House of 1000 Corpses (2002)

Taking his cue from such 1970s horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), animated rocker Rob Zombie goes celluloid with the throwback shocker House of 1000 Corpses. Running low on gas as they travel the highways of America in search of the ultimate roadside attraction, a group of teens pull into Captain Spaulding's (Sid Haig) museum of oddities (which also offers fried chicken and gasoline) only to become obsessed with uncovering the mystery of a legendary local maniac known only as Dr. Satan. When an attractive and mysterious hitchhiker subsequently offers to give the thrill seekers a personal tour of Dr. Satan's old stabbing grounds, a breakdown forces them to take refuge with a group of menacing oddballs as a fearsome storm rages outside. As the evening progresses and the backwoods hosts' Halloween festivities become ever more threatening, the teens soon realize that the legend of Dr. Satan may hold a bit more contemporary weight than any of them had previously thought.

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Review By Jeremy Wheeler

House of 1000 Corpses is a trashy, disturbing, and wild ride through the mind of director/rocker Rob Zombie. Hearkening back to the less glamorous days of horror, the film digs its roots deep in '70s exploitation and thinly-plotted '80s slasher flicks while wearing every influence on its sleeve for all to see. While the framework is familiar, it's Zombie's trademark style that sets this apart from its horror ancestors. Full of garish colors and manic editing, House tends to walk a little too close to the music-video line at many points -- but if you're able to look past those faults (many aren't), you may find yourself giving in to the carnival-like visuals and over-the-top performances littering the film. Bypassing the rule of overpopulating fright flicks with as many hot TV teens as the law allows, here horror-vets Sid Haig, Karen Black, and Bill Moseley reign supreme in Zombie's gaudy thrill-ride. Haig especially stands out as the crazed, clown-faced Captain Spaulding, who after a classic introduction, unfortunately becomes second-tier to the rest of this nasty tale...And nasty it is! While nowhere near the gore-fest that the immense hype billed it as, boosted by its bouts with the MPAA and long delay of release by being dropped by not just one, but two major studios, House of 1000 Corpses still manages to be a loud, fun, and grisly horror outing that, love it or hate it, is 100 percent Rob Zombie. Three years later, the director would come back with the sequel The Devil's Rejects, a vastly superior production that won over many who weren't satisfied with this initial outing.