House Of 1000 Corpses [2003] [DVD]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's sick! It's twisted! It's IHouse of 1,000 Corpses/I, and it's more fun than a wholesome bowl of "Agatha Crispies"! Dropped by two studios (Universal and MGM) and doomed to obscurity until Lions Gate Films gave it a limited theatrical release, Rob Zombie's gonzo horror flick is a blood-spattered throwback to the gore-fests of the 70s, lending new meaning to the term "box-office gross". Most critics misunderstood this unbridled exercise in graphic style and violence, but for devoted horror buffs it's a refreshing rebuttal to the comparatively "polite" frights of the post-Scream era. While paying homage to IThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre/I, ILast House on the Left/I, IMotel Hell/I and other gory classics, Zombie's ramshackle plot (two young couples are terrorized by an inbred family of homicidal maniacs) lacks a crucial sense of dread, but his pastiche of vivid colours, grainy fetish-films and photo-negative imagery is guaranteed to hold your attention. A bona-fide cult item, this IHouse/I is definitely worth a visit... if you dare. --IJeff Shannon/I

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-12-23 rating:
Worth a watch.
A pretty good effort. Good film - not great but worth a watch. As with all my reviews i'm objective and unbiased here in anattempt to provide you with as much information as possible to aid you in choosing whether or not to buy this. br / br / br /This film is packed with references to other movies. The killers for example are all named after characters in 'animal crackers' (1930 Groucho Marx) When we firstsee captain spaulding he's advertising his museum of monsters and madmen "you like blood, violence, freaks of nature" etc. This is intended as anhomage the 'freakshow' (1928) br / br /Its about a family of torturous killers who operate from their middle of nowhere house in americas deep south and specialize in abducting kids from the surrounding area. There latest victims are the subjects of this film. One of the family wears someones cut off face as a mask. Does that remind you of anything. br /Yes you might have guessed that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the films biggest influence, not only with the killer family idea, and leatherface but also the jarring music. quite excellent music. Of course TCM was influenced in turn by the murders of ed Gein in the 1950's who wore a victims face as a mask before making it into a lamp shade. Lots of bones around the house here just like in TCM and the ed gein crime scene. furnature made out of bones, etc. Of course nothing wrong with being influenced by a classic as TCM. Dont expect this to be as shocking or as gory as Texas Chainsaw Massacre though. In fact the recent Hostel films which I was very dissapointed with are more gory than this. This is better though. br / br /So if you want a gore fest maybe buying a film like hostel, TCM, or Braindead (1993 peter jackson) is better for you. All have more blood and guts than this. Braindead and TCM are better horrors than this as well. br / br /As well as being a well thought out homage to TCM and the pre war horror flicks listed this also has some special moments all of its own. The song 'I remember you' comes on when the police mandiscovers a garden shed full of missing girls - terrific. And the excellent editing when the cops get killed. If you like inventiveness in a director theres tons of it here. the camera pullsaway in slow motion just before they put a bullet in the cops head. That made what could have been another bullet another murder into something memorable. br / br /WARNING br /The acting in this movie is terrible though the script is so bad it would demoralize any actor. Really if great scriptsand great acting are your thing dont buy this. horror movies aren'tknown for good scripts but this is worse than usual. Rob zombie actually gives his daughter a role as the youngest member of the family - big mistake and one that inexperienced directors often make. BUY THIS MOVIE IF WRITING AND ACTING ARE NOT HIGH ON YOUR LIST OF MUST HAVES. br / br /Also buy it if you like comedy in your horror. Unless of course your dont already have 'The People under the stairs' (wes craven 1993 i think)The comedy in that is much better than this. br / br /hope i've been of some assistance. br / br /

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review by: JD date: 2008-06-19 rating:
This film Rocks! A pure horror trip out from beginning to end!
I watched this film the other day, the 4th time I have seen it and it just gets better and better every time! Rob Zombie is a breath of fresh air in the Horror genre but having been a fan of his musical talents in both White Zombie and his solo material I was confident that his transition to directing horror would work, I dont agree with those who say the movie rips off Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there are elements of it in this film but I feel it only borrows slightly and on the whole is pretty original. The Firefly family are awesome, they are humourus and disturbing a perfect combination, in particular Captain Spalding and Otis are stand out and can be right up there with other classic horror charactors! The movie moves at a fast pace and the combination of old TV/film clips mixed in with a killer soundtrack just makes the whole experience a pleasure, I advise those who have watched this once and not taken too it to watch the movie again, as I stated, it gets better everytime!

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review by: date: 2008-05-19 rating:
One Family You Wouldn't Want to Meet!
Welcome to the world of the Firefly family; a gruesome cast of characters, who along with a dirty old clown - the awesome Captain Spaulding - reek havoc in one of those many small towns across America which appear to inhabit 95% of the horror movie genre. br / br /Clichés aside, this does what it says on the tin and delivers enough scares to merit 3 stars. It is is not a classic and doesn't stand out necessarily from other movies in the genre (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn, etc) but what it does provide is the build up to its sequel - The Devil's Rejects. Don't get me wrong, this is a completely different type of movie to TDR, but the follow-up, is an absolute masterpiece and they are well worth watching in order so that any hint of a story, amidst the violence and torture, can be followed. br / br /Special mention for the rocking soundtrack - Zombie's movies really do have some cracking musical accompaniment. Brickhouse, Pussy Liquor and the eponymous title track are awesome and all performed by Zombie himself. 3 stars.

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review by: s.vernon date: 2007-11-01 rating:
OVERRATED BUT WATCHABLE
br /Traveling through the country to do a book on roadside attractions, Jerry Goldsmith, (Chris Hardwick) Bill Hudley, (Rainn Wilson) and their girlfriends Denise Willis, (Erin Daniels) and Mary Knowles, (Jennifer Jostlyn) and find an attraction called Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen. Finding it to be the perfect addition, they stay around and the owner, Captain Spaulding, (Sid Haig) and learn the legend of a serial killer that lived nearby and want to seek him out. While searching, they pick up a hitchhiker, Baby Firefly, (Sheri Moon) who takes them to her house where her family, Mother, (Karen Black) Rufus, (Robert Allen Mukes) Grandpa Hugo, (Dennis Fimple) and Otis Driftwood, (Bill Moseley) live. When they inadvertently insult the Firefly's, the family snaps and holds them captive and begins torturing the travelers. br / br /The Good News: This is one of the hardest movies to review. It's either a real love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie. As an homage to the films of the 70s, this one actually delivers and becomes something that could almost be made from the 70s. The different little short films that are included every so often with a grainy, soft-focus flashbacks, and the general hostile tone taken throughout the film have a much more deranged feel to it than any other film made recently that says it attempts a 70s feel to it. The fact that it takes place during daylight hours for the most of the time is it's main claim, as that allows for some brilliant daylight shots and sequences. This style of film is a direct retaliation to the self-referencing style of films that had come out around the time, and to repeatedly hit them over the head with the iconography of fear with repeated instances of blood and gore, skeletons, devils, monsters, madmen, killers, and creatures appearing liberally throughout the movie. The supposed gore that should've been in here makes the film seem even more desolate. The repeated amputations, dismemberment's and slashing marks that there isn't some enjoyment to be had when looking for a nice, gory romp. It still looks hopeless hacked up, but enough got through that its still nice if that's what you're looking for. Every now and then, there was a cool scene thrown in that didn't seem like it was homaging something from the 70s. Zombie is far more comfortable with the underground sequences, as those provided some of the greatest moments in the film. As our last remaining teen stumbles through a corpse-lined corridor is easily the greatest example, which really got the hair standing up and delivering some real suspense. The first fifteen minutes is some of the best and most creative parts in horror movies recently, and is a real highlight. br / br /The Bad News: Firstly, everyone should just stop doing homages to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," as everyone does it and it just seems overplayed. Its quite obvious this is the case here, with this being a virtual remake of that movie, even down to several characters, scenes, and ideas. Having a small group of teens wander upon a demented backwoods family that relishes killing the wanderers? Having the clan enjoy acts of necrophilia, wearing dead a person's skin, and keeping artifacts around the house? The family and their positions within it? Those are major influences right there, and that amounts to a good portion of the film's running time. There are a lot of other influences spread throughout the film, and they are a great distraction at time. It often seems as though the entire reason for this is just as a series of scenes that show off the influences from Rob. If he wanted to make a truly frightening film filled with dark and disturbing images, he also misses. Oh sure, moments of gore and vivisection that try to develop some sense of fear are present in most stages, but the uneven editing and obvious exclusions for the sake of a rating undermines the effort. He is too gimmicky at times, using the modern shortcuts of jump cuts, shaking cameras, and obtuse lens and camera angles to really revive the '70s sense of horror films. For as much as he claims not to like those styles, they are surprisingly evident in here, and just make more head-scratching scenes than normal. This is also not a gonad to the grindstone exercise in non-stop thrills and blood spills; the movie never builds up enough head of steam to succeed on that level. It kinda peters out around the half-hour mark, and doesn't pick back up until well into the third act. The nonsensical plot is also hard to figure out. It goes off on wild tangents that cut away from what is the true reason for the film: the torture of the kids from the psychopathic killers. That is nowhere near as vicious as it should've been, and doesn't feel as demented as it should. Sure, the characters come out at the end completely scratched up and bloody, the on-screen stuff is surprisingly minimal. They're tied up and are forced to listen to rants from one of the characters for most of their torture, and then the remains of the off-screen torture is found. There really should've been more ons-screen torture. Yet, for all these problems, the main one is that the film has been cut to shreds. The film is mainly a shell of what was supposed to come out. br / br /The Final Verdict: Not at all the classic it was said to be, but it's still a refreshing horror film in the sense of actually being a throwback to the films of inspiration rather than just claiming to be. It's still worthy of a watch, and it has enough to entertain, but don't expect the return of the 70s horror films it claims to be. br /


review by: Alexandria's Library date: 2007-09-14 rating:
not disappointed
I have been expecting a long time to see this movie and having just watched it, I am relieved not to be disappointed. It is not as gore as I thought, but it is very disturbing. I would compare it to Wolf Creek in this way. The nightmare these poor youngsters go through is built to a climax and what starts out as a pranky movie ends in sheers terror. Really good stuff. Now I am going to watch Devil's Rejects. br /

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