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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?
8/10
