House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writer (WGA):

Rob Zombie (written by)

Release Date:

11 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

The most shocking tale of carnage ever seen.

Plot:

Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.

Plot Keywords:

House | Serial Killer | Corpse | Hitchhiker | Roadside Attraction

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Sid Haig	...	Captain Spaulding
Bill Moseley	...	Otis Driftwood
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Baby Firefly (as Sheri Moon)
Karen Black	...	Mother Firefly
Chris Hardwick	...	Jerry Goldsmith
Erin Daniels	...	Denise Willis
Jennifer Jostyn	...	Mary Knowles
Rainn Wilson	...	Bill Hudley
Walton Goggins	...	Deputy Steve Naish
Tom Towles	...	Lieutenant George Wydell
Matthew McGrory	...	Tiny Firefly
Robert Allen Mukes	...	Rufus 'R.J.' Firefly Jr. (as Robert Mukes)
Dennis Fimple	...	Grandpa Hugo Firefly
Harrison Young	...	Don Willis
William Bassett	...	Sheriff Drake Huston (as William H. Bassett)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sadistic violence/gore, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

89 min | Argentina:105 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (uncut) | Denmark:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R | Chile:14 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) (uncut) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited for re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #37744) | Canada:R (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:18A (British Columbia)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Spectacle Entertainment Group

Trivia:

The film's script was constantly changing throughout filming, leading to an entirely different ending at one point. Originally Grandpa Hugo was going to be revealed as the mad doctor (who in the rough cut was not even called Dr. Satan).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mother Firefly pulls the pistol on Lt. Wydell the revolver seems very large, and the hammer has been cocked back. When she fires, the hammer is already down and does not drop. The gun also appears to be a different, smaller weapon when the scene cuts to Wydell being struck and killed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Announcer: Attention boils and ghouls, it's time for Dr. Wolfenstein's Creature Feature Show.
Dr. Wolfenstein: Ah! The doctor is in! Don't scream, don't move. Stay tuned for channel 68's Halloween Eve movie marathon! I'm your host, your ghost ghost, with the most, Dr. Wolfenstein! I will be with you until the end!

Movie Connections:

References Army of Darkness (1992)

Soundtrack:

Little Piggy

I like horror movies, but I don't really like this movie, is that OK?

I have to ask because it seems that I'm not a true horror movie fan if I don't like this movie. Thats a load of crap. I have seen all the Nightmare on Elm Streets, Halloweens, Friday The 13ths, Hellraisers, Evil Deads, etc. etc. I like film directors like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Eli Roth. I've seen some obscure horror films too, like Blood Beach, The Company Of Wolves and even seen The Last House On the left (even though I didn't like it that much).

Problem I had with this film was it was too sadistic for its own good (the "bunny" killing scene especially made my blood turn cold), the villains antics grew tiresome, and THAT scene where the gun was held on the guy's head was JUST TOO LONG. No matter how stylish it was meant to be, it was just a director letting the scene run for too bloody long!

That said, I didn't totally dislike this movie. I could see that Rob Zombie has an obvious fondness for the horror movie and he set out to create a familiar story with his own sadistic and creative additions. The film was effective at making me wonder if the actors playing the villains were really acting or not, they did seem genuinely disturbed. However, the victims were kind of ho hum.

The production design of the film looked impressive too, with a lot of visual points of references to horror clichés.

Main problem was that I didn't really enjoy watching it, and I grew bored with it in its latter stages. It was shocking (in parts) just for being shocking and was just a film made by an amateur film maker (albeit an obviously enthusiastic one)