Enter the "House of 1000 Corpses" (2003)

Being the decently sized Rob Zombie fan that I am, I decided to check a film directed by him. “House of a 1000 Corpses” brings us back to a simpler time of horror. Instead of the dark, bland and very predictable horror. I was treated to a very 70's-esque type of horror. Going in I thought to myself, if this is just one of his music videos stretched out to 1 ½ hours, it might not be so bad. But than again, maybe there is too much of a good thing.

During a road trip where two couples are on the quest to find the oddest points of interest, they stumble upon the local legend known as Dr. Satan. The four foolish and ignorant try to scoop up on the legend, but what they don’t know is that this legend is all too real. They now have to deal with a psychotic family with murderous tendencies. The hope for the four to escape with their lives is slim to none, but they try anyways.

Not a black metal band, just your everyday psychotic family.

Right off the bat, the movie is very Rob Zombie like. Just like his music videos, there are a lot of quick cuts, unusual colour filters and repetition. No real complaints thought because this is kept to a minimum and doesn’t over saturate the film. But it does bring a nice colourful flair to a fairly dark film. And even the colour flairs will bring a few scares here and to keep you on your toes.

But overall the movie is more gory than scary. Though the movie is frightful at times, it did make me feel nervous at a few moments. And because a lot of the movie is unusual, it isn’t very predictable. What really caught me off guard was the amount of gore. It is still a very much tame film when it compares to Takashi Miike films, but watching necks get sliced doesn’t make this movie anymore PG.

Captain Spaulding is the only clown that I find tolerable. 

What is great about Halloween movies are the costume designs, because this family consists of some colourful creatures, their outfits were great. All very unique to their character and brings out their quirkiness whereas in most movies they would seem bland and plain. Captain Spaulding is by far the best in the movie. He a clown with an attitude that runs a gas station with a haunted house attached to it. Now I think every gas station is incomplete without a haunted house. A one stop spook.

Sadly even with all this fun, the movie doesn’t stand up to be a complete movie. The story is non-existent and the other characters, even though well dress, feel empty. And what it really needs is a solid plot line, this movie is best described as a haunted house. It has all the fun visuals, can spook you and feels a tad bit cheesy. But at the end of it, you never actually went anywhere, just in a loop.

This is why this movie might make a great backdrop to any party. Leave it on in the background, and enjoy the gore and fun colours every so often. And there is no need to actually watch the movie for the non-existent story.