House of 1000 Corpses Reviews

Four friends are on the search of a lifetime. They want to write a book about all the offbeat roadside attractions they can find. They meet Captain Spaulding where they learn the legend of Doctor Satan. While on the search to find the tree that Doctor Satan was hung from they pick up a hitchhiker named Baby. After their car breaks down Baby invites them back to her house and this is where they meet the Firefly family, a bizarre and off the wall family. After a series of horrific events take place, will the four friends survive the House of 1000 corpses or will they just become four more victims.

This film is a brilliant horror flick. Rob Zombie masterfully mixes humour and horror. Spaulding is the perfect balance, a small character, underused but every scene he is featured in has a humours feel to it. Zombie creates the perfect setting, the perfect mood and the perfect gore fest. House of 1000 Corpses is the epitome of modern day horror greatness.

The one thing that Rob Zombie did so well with this flick was get intense performances from all the actors involved. Rainn Wilson was fun to watch, even though he had very little screen time and was killed off near the start. Karen Black gave an interesting performance as Mother Firefly. Sheri Moon Zombie not only makes her character of Baby a complete psychopath but she nails the over the top spine chilling laugh that would cause anyone to cringe. Still though no one is better than Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding, his character is witty, dark and obviously messed up.

Personally horror is usually lost on me, its gore something I don’t really buy into. I have heard mixed things about this film. Some people really love it, they believe Zombie has created a horror film for this generation, and other people believe it is a mindless plot less gore fest. Counter argument presented, there is no real plot in any slasher flick. Its all about the gore and the over the top killings. Since when has horror pretended to be anything different? How is this any different from Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Friday the 13th? People are mad that Zombie did not include factual background on the Firefly family, yet we follow these four innocent victims on this journey. Having a detailed scene about the Firefly family’s history would not have fit well with the layout of the film. It was clear that over the years things had happened to the Firefly family that drove them mad.

House of 1000 Corpses is a horror flick, and it is one of the better ones I have seen. It does not pretend to be this bold new brand of horror. It returns to the bloody disgusting roots of horror. Kudos to Rob Zombie for writing and directing such a messed interesting film. The thing that impresses me about this film is that it is nothing more than it needs to be. It is gory, it is off the beaten path, it is suspenseful and it is horror. Why is there so much being read into it being more then has to be? It is a genuine, well acted, psychotic look into a messed up world. Who doesn’t like those kinds of films?

sorry but this is simple rubbish - WTF?? Didnt get it at all and turned off. Can someone come back to me and tell me I am not a freak on this one as everyone else seems to rave around this flick?

3 stars for movie and 4 stars for music = 7 stars.
Hey! Soundtrack if this film is GREAT!

"It's all true. The bogeyman is real and you found him."

In the 1980s and 90s, Rob Zombie emerged as a successful musician equally as a solo performer and as a component of his heavy metal band, White Zombie. The man was born Robert Cummings, later changed to Robert Straker. In Rob's early days he dwelled on a diet of comics, heavy metal music, low-budget horror and science fiction. Low-budget horror was observably his foremost influence when he completed his directorial debut.

House of 1000 Corpses is irrefutably the work of Rob Zombie as his prime inspirations are palpably noticeable while examining the film's style. Rob's extraordinary and unique visual style is instantaneously identifiable and this film indubitably exhibits a number of the elements he has employed in the past. Writer/director Rob Zombie aimed to return horror back to its low-budget roots: back to the glorious halcyon days.

The film opens on the date of October 30th (Halloween), 1977. Local news communiqués are dominated with reports in relation to five missing cheerleaders who are presumed dead. Their disappearance was under suspicious circumstances. Meanwhile, it's a dark, cold and rainy night as two young couples are travelling together: driving to random locations with the intention of noting and researching roadside attractions for a book they are determined to publish. Practically out of petrol (aren't we all used to that in this day and age...) the four stop at the bizarre, curious establishment of "Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen". Upon arrival, they discover that it is extremely to their liking and style: the kind of peculiar roadside attractions that they are out searching for. They are openly greeted by the enthusiastic, quirky and eccentric Captain Spaulding (Haig). Much to the dismay of their female companions, the guys indulge themselves in the wacky attractions on offer. Spaulding then tells the group of the local legend of Doctor Satan, and the guys believe that it would be a splendid subject to cover in their book. As they continue their travels that are welcomed by an unusual family who turn out to be an insane horde of psychotics. The four are set upon by these psychotics, and are now forced to endure the horrors of the house of 1000 corpses and its dark secrets.

As a first-time director, Rob has succeeded in generating an authentic and credible comedy-thriller, with an undeniable 70s feel throughout the film's duration. To his credit, House of 1000 Corpses flaunts a virtuoso filmmaking debut for Rob that wears its influences on its sleeve and makes no secret of the fact that it is paying tribute to a genre that is in urgent need of resurrection.

Although there are a number of admirable traits on exhibition, there is also an abundance of unneeded elements. For example, Rob splices the footage he's shot with footage from old horror movies. There are also a lot of titles created in true 1970s style: the kind of thing you'd expect to see at the drive-in cinema. Even some of the footage Rob had filmed has been made to look dated and grainy to add to the established authenticity. Unfortunately, these edits are jumpy and fast; ultimately leaving the audience with a sense of gross disorientation. The editing is particularly abysmal as a whole. Rob could have achieved something much more if his cinematography techniques more closely followed its inspirations. Low-budget horror films of the 1970s contained steady and concentrated cinematography that allows the audience to understand what is going on.

Rob's cinematography is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre style (shaky cam) mixed into the MTV-quick-cut style of the contemporary horror genre. With this fatal trait in place, the film becomes nothing more than an excuse to showcase some appallingly gory scenes of torture and mutilation that have been filmed dreadfully! These gory scenes will have you closer to vomiting because the shaky cam and fast cutting will make you feel queasy, while the torture on display will make you violently hurl everything in your stomach. The prosthetic effects are disturbingly effective. The editing flaws could have been a lot worse, but with these implemented flaws the film cannot reach the standard that Rob was probably aiming for.

House of 1000 Corpses is also radically dissimilar to all other horror films due to the distinct lack of likable characters. It's impossible to empathise with any of the characters as they are all despicable. On that note, the script is a dismal piece of material. Rob Zombie also penned the screenplay himself. There is a short supply of witty dialogue; instead going for disgusting dialogue mainly consisting of profanity and people using embarrassing terms.

The performances are mainly quite hollow and sometimes the actors will actually hurt your ears! As this is a homage to the early low-budget horror movies, bad acting can be forgiven. But this is another thing that detracts from the overall film value. The only performance I found good was Sid Haig as the suitably quirky clown who owns the bizarre roadside attraction. Unfortunately, Haig is criminally underused. This is the single good actor in the whole film...and he receives roughly 20 minutes of screen-time! Most of the females are there to squeal and swear. Sometimes their feisty nature is a little disturbing.

As director Rob Zombie's early days were in the music industry, we must expect an interesting array of music on display. It's hard to describe the music. It's catchy but occasionally unsuitable. I guess it supplies the film with an almost laughable atmosphere at times. There are a few shootings that occur to typical redneck music while events unfold in slow motion...this is just one example of the peculiar music employed heavily by the filmmakers. Some of the music is moody enough to suit the film; however at other times...not so much.

Overall, House of 1000 Corpses is an interesting directing debut from one of the music industry's most popular names. Rob Zombie proves that with a modest budget he can create a slab of unique torture porn that will be happily devoured by horror fans. If you enjoy low-budget horror of the 1970s, this film is probably for you. The film is unsettling and atmospheric, and to be frank it's quite excruciating during the final act. The film sets up an interesting host of characters that are also very disconcerting. Rob Zombie is seemingly determined and creates a visually engaging production. Apart from being torture porn with a bit of catchy music and interesting characters, the film is nothing more. Currently this film balances comfortably on the fine line of "barely watchable". I'm happy I saw it, but I'm in no rush to revisit. Followed by The Devil's Rejects.

4.9/10

i agree with the review below mine.
Evil Dead is better then this and this just looks so stupid it looks more like a comedy then a horror.
if you want a good movie see ichi the killer
As for house of 1000 corpses it is s**t not worth buying or watching at all same for devil rejects CRAP.
1/10 rob zombie ok singer, bad director