Satan mythology, the last act unravels into a surreal nightmare that brings to mind the work of Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci, complete with a monstrous villain (albeit a terribly ineffective one), The Professor, that bears resemblance to House by the Cemetery‘s Dr. The “group of friends break down near a spooky house” plot is practically a genre unto itself, but where Zombie takes the setup is anything but conventional.

When their car breaks down, the friends find themselves at the home of the deranged Firefly clan: sadistic drifter Otis ( Bill Moseley), cackling minx Baby ( Sheri Moon Zombie), coquettish matriarch Mother Firefly ( Karen Black, Easy Rider), masked giant Tiny ( Matthew McGrory, Big Fish), hulking mechanic Rufus ( Robert Allen Mukes), and crude Grandpa Hugo ( Dennis Fimple).Ĭorpses owes a great debt to the works of Tobe Hooper, particularly The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Satan, leading them on a path to their doom. Spaulding ( Sid Haig) tells them about the local legend of murderous surgeon Dr. On a rainy Halloween night in 1977, 20-somethings Jerry ( Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick), Bill ( The Office star Rainn Wilson), Denise ( Erin Daniels), and Mary ( Jennifer Jostyn) make a pit stop at Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen while working on a book about roadside attractions. Although he was still finding his voice, the effort established many of the tropes that would go on to define much of his cinematic oeuvre: crazed rednecks, genre actors of yesteryear, a Halloween setting, curse-laden dialogue, senseless violence, and a killer clown. Unsure if he’d ever be granted the opportunity to make another movie, House of 1000 Corpses finds Zombie throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Finally, Lions Gate signed on and released it in April of 2003, launching Zombie’s film career as well as a franchise that would be followed by 2005’s The Devil’s Rejects and 2019’s 3 from Hell.

MGM later came on board to distribute it in 2002 until a tongue-in-cheek remark by Zombie caused them to cancel the deal. Production on Corpses was completed in 2000 before Universal Studios refused to release it due to its objectionable content. House of 1000 Corpses came together fairly quickly following a failed attempt to reboot The Crow, but the rock star’s Hollywood career almost never was due to post-production controversy that left his directorial debut on the shelf for three years.

Before becoming one of the most divisive filmmakers in horror with the likes of Halloween and The Munsters, Rob Zombie was just a musician trying his hand at the film industry.

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