House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

just. not. good

theres nothing scary about this disjointed gore fest. i was interested in the beginning but after the hour or so of "creative" video editing and the inverted colors, the continuous semi-understandable chanting and random addition of characters, zombies,etc it just made me feel stupid even watching this film, if you can call it that. i think that if you could cut this film down to 5 minutes and put it to some of Zombies music it would be a mediocre music video, but as a movie it sucked. April 25, 2008

The Boogeyman has a whole crazy family!

I actually saw Devil's Rejects first, not knowing it was the sequel to this. I have read over and over that DR is so much better than House. I think they are both pretty good in their own right and can both stand on their own.

I have to say there really wasn't a lot of tension or suspense for me while watching this movie. Nothing that made me jump out of my seat. But, I still enjoyed the wild ride. Sheri Moon is pretty fantastic as the crazy baby. I also loved her in DR and Zombie's remake of Halloween. Believe it or not she is one hell of a great actress. Yes, at times House is crowded, frenzied with all sorts of visuals that are tough to make out. There's tons of gross-out stuff. It reminded me a lot Texas Chainsaw. But I think the Firefly family is far more interesting than the Sawyer family. (I am basing this on the 2003 remake of TCM, not the original which I haven't seen) The visuals in Zombie's film are superior, and the storyline although similar to so many of these slasher movies is different enough to make me want to watch the whole thing.

I loved seeing Rainn Wilson in this. The rest of the victims I didn't really care for or identify with. I hated the clown guy in DR, but here, he's pretty funny.

The soundtrack song selections are awesome and thoughtfully placed

Overall there is clever dialogue, unique character development, colorful imagery and some damn fine performances. You're in for a psychedelic ride with this movie.
April 20, 2008

A String of Images, Lacking Plot, Lacking Purpose

House of 1,000 Corpses is less a movie in the traditional sense, and more a music video.

Going in, director Rob Zombie obviously knew the *feeling* he was going for, and some visual iconography with which to express it -- 70s feel, pumpkins, messed up children's dolls, etc. -- but what he didn't really have as much sense for are things like plot, character, conflict.

Too make up for these deficits, he culled all of the horror tropes and cliches he knew, usually running with the most time-honored. Scary clown? Check. Stupid teens w/ broken-down car? Check. It's hard to say whether certain decisions were "homage" or just plain copying (the psychotic, rural-redneck family straight out of Texas Chainsaw's many sequels, and the creepy babydoll-wearing matron pulled from Baby Jane) but taken together it's a mess of a movie. All of them, by themselves, interesting to disturbing images, perhaps... but the entire experience is haphazard and disjointed, and missing out on some crucial elements.

Among the elements its missing are a central conflict between protagonist and antagonist. The stupid teens that stumble their way into the charnel-house never have any particular hope or ambition of getting out of things alive, and once they're caught, they're caught. For a conflict to work, whatever passes for the "hero" must have some semblance of plan or at least a fighting chance; here, we just watch to see how their deaths will pan out. There's no conflict in this film because nothing is standing in the way of the murderers' designs. It's all easy pickin's.

The plot is ramshackle. Officers are thrown into the film and then summarily dispatched, having caused nothing more than a few more minutes to tick off the clock. It's as though Zombie decided, well, in this kind of horror film there are always a couple of local cops that get offed. And so, there must be some here, too! The murderers dine with their teen-victims, fix their car, let them go... and... then assault them.

Why let them go (let alone fix their car), if the overall plan was murder? Sure, we could invent a reason, like "they wanted to play with their minds," but I think the actual reason is probably that Zombie envisioned a scene where scarecrows would "come to life" and attack. And so, he twisted the plot out of shape to realize that vision.

This is not a good movie. It's not particularly scary, and fails at nearly every level of what we would call "drama." The only justification for the events in this film seems to be that Zombie wanted those events to happen so that he could film them. They serve no other purpose -- advancing plot, characterizing, developing theme -- that a person might look for in a story. Visually, which is where this particular movie lives or dies, I would say that it's over-produced. The movie just doesn't warrant the many "tricks" (cuts to grainy footage, negative prints, etc.) that are employed, and usually to no great effect or purpose. But there is a certain amount of command in the direction, and if the director had an actual script to work with, who knows but it might not have sucked.

I'll give it a second star for some decent visual work, and the fact that many of the films this one hearkens to are some personal favorites of mine. That said, it never nears their quality, and fails on many basic, fundamental levels. April 13, 2008

I Cannot Say it Better Than Critic James Brundage ...

... "too highbrow to be a good cheap horror movie, too lowbrow to be satire, and too boring to bear the value of the ticket."

In 1992 I bought "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1" and never turned back. Zombie's musical talents are undeniable ... I wish I could say the same for his cinematic endeavors.

Zombie's freshman project reads as a film-school experiment (as one would expect with an artist's first creation). Zombie toys (briefly) with split-screen ... but DePalma set that bar pretty high and Zombie just kind of limbos under it. Similarly, the (seemingly endless) use of various film-grain might have proven interesting ... had Stone not used the exact technique (for a similar purpose) in Natural Born Killers (and, there's no competing with Stone's legendary genius). And, the production of props for the film even has its own drawbacks. For instance, seeing the prominent box of "Agatha Crispies" reminds one of Tarantino's trademark cereal-boxes (like "Kaboom" in Kill Bill, Volume 1 or "Fruit Brute" (discontinued) in Pulp Fiction) ... Taratino does custom and discontinued "pop" best, so leave it to him (ESPECIALLY cereal boxes!!)

Let's just talk story ... While I see the nods towards films like Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and, yes, Zombie IS paying homage and NOT "ripping them off"), Zombie misses the point of these works. T.C.M is a nearly bloodless film (though viewers remember it as the MOST bloody film they have ever seen). Hooper leaves the blood on the other side of the door (with the exception of the "hook" scene ... which is still bloodless). This is a crucial element of creating suspense ... leaving the viewer to imagine the worst. Polanski knew that with Rosemary's Baby (because we never SEE the child), Carpenter knew that with Halloween (because he took full advantage of darkness to obscure details) etc... So when Zombie shows us the murders in full-view, it's anti-climatic (which may seem counter-intuitive, but it is true enough). If one wants a response, one needs to learn the art of suspense.

Still, there were elements of promise. The Alice in Wonderland motif had my attention. The low-angle shot as "the final girl" (see Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film) (dressed as a "bunny" and then stripped to Alice) enters the underground dwelling is spectacular. The dress torn to appear like Alice's, the diminished appearance of the girl in contrast to the sublimity of the room, the yellow and gold tones, and JUST the otherworldliness of this moment ... simply beautiful. Here is Zombie at his best. More of this!!

While Zombie himself admits the film had a weak conclusion, I think I can honestly say that I am willing to grant this director multiple chances (yes, even though I really disliked his re-visioning of Halloween). Zombie knows horror-film ... he is just finding his "voice" (so to speak).

Leave this exploitation-reject to the teenage boys who love Cannibal Holocaust, but DO anticipate his next work. April 12, 2008

Love it or hate it

It seems that most people either really love or hate this film. The first time I saw it a few years ago, it was just ok. But after seeing it a couple more times, I now love it. Yeah, the basic storyline is borrowed...but this is Rob Zombie's tribute to 70s horror. It has some gore in it, but it's not over the top or too cheesy. Sid Haig's character Captain Spaulding is the standout in this one...especially on the dvd menu...had me rotflmao. If you like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, give it a shot and then check out Devil's Rejects, which is more sadistic and develops the characters more. RUN RABBIT RUN!! April 1, 2008

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