-Bad-They're-Good of the Horror Genre

Funhouse (2019)

Written and directed by Jason William Lee. Starring Valter Skarsgard, Christopher Gerard, Dayleigh Nelson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Karolina Benefield, Khamisa Wilsher, Mathias Retamal, Amanda Howells and Jerome Velinsky.

Plot: a group of C-list celebrities are invited to compete on a reality show that turns out to be too real as those voted off suffer horrible fates for the world to see.

This poor excuse for a film follows Kasper Norden (Skarsgard) mainly, who accepts an invitation to join a reality show. The show pits “famous” people against others just like them. Kasper is known for being the ex-husband of a famous singer. Joining him on the show are Headstone (Gerard), an MMA bad boy, Nevin Eversmith (Nelson), a vlogger known for talking about viral videos, Ximena (Guerrero), a famous blogger from Mexico, Ula La More (Benefield), an instagram fitness model, Lonni Byrne (Wilsher), a reality show “bachelorette” who famously got dumped by more than one guy on national television, Dex ‘El Shocker’ (Retamal), a second-rate rapper and reality star and Cat Zim (Howells), an actress and oddly, a chess grandmaster.

Honestly, the set up was not bad. We did not like anyone at first, but that made it all the more reasonable that they should go through this hell. After three fun days, a vote is taken and the world puts Lonni and Nevin in the bottom. And since this movie is just totally unsatisfactory, I’m going to satisfy myself and tell you everything so that you don’t have to watch the whole thing like we did.

******SPOILER ALERT******

**********************************

******************************************

The man holding them hostage is Nero Alexander (Velinsky) and he’s demented and sad. When Lonni and Nevin end up in the bottom, Nero has these men (who wear large panda heads and carry guns) escort them to the “kill room”. Once there, Nevin is actually taken elsewhere, while Lonni is blindfolded, handed a bat and told to break open the “pinata” in a matter of seconds. Only the pinata is really Nevin, who has been strung up and gagged. After that, Lonni is rightfully shaken up. Having watched it all through a window, everyone else is at a loss as well.

There’s “rules” to this game of course, but only for the contestents, not for Nero. Dex tries to break out which is against the rules and is killed when the panda heads dip him in acid. Ula and Ximena are made to fight each other, in the dark, with axes. Ximena is axed to death and after the next vote, Ula is pulled apart. She takes one of the panda heads with her by biting his jugular though. One of the better moments in the movie because by this point, we were on the celebrities side completely.

Nero is an ass with far too many words that mean absolutely nothing since he’s not a fair man. He claims that celebrity is unfair, but it turns out that he’s sort of a celebrity himself. He’s also very rich and very unfair which goes against his own reasoning. Clearly a sociopath, he has Headstone fight a gigantic man named Boris to the death. We loved Headstone and were happy when he won. Then, Nero sends in three more fighters though, telling Headstone he now has to defeat them all. Of course, he loses and is beaten to death.

Eventually, Kasper and Lonni are in the kill room together and they’re given guns and told to duel. They refuse, kiss each other and shoot themselves in the head. Nero hates that they didn’t play along, but what can he do? He gives the prize money to Cat and disappears. Cat is found by police, questioned and released. She makes her way to Nero though and it turns out she was in on the whole thing. My god.

The whole thing was unoriginal. We’ve seen it before and with less bullshit. Nero was a horrible bad guy with a horrible motive. He kept quoting Shakespeare, too, which was unacceptable since Shakespeare was 300% cooler and more reasonable than him. The acting was okay and there was a boob shot, but only one and there could have been more. And now that I’ve spent too much time even thinking about this crap, I am done.

Our score: 15.

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Published by TaraRomero

I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero. 1. My favorite place in the world is Atlantic City. The food, the smells, the beach - I love it all. 2. I am particularly good at crafting. Especially scrapbooking and cross-stitch. 3. I am mixed. My dad is black and my mom is white. I'm very proud of both sides of myself. 4. My favorite food is either the cheesesteak or the hoagie. Not the sub, not the grinder, the hoagie. Totally different experience. 5. I have a number of pen pals I write snail mail to. We exchange stickers and little gifts sometimes, too. I have an extensive sticker collection. 6. I just reconnected with my father after 15+ years. It's going great so far. I've missed him. 7. My brother is my best friend, hence the reason we do this together. 8. I don't have a favorite book. I like too many to have a favorite. But Paul Zindel is my favorite author. Stephen King and Jane Austen are close seconds. I know, eclectic. 9. I'm not very religious at all. I consider myself agnostic. 10. I would say that my most prized possessions are my dogs, but I don't consider them possessions. I consider them people. They are my people. View all posts by TaraRomero

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• 2021 movies
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• Unrated / Not Rated films

Funhouse (2019)

• View history
• 4 Production
• 5 Reception
• 7 Associated Pages
• 8 External Links

Overview [ ]

• Valter Skarsgard as Kasper Nordin
• Khamisa Wilsher as Lonni Byrne
• Gigi Saul Guerrero as Ximena Torres
• Christopher Gerard as James 'Headstone' Malone
• Karolina Benefield as Ula La More
• Amanda Howells as Cat Zim
• Mathias Retamal as Dex 'El Shocker' Souza
• Dayleigh Nelson as Nevin Evensmith
• Jerome Velinsky as Nero Alexander
• Kylee Bush as Darla Drake
• Debs Howard as Gilda 'The Mad' Batter
• Bradley Duffy as Pete Sake
• Michael MacKinnon as Jode Nash
• Dave Peniuk as Chuck Thorn
• Ben Heidi as Botis
• Scotty Mac as Vapula
• Aron Olaf Johnson as Orobas
• Sean Scott as Sabnock
• Victoria Cruz as News Anchor I
• Ben Dextraze as News Anchor II
• Kimi Alexander as News Anchor III
• Abby de Forest as Interview Host
• Jeff Cooper as Wes Gray
• Jason William Lee as Jack Burton
• Gabriella Klein as Mira Fuentes
• Norah Campbell as Norah
• Frederique Roussel as Adrianna
• Jeff Gonek as Panda Captain / Reporter I
• Shane Martin as Panda Helper I / Losing Chessmaster
• Michael Gyori as Panda Helper II
• Raynor Shima as Panda Helper III
• Kamran Fulleylove as Riley
• Jordan Kirk as Kirk
• Norah Bonsra as Singer with Kasper I
• Germaine Tuyisenge as Singer with Kasper II
• Henrik Santesson as Gary

Production [ ]

Reception [ ], associated pages [ ], external links [ ], trailer [ ].

• 1 Stormy Daniels (1979)
• 3 Real Sex (1990)

Where To Watch 'IF': Find Showtimes For Ryan Reynolds and John Krasinski's Imaginary Adventure

This adorable adventure is sure to make you feel like a kid again.

Quick Links

What is the release date for 'if', will 'if' be in theaters or on streaming, find showtimes for 'if', what is 'if' about, watch the trailer for 'if', three films like 'if' you can watch right now:.

Director John Krasinski 's latest film, IF , might not be what you expect after his previous films, A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place: Part II . In fact, IF is a family-friendly adventure that mixes live action with some seriously adorable animated creatures. With a story that will satisfy adults and children alike, the film challenges audiences to remember the power of their imagination and is sure to be a joy from start to finish.

One of the most anticipated films of 2024, IF has a wonderfully whimsical score by Michael Giacchino ( Up ), and is produced by Krasinski, as well as the film's co-star Ryan Reynolds and A Quiet Place alums Allyson Seeger and Andrew Form . In addition to writing and directing, Krasinski co-stars in the film alongside Reynolds, Cailey Fleming ( The Walking Dead ), Emily Blunt ( The Fall Guy ), Phoebe Waller-Bridge ( Fleabag ), Matt Damon ( Air ), the late, great Louis Gossett Jr. ( An Officer and a Gentleman ), Sebastian Maniscalco ( The Super Mario Bros. Movie ), Maya Rudolph ( Bridesmaids ), Awkwafina ( Crazy Rich Asians ), Bobby Moynihan ( Saturday Night Live ), Amy Schumer ( Life & Beth ), George Clooney ( Ocean's Eleven ), and Steve Carell ( The Office ). For all the information on how you can catch the film this month, check out the answers to the big questions below.

A young girl who goes through a difficult experience begins to see everyone's imaginary friends who have been left behind as their real-life friends have grown up.

IF premieres on Friday, May 17, 2024 . The movie will be opening against a crowded weekend that also includes the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black , the horror prequel The Strangers: Chapter 1 , and the wide release of A24's acclaimed psychological horror film I Saw the TV Glow . The movie will also be opening just one week before a fellow family-friend summer blockbuster, The Garfield Movie , starring Chris Pratt .

IF will be released exclusively in theaters on May 17, 2024. Because IF is a Paramount production, it will ultimately end up on the studio's streaming service, Paramount+, after its exclusive theatrical and PVOD windows end. However, a date has not yet been given as to when the movie will be made available to watch at home.

IF has had quite the buzz around its premiere, making it sure to sell out theaters across the country. To see where you can pre-purchase your seats, check out the links below:

After experiencing her hardship, a young girl named Bea (Fleming) realizes she can see imaginary friends, or "IFs." She is thrown into an unlikely mission alongside her neighbor, Cal (Reynolds), who possesses the same ability to see IFs that she does. Together, the two create a match-making service to pair these lonely IFs with children, so they don't disappear forever. Alongside Bea and Cal in this adventure is Blue (Carell), the larger-than-life IF who shows the pair how important it is that his fellow imaginary friends find homes with other children. Together, Cal and Bea discover the importance of staying young at heart, all while helping other kids and adults along the way.

The official synopsis for the film reads:

From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone’s imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids.

In a recent interview with Collider , director, writer, and co-star John Krasinski said:

"For me, it was just about what if we could tell a story about these time capsules? Imaginary friends are adorable and all those things, but they’re also time capsules of your hopes, dreams, and ambitions when you were the most fertile of a brain, and it never goes away. I think we’re told that we’re adults instead of what if you realize that you never stopped being a kid."

The final trailer for IF was released on April 11, 2024. This full-length preview gives an in-depth look at some of the IFs we'll get to see in the film, including Marshmallow (Krasinski), Blossom (Waller-Bridge), Unicorn (Blunt), Flower (Damon), and Alligator (Rudolph). Audiences also get to know more about the plot of the film, and Bea's mission to help Cal match IFs with kids before they are forgotten and disappear forever. For the official trailer, check out the link below:

For more stories that show the power of imagination, check out the three films below.

'Night At The Museum' (2006)

In Night at the Museum , down-on-his-luck Larry ( Ben Stiller ) can't seem to hold down a full-time job. He feels he's lucked out when he gets an overnight security position at Manhattan's Museum of Natural History, and he can't wait to prove to his son that he is a great, capable father. However, things take a completely unexpected turn on Larry's very first night on duty, as the statues and exhibits come to life once everyone has left for the day. While this initially overwhelms Larry, and he wants to quit, he soon sees it as an opportunity to bond with his son by bringing him to the museum at night. While things go smoothly at first, chaos eventually ensues, and it's up to Larry to save not only the museum but all of New York City. Directed by Free Guy 's Shawn Levy , Night at the Museum grossed over $574 million worldwide, brought a new interest to visiting the world-famous museum, and was followed by two sequels and an animated spin-off, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian , Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb , and Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again .

Watch on Disney+

'Jumanji' (1995)

As a child hiding from bullies in the late 1960s, Alan finds himself trapped in a mysterious board game called Jumanji . Almost thirty years later, two siblings named Judy and Peter find the board game, unknowingly releasing the now grown-up Alan and causing unpredictable pandemonium within their home. Now, Judy, Peter, Alan, and Aunt Nora must team up to beat the game and keep the chaos of Jumanji within the board game's box. Starring Robin Williams , Bonnie Hunt , Kirsten Dunst , and Bradley Pierce , Jumaji grossed $262 million worldwide against its $65 million budget, making it a huge success. The film was based on a 1981 children's picture book of the same name, and critics praised not only its ability to bring that story to life but also for Williams's fun performance as grown-up Alan. Year after year, audiences loved the film so much that a new generation of Jumanji films began with 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle , and 2019's Jumanji: The Next Level , starring Dwayne Johnson , Jack Black , Karen Gillan , and Kevin Hart . These sequels brought new attention to the original Jumanji , proving the brilliance of the source material through their combined $1.79 billion worldwide gross.

Watch on Netflix

'Pokémon: Detective Pikachu' (2019)

One of the most beloved cartoons of the 90s, Pikachu comes to life in this live-action adaptation starring Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith ( Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ). In Pokémon: Detective Pikachu , a detective named Harry Goodman goes missing, and his son, Tim (Smith) is determined to find out what happened to him. Complications arise when Tim is joined by Harry's old partner, Pikachu, in his quest to find his father. Directed by Rob Letterman ( Monsters v. Aliens ), the film co-stars Bill Nighy ( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ), Kathryn Newton ( Big Little Lies ), Rita Ora ( Fifty Shades of Grey ), Suki Waterhouse ( Daisy Jones and the Six ), and Ken Watanabe ( The Last Samurai ). With a sequel in the works, fans can expect more adorable Pokémon crime-solving in the future.

Watch on Hulu