House Of 1,000 Corpses
Written and Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Karen Black, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon

Rob Zombie is a true cult horror movie fan. His very stage name comes from his old band White Zombie, which of course is also a b-movie from the 30’s starring Bela Lugosi. His live musical stage show has been known for its awesome monster costumes and spooky atmosphere, and so it seems that he is the perfect man to bring back to theatres what has been missing for so long… a cheesy, over-the-top, gory slasher flick. He had a hell of a time getting House of 1,000 Corpses into theatres (no pun intended), as a number of studios consistently dumped the movie and delayed it due its supposed “extreme” nature. More than likely, they just didn’t know how to market it. Luckily, Lion’s Gate picked it up and saved the movie like they have saved many other controversial films in the past, such as Dogma.

Now that all the red tape has been eliminated, we finally get to see if the movie can stand on its own. Is it really as extreme and controversial as they say? No. Does that matter? No. However, I have to say that Zombie has definitely succeeded in doing what he set out to do, and that is creating a horror movie by and for horror movie fans.

There are a plenty of little tributes and references in it, although the most obvious influence has got to be The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In House Of 1000 Corpses, a group of teenagers stop at a haunted house attraction off a deserted highway, and the owner Captain Spaulding tells them about the local legend of Dr. Satan. They go on a search to find out more about Dr. Satan, but after they pick up a hitchhiker and their car breaks down they find themselves stranded and trying to escape a family of crazy, murderous rednecks.

As you might expect, the best part of this movie are definitely the visuals. The costumes, the sets, the lighting, and even little details like the weird slogans on t-shirts. Zombie has created some pretty damn demented and memorable characters here, including Captain Spaulding, Otis, Grampa Hugo, and (my favourite) Tiny. I wasn’t a big fan of some of the colourized grainy inserts he used. They were annoying, but then again they were an important part of the chaos in the film. I just can’t help but think that at times the movie looked a little too much like a music video.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack was pretty good, but at points a little too loud. I’m sure this is how Zombie wanted it, but like most first-time directors he doesn’t know when to restrain himself. There is a lot of metal and hard rock, and a lot of it written by Zombie himself. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” by The Ramones seemed a little out of place, but it’s likely Zombie just wanted to include the track because he’s a fan. There were also a few scenes where he tried the whole “Clockwork Orange” thing — juxtaposing pleasant, happy music (some golden oldies to be exact) and gruesome actions on screen — with mediocre results.

The actual story was pretty negligible, but the dialogue wasn’t half-bad. The movie had some classic one-liners, which are of course essential in creating a cult following (even if he did cop a few lines from a Spinal Tap song).

I feel it important to mention that House Of 1,000 Corpses wasn’t really all that “scary” per se. There were a couple good little shock moments, but overall it was just more bizarre than anything else. The scariest part of it all was just the thought that these characters and images came from another human being’s head. It’s hard to say if Zombie was actually trying to create a truly suspenseful atmosphere, but I think he was more interested in having a sense of humour in the movie (which was definitely the right choice, given the circumstances). Sam Raimi always said the reason he chose Evil Dead as his first movie was because horror movies can gain a huge following even when done poorly and with an obviously limited budget.

House of 1000 Corpses also wasn’t all that gory, despite what the trailers said, and in fact the effects weren’t very realistic at all. In some areas they tried to distort the picture so you couldn’t tell it was so cheesy. I think the final theatrical version of the film that Lion’s Gate released was edited to some extent, but I’m not sure what kind of stuff was chopped. I don’t doubt there will be a “director’s cut” DVD in the very near future.

This movie is a must-see for old school horror fans and b-movie geeks, and also fans of Rob Zombie’s music and artwork. The remainder of the movie-viewing public will probably see House of 1,000 Corpses in a different, much less favourable light. It isn’t the most amazing movie ever created, but it is still quite refreshing and it was a nice alternative from the rest of Hollywood’s current offerings. I daresay Hollywood is experiencing a bit of a revival in horror movies right now, which is a good thing. If only other directors had the same understanding of and affection for cult movies that Rob Zombie does, we would be in for a real treat. — Sean