The Game of Chance: Funny Man (1994)

Funny Man (Britain, 1994)

Rating: ***
Starring: Tim James, Christopher Lee, Benny Young

When the wheel of fortune spins, an ancient game of chance begins, but who could know or guess the rules, adrift upon the ship of fools. 

Rarely seen. Rarely discussed. Rarely favored. These are the things I observed when it comes to horror fans and this particular British horror flick. Sad, I could say, but I thought it's a jolly good stroll down a weirdly good show, mixing bloody slasher antics of Fred Krueger with the cartoonish world of Beetlejuice (1988), featuring one funny man.

One rainy night, at a bar and through a game of poker, Max Taylor wins the key to the ancestral home of one Chance Callum (Christopher Lee), an eccentric billionaire who wishes to disown the home for the reason that he's tired of it. After a few days, Max comes all the way to see the house, but as much as he's thrilled, the rest of his family who he tagged along couldn't agree much. His brother is also on his way to check the house and drop off a few things, along the way picking up a group of hitchhikers who are willing to stroll along for the adventure. 

Unfortunately, Max unknowingly played "a game of chance", a simple toy with a spinning arrow that could either land on "win" or "lose". He lost the game, thus awakening a demonic jester known as The Funny Man, who begins to take away everyone dear to him (and the hitchhikers, too just for the kick of it) in one imaginative and irreverently humorous murder at a time.

Perhaps as an insight, people just didn't get or want the humor here. To be frank, I didn't either at my first viewing, but the silly imagery and the weird characters attracted me enough to watch Funny Man (1994) for a second time. In a way, the whole movie might be an exaggerated metaphor for the nature of gambling, wherein chances of winning something so grand may have the chance of a bigger drawback if not played safe. Max here unknowingly did that when he played the little toy that summoned the Funny Man upon losing, thus ending up with him paying the price. Whether that may be the point of not, I am certain, however, that the movie's a tad too easy in the plotting as it mainly revolves around the killer offing one victim at a time in a scenario or theme that befits them somehow. (One man discusses the puppet show "Judy and Mr. Punch" and he ended up being killed by the Funny Man through said puppet show)

The funnies, in turn, are more on the visual and cheesy banter, brought to life ala cartoonish characters in a manner so surreal, it might be a parodying jab on sex, violence and a grand amount of cheese. One particular murder actually have us watching a character named after and dressed up as Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo, mixed with the personality of Elmer Fudd of the Looney Tunes, getting murdered with a cartoonish gun, her brain and eyes shot off in the crudest way. It's nonsensical, yet some of the film's comedy do land with its eccentric dialogues and witty one-liners, though non-Brits may take some time to decipher it.

Dinkley. for reals, why are you here?

Concluding all this, we got here a film with a strangeness equal to a drug trip, slasher film cliches done by the numbers, a cool looking villain despite the cheap latex (don't get me started on a certain "cross dressing scene" *shivers*), and a 50/50 workable comedy. With barely a story, the film's strength relies a lot on grue and surrealism to make it all work out, though not everyone's gonna get it. Funny Man (1994) may not be everybody's masterpiece, but it is worth at least one viewing if you're curious or feeling British. (It's an episode we all have to experience at least once...)

Just a friendly reminder though: switch off. It'll help a lot!

Bodycount:
1 boy smothered with a potato sack
1 female clubbed to death
1 female electrocuted on the head with jumper cables, combusts
1 female had her brain shot off
1 male had the top of head decimated with a bomb
1 male gets a stiletto heel to the eye
1 female ripped apart
1 male blown apart into fireworks

1 male seen bloodied and sat on a newel post
Total: 9

"That's the way to do it!"