I can remember all the hype behind Rob Zombies first feature film House of 1000 Corpses, the film was supposed to be out in theaters in 2001, however after many rating issues with the MPAA, Universal the company that funded the film, dropped the movie from their lineup and turned all rights over to Rob Zombie. Well after running around Hollywood for two years trying to get the film a distributor Lion Gates finally picked up the movie and released it in April of 2003, where the movie did pretty well in it’s theatrical run. Enough so that the movie garnished one sequel The Devil’s Rejects two years later.
I can remember the first time I saw House of 1000 Corpses. It was opening day and I saw the first showing. There was a pretty small crowd in the theater and I remember sitting down next to an older gentleman who had to be in his late seventies. Kind of odd seeing an old man sitting down to watch a horror film, especially one like House of 1000 Corpses. I watched the film and after it was over, I can remember the old man getting up and yelling out loud, this movie is a piece of shit. While I didn’t think it was a piece of shit, like this old man did, I did however not enjoy this film first time I saw it. To say the least, I wasn’t impressed. it wasn’t until the movie came out on DVD that it really caught hold of me and I was watching the film almost everyday.
House of 1000 Corpses follows the story of four teenagers who are traveling up and down the back highways of the country searching out weird places so they can write a book about them. It’s there last night on their trip and they are on their way home. They stop a gas station run by a guy named Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). a crazy gas Station owner whom dresses like a clown and has the town’s best chicken. Spaulding also has a road side attraction as part of the gas station, a museum of odd things and his famous murder ride. A ride that exploits famous serial killers. While on the ride our foursome hears the tale of Dr. Satan, a local cult leader know for experimenting and murdering his patents. The group is interesting in knowing where his final resting place is, So Captain Spaulding draws them a map to the tree where Dr. Satan was supposing hunted down and killed by. The group then goes to scout out the location, but on their way they see a hot young girl walking down the road in the pouring rain. They pick her up and she agrees to tell show them where the location is. However the car gets a flat tire, and the group is stuck. But the young women they picked up say’s her brother will come and help them. That her home is just up the road. She invites them back to her house, however it’s not to help them out, but to put them though one hell of a night.
Zombie’s script is a rollercoaster ride. While certain scenes in the script are not that strong, there are others that work. The thing about the script to House of 1000 Corpses is that it is very packed with detail, maybe a bit too much for the audience to comprehend. On the other hand the character development and witty dialogue are what help make this film, what I believe is one on the better horror films of the past ten years.
Rob Zombie’s direction for his freshman effort show that he is just more of a musician, and has the ability and the eye to be a great director in the genre. There are certain scene within this film that Zombie masters the form of suspense. One such scene involves a police officer on his knees with a gun to his head by Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), one of the films lead villains. Zombie hold the shot for almost a minute before the gun goes off. It is just one of those scenes that makes the viewer cringe. Zombie also uses a certain look to the film that makes it look as if it was shot during the nineteen seventies. His use of colors gives the film almost a dark carnival look.
Zombie’s good direction also shines with his actor’s performances. However we can’t give credit to the victims in this film, although their acting was alright. However it’s the cast of villains that make this film so likeable. Probably the most strongest performance comes from veteran cult actor Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding. Haig was mostly know at the time for his great performance in Jack Hill’s Spider Baby in which he co-stared with horror great Lon Chaney Jr. with Haig’s performance as Spaulding he has created an iconic horror character with Spaulding. But one can’t just give Haig all the credit. Bill Moseley and Sherri Moon Zombie also bough their characters of Otis Driftwood and Baby Firefly to iconic status with their performances as well. while some may argue that Sherri Moon Zombie’s character of Baby came off as very annoying, I believe that that’s what made her character so memorable. The rest of the cast includes Tom Towles, Karen Black, Dennis Fimple and William Basset. All of which also had some good performances. zombie did a good job at picking out the right people to play the roles and round out the story with some memorable performances.
The production value for House of 1000 Corpses is actually pretty good. Some might think that the sets and some of the visuals make the film look as if it took place under a circus tent, however I think that the use of wacky colors and crazy visuals only added to the suspense and excitement of the film. I particularly liked the set design with the firefly house and Spaulding’s gas station. The make-up effects in the film are really good, and Zombie has made a name for himself with all the use of gore and guts in this film. I mean you really get a lot of blood guts and glory in this one, as well as some odd looking characters as well. The effects played a big part in this film, and they were very well done.
Overall, I hold House of 1000 Corpses in high regards. It was a film that took me a few viewing to actually really get into it, and in the end it was the crazy characters that I liked so much. One thing that always bothered me however was something that Zombie himself never wanted to do, however the powers that be made him shoot a longer ending involving Dr. Satan and his underground hideout. It is said that Zombie’s original script was to end on a shot of a close up of Otis looking into the camera while addressing the character of Denise saying the line; “The bogyman’s real, and you found him.” Which I personally think would of been a better ending as it would of left the audience to think about the fate of the unlucky group. But all in all, I really am a big fan of this film, but I recommend that you watch the film more than once, especially if you didn’t care for it the first time around. It’s a film that grows on you, and has a killer family that is much like a undated version of the Sawyers.
– Horror Bob
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