This is a must-watch for me during Halloween season.
The detractors say Rob Zombie basically remade The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. They say the plot has no complexity. They say the dialogue is cheesy and unrealistic.
Meh. House of 1000 Corpses is a modern classic regardless of what flaws you may chunk my way. Though the story may not be unique, the gritty, artistic style of it certainly is, seeming to blend several borrowed qualities into one. Rob Zombie uses color like Dario Argento, music like Quentin Tarantino, and shock like early Wes Craven.
And let’s be honest, this movie made horror icons out of Sid Haig and Bill Moseley. Sure, they’d been in plenty of films prior to House of 1000 Corpses, but their careers were injected with renewed life because of their roles as Captain Spaulding and Otis Driftwood.
Plus, Sheri Moon was at her absolute hottest when this came out. That scene where she’s paying a visit to the liquor store—Red Hot Pussy Liquors, lol—is enough to make the film worth your watch.
The overall style is just really cool. The way it cuts away to clips of a TV show featuring Dr. Wolfenstein. The way it cuts to home video-type clips of Otis and Baby fucking people up or saying outrageous things or dancing around naked. It’s not something you really expect from a slasher. This aspect of the film is akin to Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, so there’s another element borrowed from a master, chewed up and made its own.
The Devil’s Rejects is probably my favorite Rob Zombie movie to date, but I’ll never grow tired of this one.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 8
Special Effects - 6
Nudity/Sexuality - 8
Wow Factor - 8
Acting - 6
Fear Factor - 5
Story/Plot/Originality - 3
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 9
Sound/Music - 8
Fun Factor - 9
Holy Crap, House of 1000 Corpses gets a 70 on the PHEMSA. That’s easily the highest rated so far. It checks a lot of boxes across the spectrum of horror and exploitation. That’s what is great about the PHEMSA. Prior to rating this movie, I would not have listed it as one of my favorites. Certainly not in my top ten and maybe not in my top twenty. But after seeing how much I enjoyed it on so many levels, I may have to reevaluate its ranking among my personal faves.
You can find House of 1000 Corpses on HBO Max right now.