O Dreamland

That "Death by a 1000 Cuts" seemed to resonate from somewhere, way back in my earliest memories. I'd've been about 8 when this film was made but it has to be earlier than that. Midway Sideshows were still "One Tenth of a Dallar".

Brought to you by the same people who created several competing Jack The Ripper Murder Tours - the British Entrepreneur.

I notice that the amusement park / traveling fair hasn't really changed in decades. The rides are similar to those I see today - the Hammer, Tilt-A-Whirl, that long armed ride with the cars at the ends of the arms, etc. Also, the games of skill such as darts, ball toss, etc. We'd like to think we are more sophisticated with all the modern toys at our disposal, but are we really? Why do we keep going back to these simpler amusements?

Ok, I'm through with my rant for today. Thank you for bearing with me.

Reminds me of the work of Diane Arbus, the great photographer of the grotesque.

that long armed ride with the cars at the ends of the arms = The Octopus

@Expat47 -- Death by a thousand cuts was actually very precise, not the crude stabbing the automatons depict. My fiance has an 18th Chinese knife (tiny and sharp as a scalpel) which was supposedly used at least once to remove eyelids.

@KDP -- There's only so many motions, and the ones which are easy to produce were incorporated into rides long ago.
There's also a legal aspect -- the designs of the old ones are grandfathered in, but anything really new has liability concerns.
Vomit on a tilt-a-whirl? That's normal, your own fault for eating too many coney dogs, move along, nothing to see here.
Vomit on a brand new type of ride? Sue the park, the manufacturer, and everybody else in sight because it wasn't properly designed to ensure a safe, hygienic, and non-humiliating ride.