House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
There's no turning back!
Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon, Karen Black, Chris Hardwick, Jennifer Jostyn, Erin Daniels, Rainn Wilson, Tom Towles, Walt Goggins, Robert Allen Mukes, Matthew McGrory, Dennis Fimple, Harrison Young, William Bassett, Gregg Gibbs, Walter Phelan
Director: Rob Zombie
Running Time: 88 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Comedy, Horror
It's the night before Halloween, somewhere in the South, and some local cheerleaders have gone missing. Four teenagers in search of material for a book on offroad sideshow attractions stop at Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madness, where Captain Spaulding himself (Sid Haig), dressed as a clown, tips them off that the legendary madman 'Dr Satan' was hanged nearby. The four then pick up a hitchhiker (Sheri Moon) in the pouring rain who says that the 'hanging tree' is next to where she lives. When a shadowy figure, seen by us but not by them, shoots their tyre, the hitchhiker invites them to come stay at her house while her brother repairs their car. Soon the foursome meet the freakish inhabitants of the house, and find themselves contributing to the 'simple pleasures of Halloween' in ways they could never have imagined.
Rob Zombie was previously best known as lead vocalist for the goth metal band 'White Zombie', but his debut film ' House of 1000 Corpses' also establishes him as one of the most promising writer/directors working in horror today. His thorough understanding of the genre ensures that fright fans will be kept on their toes by plenty of knowing allusions to other horror films, but the two principal points of reference here are the oddball camp of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and the claustrophobic terror of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
'House of 1000 Corpses' is knee-thumpingly funny, full of the smartest, most irreverent dialogue (and T-shirt logos) that I've come across in a long time. At first the humour keeps undermining the scares, making it unclear whether this is supposed to be a horror film at all, so that when the real terror starts, the viewer is made to feel as disoriented as the protagonist Denise (Erin Daniels) - an effect which is greatly aided by the director's jarring use of jumpcuts to samples from old movies, or to previously unseen characters raving to camera about hellfire and suchlike. From here on in, ' House of 1000 Corpses' becomes an unremitting onslaught on the senses, as Denise has all her last hopes stripped away one by one, and, dressed up variously as a schoolgirl (with dunce cap), a rabbit, and Alice in Wonderland, she enters an inverted world straight out of Marilyn Manson's worst ever nightmare, from which there can be no escape.
The viewer's sense of labyrinthine, paranoid entrapment is only increased by the fact that the whole story is introduced in black-and-white by one 'Dr Wolfenstein' (Gregg Gibbs) as part of his 'Creature Feature Show', even though the story itself is in colour and in it Dr Wolfenstein's show can frequently be seen on TV sets in the background. Indeed, like all the best horror films from the 1970s (when this one is explicitly set), ' House of 1000 Corpses' plays like one hell of a bad trip, and will leave your psyche feeling traumatised, fragile and exposed, while still tickling your funny bone. I can think of no higher recommendation.
It's Got: blood, freaks, stabbings, mutilations, live burials, flesh carvings, trepannings, human skinnings, cannibalism, ghouls, monsters - and hillbillies
It Needs: what more does any film need?
Alternatives: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellraiser, The House on Haunted Hill
Summary: Redneck humour + heavy metal video mentality = the future of horror
Review Date: 7th February 2003
External Links
House of 1000 Corpses at the IMDB
Comments49 Comments |
| House of 100 Corpses was very _sad_ evidence of the direction in which horror is heading. it was too well made to be cheesy like the classic horror movies. it was too badly written to be truly scary. in the end it was just gory, and there wasn't even enough of that for it to be a proper gore fest. i wasn't scared nor amused. i just felt contempt and disgust. i would think thats a reaction that the director was not trying to achieve... |
| Comment by:- Sulfura | | 29 March 2004 | ip: logged |
| Man, this movie blows. First off, it was just like a mixture of a lot of bad horror movies. The only one weird/original thing in it was the people wearing the bunny costumes. Otherwise, it was crap. I just HAD to watch the whole thing on account of I had to see how ****ty the ending would be. AND it was, very! By the way, which part in the movie had any comedy? I must have missed it. Or it just sucked. I think it was a slow, unimaginative, ****ed up movie with no flavor. It didn't even succeed in giving me nightmares. Rob Zombie just shouldn't make movies..ever. He's a ****ing disgrace. |
| Comment by:- Aubrey | | 24 June 2004 | ip: logged |
| WOW. Ok what can I say about this movie?? I can seriously tell you it made me want to throw up. It was the freakiest thing I have ever seen. *Shivers* I never want to see it again. Freakos!! |
| Comment by:- PM | | 29 June 2004 | ip: logged |
| Aubrey, you were not scared? This is where I think people are so dumb. Put yourself in that situation. Climb inside the movie. Dont watch as a viewer, watch as if you were the one who got the flat tire. THats what I do, and I pooped my pants...twice!!! |
| Comment by:- Gillyboy | | 29 July 2004 | ip: logged |
| Well i think the movie was original and bloody good. I was sceptical at first when the movie started and there was some clown acting like and idiot and this family that seemed really messed up, but the climax and ending was brilliant. It was truly bizzare, and i mean that in a good way. |
| Comment by:- Pumbaa | | 05 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| people take movies way too seriosuly its supposed to be ENTERTAINMENT and thats really forgotton now days |
| Comment by:- andy! | grazier.idx.com.au | 06 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| hmmm i think it was a pretty damn good film...i mean i don't watch horror movies expecting to be scared.. they just give you something to think about. i think it's brilliant being rob's first.it has good twists and no happy ending.. there should be more of that. good soundtrack too... in all.. bravo! |
| Comment by:- himiko | | 19 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Jezus! That movie sucked ass! Bad scenario, acting, scenery and a lot of other sucking things. I give it a 0/10, worst movie ever. |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 30 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| The house of a 1000 Corpses was the best movie on Earth they had hot guys like otis and Rufus out of 1/100 i'd give it 100,000,000. Best movie ever. |
| Comment by:- Angel | | 31 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| I just had this movie in my room which I have no clue how it got there just that it was there and I placed it in and watched it, it was really crappy and had an aweful ending, Dr Satan was less dangerous then the creepo , I mean it was more of a psychotic person rather then anything to do with Satan, blood was every where (Needlessly and it missed the spook part it was just gory , when every you run out of ideas just spill the red stuff on that is what summarizes the movie. The only positive was the blone chick and her nice crack other then that the movie sucked and I should have known what to expect since its a movie coming from a band. The could have made the movie with out the Dr Satan sub plot which had no relevance... anyways. |
| Comment by:- Sheraz | | 03 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| This is an instant classic! This movie is pure genius! One thing that I have noticed is the people that totally hate this movie are more of the "I know what you did last summer" and "Scream" fans. Sorry little girls, this movie wasn't made for such inactive, unartistic minds. I'm willing to bet that all the ones that hate this movie have never seen Tenebrae, The Beyond, Beyond the Darkness, House by the Cemetery, etc.. and have no clue who Fulci, D'Amato, or Argento are. Just go watch "Scary Movie" for the 100th time and leave the art to the artists. Thank you! |
| Comment by:- Gorified | www.tastygore.com | 12 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| I really don't understand the bad reviews of this film. I chalk it up to younger viewers who don't know a good horror movie when they see it. I am 34 and have been into the horror genre since I was 10. This movie rocked, plain and simple. Great cast, great writing, tons of twists and turns. Really brilliant. I have seen it about 10 times and would gladly watch it another 10 times. Captain Spaulding rocked! Otis rocked! Tiny rocked! and f@ckin Doctor Satan rocked!!! |
| Comment by:- Joe | | 03 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| ok, put plainly this movie SUCKED. It had horrible writing, a totally irrevelent plot and the actual horror scenes were so ridiculously stuiped that they only made me laugh. The only way this movie succeeds is that it has a very artistic approach to the actual gore. I'd also like to say that Gorified is a stuiped dumbass redneck since Gorified believes that a movie like this would actually be enjoyed by someone with an "active" mind. His "active" mind obviously cannot process and comprehend anything more complex then the random deranged behaviours of the freaks in this show. This movie is artistic, but still does not need to be viewed with an active mind. |
| Comment by:- shame on Gorified 4 attacking others intelligence | | 04 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| this movie rock i love doctor satan hes my dad |
| Comment by:- satans_my_dad | | 05 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| i love this movie the pore effick were cool and i love pore **** me |
| Comment by:- efrtesdft | | 05 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Watch my eyes - NO |
| Comment by:- fef | | 07 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I LOVED THIS MOVIE! Just because of the fact that Rob Zombies purpose was to confuse people, and that's just what he did. You just have to accept the fact that it doesn't make complete sense, then it will make perfect sense. (If you don't get what I said, just accept that you don't get it, then you'll get it!) In my opinion it was art, a creepy, gory art that needs to have an unrated directors cut. THEN we'll see some gore! I think Gorified totally hit the mark with his/her comment. So did Angle, I thought I was the only one that thought Otis was hot. One reason why I think people didn't like it was because it's ahead of it's time, and they're just not ready. Imagine if they were to watch the directors cut, they would freakin' throw-up then have a heart attack. *Sigh* I hope it's coming out soon. |
| Comment by:- Deaniver | | 10 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Gorified is totally right, read his comment, my thoughts entirely. ACE Movie, and a totaly accurate and good review by Anton Bitel - thanks for the recomendation, or I would have never watched this fantasic movie!!! |
| Comment by:- Simon | | 11 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| This has to be the worst movie ive ever seen, i want the time i spent watching this of my life back. it was a complete was of time and money for the people involved. it lacked an basic storyline and above all had no solid basis for anything remotely funny or scary. |
| Comment by:- matt | | 14 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| oh and lol at Gorified, beethoven is art my friend. this was a pile of random crap that i hope never has to been seen again by anyone |
| Comment by:- matt again | | 14 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Beethoven is not art - it's music dickhead, graphic images are art, perhaps you should have said Monét or Piccasso, you stupid idiot - this movie was art - durrrrr. (perhaps you'll learn to differentiate between the two when you get out of high school) - now go away, P.S, do you know how to capitalise an "I" - umm no. |
| Comment by:- Simon | | 15 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| once I woke up and several demons were in my room |
| Comment by:- anthonymarino | | 21 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| you guys are right. that was a great movie. It was so scary i cried and ran away to my momy half way through it. I wet the bed that night. If i got that scared (like i do all the time because im a little bitch) then it must be a good movie. But you would have to ask someone smart like Gorified if it really is a good movie because im stupid. |
| Comment by:- matt again | | 21 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Your stupid matt again. You said if you got that scared then the movie must be good. But then you said you get scared all the time because youy a little bitch. Does that mean every movie everything you see is good. I hate you. You make me want to die. |
| Comment by:- Acid Reflux | | 21 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| There are more people that like this movie then there are who hate it. So far the score is team hell 17 retards 8. |
| Comment by:- Barsabus | | 21 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| This is not a gore movie, this is not a scary movie and is 0% original. Why they made again and again the same kind of movies?. It was total crap. |
| Comment by:- Knightlore | | 24 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| If its crap then why did you watch it? Do you like to watch crap all day? Mabey I could make 7 little toy cars out of crap and you could watch. Then we could eat four of them then rub the other three all over our faces. Sometimes I like to drink the water out of the trash cans after it rains. I also have a glass jar that I filled with food and trash and stuff then when it gets all moldy I'll open it and smell it 20 or 30 times in one day. |
| Comment by:- ERVIN | | 25 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Me like movies to once me watch a movie |
| Comment by:- anthony marino | | 25 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Anthony Perkins takes a career-defining role as motel-owning loner Norman Bates. His hobbies are taxidermy, talking incessantly about his dear old mum, and knifing visitors to death. Clearly he's quite a catch, but there's little chance of romance on the cards when he treats his latest visitor - Janet Leigh as cash-embezzling Marion Crane - to the stabby-stabby treatment. |
| Comment by:- Parasolaufagus | | 25 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Read up about this movie and look a little deeper into some of the facts. Such as the horror ride in the beginning which accuratly describes other serial killers. There was a real man named Dr. Satan and his name was Dr. Marcel Petiot. He was a very interesting person which is who I believe Dr. satan's character came from along with this army. Zombie did a great job with this movie bringing back the classic style of horror but yet also most realistic and frightening if you put yourself in the posibility of the position of living out in the middle of nowhere which I do and there are very strange people about that could easily pull off such crazy things. This horror movie was indeed genius and I can't wait to see either a sequel or another horror movie by zombie, he gets it. |
| Comment by:- Gizzle | na | 27 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| baby max is afraid to use a sharp knife to carve his little pumpkin |
| Comment by:- Mancubus | | 30 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| yo foo dis movie was scarey as a mu****a nigga pop out like blam blam wipple damn sam den like da otha nigga was all up in dat niggas face if dat was me fo sho ida been like nigga who da **** is you NIGGA WHO DA **** IS YOU den if his azz didnt back da **** down yalls know what I woulda done yeeeeah ida ****ed that nigga up straight up g **** yall know me oh fo sho yo mo bo bo mu****a ill **** dat nigga up ima mufukin g baby mufukin g fo life straight outta jail biatch |
| Comment by:- bignigga | | 30 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| This is matt again again. Im not afraid of knives I like them. I like to stick them in my head but they dont go in all the way because of my bones there I think. |
| Comment by:- matt again | | 30 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Wow, that Matt girl seems to have a distorted view of "art". There is a difference between "art" and "opinion" and she only has the latter. It always makes me laugh when people think that their opinion equals definition. That chick is just mad because I bashed her favorite movie "I know what you did last summer". |
| Comment by:- Gorified | | 01 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| For all those ignorant on the definition of "art," allow me to clarify: The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. Art isn't just images, it's quite broad and expansive in it's definition. I love how internet anonymity allows people to show their true and inner retard (like about half the comments in this review). Anyways, I watched this movie quite a while back and had mixed feelings. It wasn't entirely frightening, mainly gory and creepy. There definitely was some good black humour in it which had me chuckling from time to time. If I had to describe this flick, I'd say it was completely "fuc*ed up." In a kind of good way. It definitely got you thinking and it was kind of ironic to see that even when the main chick overcame all those obstacles, she still got screwed in the end. |
| Comment by:- Brooke | | 01 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| this was one of the best movies iv ever seen, im watching on the dvd, before the movie starts wen captain spaulding starts doing stupid **** right now! otis is my favorite character, he is the bogey man, no doubt |
| Comment by:- otis driftwood | | 02 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i thought this movie was creepy and disturbing, which is more then you can ask for these days for a horror film. it was funny, creatievly shot and totally ****ed up. very very cool. |
| Comment by:- morgan | yahoo | 03 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Everyone's taste is different. AND THIS IS MY KIND OF MEAL ! This movie ROCKS ! It will be a classic in years to come ! The FAMILY couldn't have been cast better. Great detail in many of the scenes. Alot of hard work went into this movie. Thanks for making this movie! |
| Comment by:- Jim Irwin | | 04 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| team hell is ahead 30 to 9 |
| Comment by:- Barsabus | | 09 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i think that this movie needs more porn and well all i have to say is give me oral |
| Comment by:- killer honey | htt://www.crap.com | 15 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| this was the best movie ever! I cant even come to words to say how wonderful it was. |
| Comment by:- Alisha | www.movie-gazette.com/cinerevi... | 18 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Was too similar to texas chainsaw massacre and a little hellraiser with those weird guys in the underground place, not original , a redneck family probably inbred killing passers by , give me a break |
| Comment by:- Indeed | | 06 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| People take this movie too ****ing serious. It's not meant to be something realistic and terrifying. I look at it as a sort of tall tale. It pays so much homage to American folklore. I love the irony that the characters are drawn into their plight by a local legend and end up becoming part of that legend themselves. The whole movie is like this modern tall tale. Rob Zombie took a lot of time to create a universe based on the back-roads and offbeat sites of America. Ruggsville is supposed to represent any small American town with its share of eerie urban legends. |
| Comment by:- Cthulhu | | 12 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| house of 1000 corpses if one of the best horror movies ever made. it has a lot of humour and the movie is very entertaining and original. I cant wait for the sequel (I hope they will release it someday) |
| Comment by:- Giedrius | | 22 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| Capt. Spaulding was the only remotely interesting character in this movie. Nobody else in this movie made me the least bit concerned about or interested in whether they lived, died, killed someone or shot rainbows and ninjas out of their arse. Hopes for the Captain to show up again and add some entertainment to this movie was the only reason I watched it to the end. Those who liked it can keep their "if you don't like it, you must just be stupid" pretentious attitudes to themselves. You're very much allowed to like it. That's fine. Good for you. I wish I did. Casting dispersions on any and all who didn't like it just makes you look petty and less intelligent. Sorry, if it salts any cuts you might have that I didn't enjoy the movie even on a level of sheer novelty. That's just how I feel. That's life. I've gone from 'Manos: The Hands of Fate' to 'House of 1000 Corpses' to 'Suspiria' to 'Audition' and so many grades of quality and quantity in between that it's not even funny. I can appreciate both slick and schlock, but not just overcooked crap. Maybe it's just me, but the attempt to shock and boggle came out so obvious in this movie that it lost nearly all of its power to do so. Deliberate lack of subtlety only goes so far before it becomes tiresome and predictable and any irony therein goes stale. It's like a would-be comedian stiltedly reading from "The Book of Jokes Everyone Has Already Heard 1000 Times" and still looking at you with a big grin asking "Get it?" (except this joker thinks it's a new act) Bitingly avant garde? Maybe but doubtfully. Bitingly avant merde? Probably. It wasn't really a new type of schtick when Andy Kaufman did it, but at least he knew how to pull it off. Sadly, most of the homage was so obsequious that it lost its ability to come off as clever or charming if you ever managed to wipe the brown veneer from it. Otherwise, it would have been a nice touch. All in all... disappointing. I really wanted to like this movie. It just didn't happen. I mean REALLY didn't happen. Hopefully, Mr. Zombie will eventually make a good movie that isn't just a flat content-for-content's-sake shell. But, hey, what do I know? Apparently, I'm stupid for not swinging off the sac of this movie. Plus, there were only about 600 corpses in this movie. What a gyp. (okay, not really) |
| Comment by:- bleh | | 24 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| bleh...yare a idiot |
| Comment by:- dafreakzo | | 30 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| ya i just wanted to go along with brooke on this one and its directed toward you simon. you must be a ****ing moron if you dont think music is art. thats all i have to say. o ya and the movie was pretty good. like it has been said put yourself in those shoes...tell me that ****s not scary. but ya the ending did get a little carried away with the big robot guy and the little red demon "dr. satan" but hey overall none of you ****s have enough talent with all your brains put together to come up with something have as good as this. so id shut your ****ing derelict asses up. thank you and goodnite. |
| Comment by:- neutralmilk | | 05 April 2005 | ip: logged |
| This movie sucked but parts were funny 0.5/10 Capt. Spaulding was the only thing that gave this move half out of 10 because he was really amusing. |
| Comment by:- matt30 | | 22 May 2005 | ip: logged |
| First off,anyone who didnt like this movie can fxck urself cuz it was obviously too bad ass 4 ur lil mainstream wussy ass lil bxtch selfs.Secondly,i think the cast was gr8,the writing was awesome and the film itself was put together gr8.And of course Sheri Moon Zombie was lokking hott as usual.So all in all the film got a 15 on a 10 point scale..and anyone who disagrees-go fxck ya mudda bxtch! |
| Comment by:- sherimoonluver | | 25 July 2005 | ip: logged |
