House of 1'000 Corpses

House of 1'000 Corpses (2003)

Written and Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Sheri Moon, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Karen Black, Erin Daniels, Chris Hardwick, Jennifer Jostyn, Rainn Wilson, Dennis Fimple, Walton Goggins, Tom Towles, Robert Mukes, Matthew McGrory, Harrison Young

Okay. I saw Devil's Rejects a while ago - I thought it was okay, but this movie really puts it into perspective.

A group of young people (Yankees, I might add) doing research for a book on back road attractions run afoul of a deranged family of murdering psychopaths who want to cut them up and maybe eat them. Sound familiar? That part wasn't too bad. Yes, it ripped off every other horror pic under the sun (a horror movie by somebody who watches too many horror movies. This is probably what my movie would feel like), but it had style, humour, the makings of a plot. Then one of the girls gets put in this well and finds these caves under the house full of lobotomized mental patients, weird fucking things in gas masks and this guy with robotic arms.

What the fuck it this? I asked myself. I'm not entirely sure what the point of all that was... it confused the hell out of me. None of that crap showed up in the sequel, and the sequel is a much better movie (still feels like a rip off of everything under the sun, but tolerable).

It was gory enough, and generally revolting (not quite as hideous as Devil's Rejects, but still pretty nasty). Still... I think that Rob Zombie has some sort of potential. I don't quite like him - he grosses me out way too much and he's not quite original - but I respect him, and I get him. I think he could do stuff.

One thing that bothers me about this movie is his beautiful wife, Sheri Moon. She bothers me on many levels. First of all, he's kind of gross and she's a sexy lady. Also, she's not a really great actor. She really, really bugged me in this movie. I didn't think she was that annoying in the sequel. I thought I liked her in the sequel. I don't remember.

I do like Sid Haig, though, for whatever reason. He's as disgusting as everything else in the movie, if not more so, but he's good. Actually, I kind of like the rest of the family. I was always fond of the late Matthew McGrory - he got cast in all kind of crap roles just because he was freakishly tall, but I liked him in Big Fish. And hey, they killed Rainn Wilson, just when he was beginning to really bother me. Good move.

END COMMUNICATION