Retro Reviews: 'House of 1000 Corpses'

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Rob Zombie began his career in the entertainment industry as the front man of one of the early 90s most successful and influential metal bands, White Zombie. At the time, he handled all of the band’s artwork and designs, all of which had its own distinct style. Zombie transferred his artistry to the small screen, when he took over the helm directing the White Zombie music videos, as well as, other bands in the genre. Heavily influenced by classic horror films and cult b-movies, it was only a matter of time before Zombie brought his own vision of terror to the big screen. Little did he know, it would take three years for his directorial debut "House of 1000 Corpses" to see the inside of a movie theater.

Two young couples are on a cross country trip, researching strange roadside attractions, in the hopes of publishing a book. They end up at a gas station/serial killer carnival ride run by an eccentric clown named Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). From Captain Spaulding, they learn of a strange local legend, Dr. Satan, a man who is said to have experimented on the mentally handicapped, before being hanged for his crimes against humanity. Of course, the kids want to know more and rush off to search for the tree from which Dr. Satan was hanged. They end up in a house full of backwoods psychotics where one by one they meet their gruesome fate.

I remember going to see the utterly terrible remake of “House on Haunted Hill” in late 1999 and seeing a preview for “House of 1000 Corpses.” I was immediately excited by the prospect of Rob Zombie making a horror film, since I knew his background and what he was capable of. Time passed and I completely forgot about the movie, until the July 2003 issue of Fangoria Magazine hit the shelves. “House of 1000 Corpses” was prominently featured on the front cover. The issue contained an interview with Rob Zombie about why it took over three years for his movie to be released in theaters.

When “House of 1000 Corpses” finished production, Universal Pictures rejected the initial cut fearing it would receive an NC-17 rating. The movie was trimmed down to get an R rating, but by that point, Universal had decided to drop it entirely. For the next three years, “House of 1000 Corpses” was stuck in limbo without a distributor. It wasn’t until 2003 that Lions Gate Entertainment picked up the film from Universal. Would the three year wait be worth it?

Most definitely.

There are many who rallied against this movie from the get-go. It was universally panned by critics and many diehard horror fans were not impressed by Zombie’s debut. Some called it plotless, others called it sick, while others called it a blatant rip-off of past horror classics. Me? I was a fan from the moment I saw it and still am to this day.

“House of 1000 Corpses” was one of the most brutal horror films released at the time. This was long before every horror film contained either a rape scene or a torture scene or both. The caliber of violence that was happening on screen was almost too shocking, making it very uncomfortable to watch. But, any film that elicits that kind of reaction has to have some kind of merit. Like it or not Zombie’s horrific vision paved the way for some of today’s scariest films.

There are moments in "House of 1000 Corpses" when the actors on screen don’t seem like they’re acting anymore, much like one of the film’s major inspirations “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” Bill Mosley does some of his finest work with his portrayal of Otis Driftwood, an anti-everything lunatic with a penchant for torture and unfettered violence.

“House of 1000 Corpses” isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. As this was Zombie’s first jump from music videos to feature films, there a lot of devices he uses from the former that don’t transition well to the latter, mainly the negative inversion of some of the film’s sequences. Sherri Moon-Zombie makes her feature film debut here as well and does a competent job, but has a tendency to become annoying as her character, Baby. That being said, both these flaws are minor in comparison to the film’s main weakness: the last fifteen minutes.

The first hour and ten minutes are gritty and violent, with the occasional spot of black humor. The last fifteen minutes seem like a completely different movie. The final woman standing is lowered into a maze of catacombs, eventually coming face to face with Dr. Satan and his mentally challenged henchmen. It's at this point that the over-the-top cartoonishness of the film completely backfires. Without giving too much away, I can say this: I believe “House of 1000 Corpses” wouldn’t receive as much flack as it does had it ended differently.

Zombie, of course, went on to direct the "House of 1000 Corpses" sequel “The Devil’s Rejects” in which he dropped all the gimmicky tricks from his first film and really shined as a director. He has since gone on to write and direct the remake of John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” with the sequel hitting theaters this weekend.

The saddest part of the entire “House of 1000 Corpses” saga is that fans of the movie will probably never get to see the original version Zombie couldn’t get by Universal. In the switchover between distributors, Zombie himself has said much of the unused footage was lost, including the original 105 minute cut which premiered at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. We can always hope though that someday, someone will find that cut in a basement somewhere and an unrated version of “House of 1000 Corpses” will see the light of day. Hey, they’re still finding “Metropolis” lost footage, aren’t they?