House of 1000 Corpses

Welcome to the mad world of Rob Zombie. “House of 1000 Corpses” is like a twisted, demented horror ride at an amusement park and Rob Zombie takes you for the ride of your life. It is an extended music video, with red neck serial killers and a great soundtrack. Say hello, to the 21^st century version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” It is sick, demented and filled with dark humour. Enter the world of the Firefly family.

It is October 30^th in the 1970s and two young couples are traveling across the US, in search of offbeat road side attractions. The vehicle stops at an odd looking gas station where they meet the crazy but charismatic Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), who plays the scariest clown since “It”. There they learn of the legend of Dr. Satan while riding the Murder Ride, an attraction at the funky gas station. The foursome is lured into the world of death and mayhem and leave Captain Spaulding with a peaked interest in learning more about the murderous doctor.

Upon leaving the gas station the weather takes a turn for the worse and driving becomes quite difficult. They drive by a woman who is wet from the rain and hitchhiking home alone. They pick her up and soon experience car problems. The group later learns this gorgeous vixen with an obnoxiously scary laugh is Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) Baby baits the group into the Firefly house to wait out the weather and attempt to fix their car. The consequences of their decision to go with Baby are dire. As the night turns into day, the group is welcomed into the strange sadistic and erotic world of the Fireflies.

“House of 1000 Corpses” introduces you to the Firefly family and shows us what they are capable of. It is the first full length film created and directed by Rob Zombie, the follow up to the film is “The Devils Rejects” (2005). The biggest difference between the two films is that “House of 1000 Corpses” is witnessed through the view of the victim. We see the four victims being hurled into sadistic mayhem and watch them squirm and attempt to escape the occult they find themselves in. “The Devils Rejects” is witnessed through the villain’s eyes; we get to know the background to what makes this sick family tick. I think you get a better appreciation for “The Devils Rejects” having watched “House of 1000 Corpses” because you see into their world before hand and realize what they can do.

Mother Firefly (Karen Black) is the Lady of the house and quintessential whore, who has produced many children from her Johns to add to her murderous cult. She dresses like a madam in a Bordello. Otis Driftwood (Bill Mosley), one of Mother Firefly’s presumed offspring, is the leader of the household. He has long scraggly hair and gangly pale limbs and executes as one of the creepiest villains I have ever seen in a film. He is a cross between Johnny Winter and Charles Manson.

The film attempts to be as grotesque as strange as it can be. When you think the movie can’t get any weirder, it does and goes further. The death sequences are elaborate and well defined. Rob Zombie has no qualms about showing gore.

Sheri Moon Zombie delivers one of my favourite death sequences of all time, when she chases after one of their victims dressed in a bunny suit. She conveys this sense of sexual desire as she penetrates them with a knife. It is completely disturbing and so cool how it comes off. It is a brilliantly executed scene.

What I love about Rob Zombie’s style is how much attention to detail he pays. He thinks about everything. There is a vintage feel to the film, the costumes and props feel authentically time appropriate. The dirty, grungy feeling is accentuated by the dark colours the movie is filmed in. The putrid shades of brown, red and green that add to the sick feeling you get and only get more intense as the movie gets stranger.

There are “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” elements in the film and you can see where Rob Zombie was inspired by the film but it is not a cookie cutter replica of the 1974 movie. I personally do not see anything wrong with being inspired by a classic film.

“House of 1000 Corpses” grabs you by the scruff of your neck from the beginning of the film and does not let go until the credits roll up. It is a heart pounding, edge of your seat adrenaline rush. After watching the film many times, I appreciate the film on other levels including its comic like feel, its effective dark humour and amazing soundtrack.

Moral of the story: never pick up hitchhikers.

Cheers

Crestfallen

~ by exploitnation on June 17, 2008.