House of 1000 Corpses is a throw back to the old 1970s films like The Hills Have Eyes, Last House on the Left, and yes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Rob Zombie has stated that he wanted to do this film because he was tired of the sh*t being put out by Hollywood like Scream and its to numerous to count knock-offs. While I did enjoy Scream and a few of its followers, I also was waiting for a film that shadows the '70s horror films to be brought to the screen.
After being dropped by Universal, adopted and then abandoned by MGM, Lions Gate finally picked this puppy up and released it. I was glad to see that (for low-budget horror movie standards), it did quite well in the theatre.
Having finally seen it on DVD, I was quite impressed with the film. Visually, it rocks. Rob Zombie has a great eye for style and casting. And while it does pay homage to many of the films I mentioned above, I don't think that's a negative because from everything I've read about this film, those homages were all intentional.
If you're reading this, you probably already know the story, so I'm not going to get into it again. The only thing I will say is that Zombie achieved his goal at shocking. While the film's rep may lead some to feel the final product is a let down, I for one enjoyed it very much. My only negative comments are that A: after the "burial" scene, it seemed like I was now watching a totally different film. Perhaps I missed a key point, and I plan to watch the film again to see if I can pick up on the link. And, B: after watching the extras on the DVD, there seem to be a lot of scenes that were cut from the final film. I understand that Zombie took some scenes out to garner an "R" rating. Why not either release the film on DVD as an "unrated" disk, or at least put those scenes in the extras? Oh, well.
All in all, you have to enjoy a special type of Horror (yes, a capital "H") film to enjoy House of 1000 Corpses. If all you've seen are Scream, Urban Legend and any of the other "cast from WB" horror films, then no, you probably will hate this movie. But, if you enjoy the old-time films by Craven, Hooper and others, then come on in to Capt. Spaulding's and have a grand ole time!
My grade: B
After being dropped by Universal, adopted and then abandoned by MGM, Lions Gate finally picked this puppy up and released it. I was glad to see that (for low-budget horror movie standards), it did quite well in the theatre.
Having finally seen it on DVD, I was quite impressed with the film. Visually, it rocks. Rob Zombie has a great eye for style and casting. And while it does pay homage to many of the films I mentioned above, I don't think that's a negative because from everything I've read about this film, those homages were all intentional.
If you're reading this, you probably already know the story, so I'm not going to get into it again. The only thing I will say is that Zombie achieved his goal at shocking. While the film's rep may lead some to feel the final product is a let down, I for one enjoyed it very much. My only negative comments are that A: after the "burial" scene, it seemed like I was now watching a totally different film. Perhaps I missed a key point, and I plan to watch the film again to see if I can pick up on the link. And, B: after watching the extras on the DVD, there seem to be a lot of scenes that were cut from the final film. I understand that Zombie took some scenes out to garner an "R" rating. Why not either release the film on DVD as an "unrated" disk, or at least put those scenes in the extras? Oh, well.
All in all, you have to enjoy a special type of Horror (yes, a capital "H") film to enjoy House of 1000 Corpses. If all you've seen are Scream, Urban Legend and any of the other "cast from WB" horror films, then no, you probably will hate this movie. But, if you enjoy the old-time films by Craven, Hooper and others, then come on in to Capt. Spaulding's and have a grand ole time!
My grade: B