House of 1000 Corpses
Movie Review
"House of 1000 Corpses"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: F
Rating: R
Released: Friday, April 11, 2003
Directed by:
Cast:
"House of 1000 Corpses" is a massively unpleasant film, full of ceaseless vulgarity and horrific images. I have seen movies with more gore and carnage -- sorry, Rob Zombie, you have failed to break any records there -- but I don't know that I've seen it done with more distastefulness than this. It is so crass that even fans of crassness may find it unenjoyable.
I admire the ambition apparent in Rob Zombie, frontman for heavy-metal band White Zombie, for making a film at all. It's a lot of work, and this particular one -- shot three years ago and just now released -- had an arduous journey to the multiplex. If Zombie had just given up somewhere along the way, no one would have blamed him. Some of us would have been grateful, it turns out.
Inspired by such films as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left," "House of 1000 Corpses" has a plot that is strictly formulaic: teens' car breaks down in the backwoods; they are tormented and killed by the people at whose house they seek refuge. The teens are bitter and stupid and unworthy of sympathy; their captors are ugly, vile persons unworthy of being feared.
What's notable about Zombie's script is that it is full of tangents and sidetracks, including the opening sequence, in which a store robbery goes awry. None of the events in this scene are relevant to what occurs later; you could remove it altogether and do the film no damage whatsoever. The teens' visit to Captain Spalding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen is pretty useless, too. Perhaps all the dawdling is because Zombie knew his story only added up to about 60 minutes otherwise, and that it was an overly familiar story besides.
As with many first-timers, Zombie's directorial style is over-done and amateurish. He randomly cuts to violent and/or sexual images every now and then, evidently just for shock value, and he permits some of the worst acting I've seen in a good long while -- even by horror-film standards -- to occur while cameras are rolling.
Simplistic writing? Of course. In this movie, which takes place Oct. 30 and 31, 1977, Halloween is apparently a legal holiday, as businesses close and streets become desolate. Also, when Halloween falls on a school night, the kids in town go trick-or-treating the night before. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
When movies like these are fun, they are fun because they introduce clever or amusing ways of killing people, or because some level of wit is exhibited by the filmmaker. "House of 1000 Corpses" has none of this. The deaths are unoriginal, and the dialogue is puerile. The lone exception is a scene in which people are killed in slow-motion while a Slim Whitman's "I Remember You" plays on the soundtrack. "The X-Files" did this better in the episode called "Home," when the inbred brothers murdered a sheriff while Johnny Mathis played on their car stereo, but at least Zombie had the right idea of showing some flair. Too bad it didn't extend to any of the rest of the movie.
In short, just because a man has resources to make a film doesn't mean he ought to. This is a hateful, vicious piece of work that is best left ignored.
Grade: F
Rated R, abundant harsh profanity and vulgarity, a lot of nudity and sexuality, abundant sadistic violence and blood
1 hr., 28 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 4 comments
January 10, 2009 at 10:35 pm
my friend kyle is watching this right now and said he can "relate" to it.
if this review is anywhere near correct, im not really sure how.
but can it really be that bad??
i mean you made it out to be the worst horror film of the century.
i mean really.
i know youre a critic, but you could be a little nicer sometimes.
-A.A.B.
January 28, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Eric,
I'm not really a huge fan of Rob Zombie. Well to be honest I despise him. But I think you were a bit unfair on this movie. I think it's aimed at a younger audience, more specifically fans of his music, which explains the cutting to scenes of violent imagery almost as though it's a video clip. I also believe he was trying to make the film be almost like an old school EC horror comic book or something along those lines.
Ah wells.
October 7, 2009 at 10:34 am
Night of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie is perhaps the most disturbing and dehumanizing movie ever made. This movie is proof that film makers of his caliber are desensitized to the value of human life. I can not possibly recomend this movie to anyone.
December 30, 2009 at 10:38 pm
hello eric,
harrison young was my grandpa. you dont have to believe me but it is infact true. he was a loving caring person, father of three and grandfather of three. harrison cared deeply about his family and friends. he was the most caring person i have ever met. i remember when i was 5 we would play this game where he would sit in the chair in the kitchen doing his daily crossword puzzle and i would run past him as fast as i could and he would try and trap me from going by, but almost every time i went by he would say "dang nabbit your just too fast for me!" and being five i believed him! he was the best grandfather and i will always remember him :) and i know this movie may not be that good but goodness go a little easier would ya?