Product Details

• Actors: Rainn Wilson
• Directors: Rob Zombie
• Format: NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (731 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1588178757

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's sick! It's twisted! It's House of 1,000 Corpses, 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 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, Motel Hell, 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 colors, grainy fetish-films, and photo-negative imagery is guaranteed to hold your attention. A bona-fide cult item, this House is definitely worth a visit... if you dare. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BOOGYMAN IS REAL, AND YOU FOUND HIM!!, August 16, 2003

By 

Pamela Scarangello (Middletown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House of 1,000 Corpses (DVD)

I snatched this DVD off the shelf the day of its release, and for good reason. "House of 1000 Corpses" is absolutely the greatest grisly horror film I've ever seen! Watching the movie in its original theatrical premiere gave me the thrills and chills, and I don't even listen to any of Rob Zombie's music. What makes this film quite excellent is that it has finally reawakened the celluloid corpse of the horror genre; before this, Hollywood has churned out an obscene number of dull PG-13 teeny bopper flicks, including "Scream" and "I Know What you Did Last Summer." While paying homage to the low-budget shockfests of the 1960's and 70's, Zombie gives "House" a post-millenium twist with acidic photo negativity and twisted montages incorporating topless strippers, mutilated cadavers and snippets from campy black-and-white monster movies (provided by Dr. Wolfenstein's Creature Feature Marathon). Rob Zombie himself commented that a majority of "House's" gritty home video footage was shot through a hand-held camera in parts of Zombie's own basement! Also notice how NO high-tech computer effects were used; because "House" is set in the rural American South in 1977, the makers intended to stay true to that period (not to mention achieve realistic gore without overspending the budget). And of course the larger-than-life characters of "House of 1000 Corpses" are just as memorable as those in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." In fact, in the DVD's featurette, Sig Haig happily confessed how he would like to see this film presented in any tiny theatre where audiences can yell back at the screen! Who wouldn't love to visit Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madman and sample a bag of tasty fried chicken? Would you dare purchase a ticket to the scary Murder Ride and learn the legend of Dr. Satan? Or how about the psychotic Spiderfly family, who light up the flickering candles on Halloween night and fiendishly participate in a gruesome celebration (one in which cheerleaders are gagged, tied up and tortured)? Better yet, when was the last time a cinema fanatic witnessed a cult ritual of blood and fire, dedicated to the famous Dr. Satan himself?! Although I enjoy watching this film from beginning to end, I do have a few favorite moments. The first that immediately comes in my head is none other than the creepy Murder Ride, complete with cross-shaped tombstones, animatronic zombies and the awesome Captain telling the tragic tales of real-life serial murderers, molesters and cannibals (most notably Ed Gein, the notorious killer whose farmhouse was borrowed for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.") I love the part when Baby (Sherie Moon) struts her way to the stage in her glittering evening gown, lip-synching to "I Wanna Be Loved by You" like a cute Hollywood starlet. Such bizarre charm! Yet another moment that stands out in my mind is when the sadistic Otis (Bill Moseley) lops off a victim's right hand with an axe...all while the funky Commodore's hit "She's a Brick House" blares on the radio! Mother Firefly (played by the voluptuous Karen Black) sort of reminds me of a blond, venomous Sharon Osbourne from the South!
You kiddies will be happy to know that actors Sid Haig, Sherie Moon AND Bill Moseley actually host the different menus on the DVD; after returning to their delightfully creepy roles in the film, they each provide color commentary DIRECTLY TO YOU! Unfortunately, the list of extras DOES NOT include any hardcore deleted scenes, but if you carefully listen to Zombie's commentary, you might get just a hint as to which kind of footage was edited out. The interviews segment is quite interesting to watch too. I think I like the part when Sid Haig (clown greasepaint and all) chose "House of Wax" as his most favorite horror movie. Each interview even unveils a brand new character action figure!
I can hardly wait to see what Rob Zombie has in store for us in the future, when he prepares to unleash an even more violent sequel! RIP Dennis Fimple.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zombie Delivers, April 19, 2003

By 

uncle remus (Norman, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews

I went into this movie expecting to see a fun-filled throwback to the classic drive-in slasher movies of the 70's and that is exactly what i got. This movie was awesome. Unwanted by two major studios, Lion's Gate gave Rob Zombie the chance of a lifetime. He wasn't trying to make the most amazing horor film of all time, he was trying to pay tribute to classics such as: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, and The Hills Have Eyes. Taking a classic plot: a group of kids is stranded in the middle of nowhere, onlt to be terrorized and brutalized by the family from hell, he twists it into a fun-filled nightmare. The family in this movie is one of the funiest and most terrifying families you will ever see on film. This family lures unsuspecting passers-by with the youngest member of the family (played by Zombie's real life girlfriend) and then proceeds to torture, eviscerate, sodomize and do just about everything you can to someone. The actors delivered as well. Sid Haig is hilarious as the foul-mouthed Captain Spaulding. The acting is corny, as well as it should be. Some might get bored after the hilarious opening scene. The first two thirds of the movie introduce the characters and the disgusting family. The final one third of the movie is a terrifying nightmare that morphs from a gore-filled slasher film to a science fiction acid trip. The ending might make some mad, but I found it fitting to the whole plot. I had heard a lot of hype saying how violent this film was. It is to a point. I am a gore hound so I din't find this as violent as Dead Alive or Cannibal Ferox(One of the sickest movies of all time) and the r rating takes a good chunk of the film away from the viewer. I can't wait for an unrated director's cut to be released

37 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult Classic Wannabe: Rocky Horror Meets Texas Chainsaw, August 20, 2003

By 

David M. Elder (Pacifica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: House of 1,000 Corpses (DVD)

OK, this movie got a generally bad review by the Brie-sniffing, wine-swine critics who feel only foreign movies are worth a view. Having said that, House of 1000 Cropses is not a 'GOOD' Film: It's a 'BAD' film, a really 'BAD' film! And yet it has those endearing qualities that fans of bad horror films have come to love: the stuff of what cult classics are made of. It's clearly what director Rob Zombie had in mind. To the question of whether or not he has succeeded, only time will tell.

In a nutshell, two teenage couples on a Halloween date end up in a gas station museuem run by a foul-mouthed clown named Captain Spaulding and an aged Michael J. Pollard (remember him from Bonnie & Clyde). The mueseum is sort of a chamber of horrors, depicting modern day serial killers such as Ed Gein (the basis for Tobe Hooper's TSM movie). Here the kids learn of the legend of the mad Dr. Satan, the local serial-killer.

Dragging their dates along, the boyfriends want to go in search of Dr. Satan landmarks and end up running into a beautiful blonde hitchhiker named 'Baby' who leads them right into an ambush. The couples take refuge in an old farmhouse that turns out to belong to Baby and the rest of her demented Pyscho-Killer family who proceed to put the teenagers through a series of tortures right out of the Tales of Arabian Nights.

Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces) plays Mother Firefly, trying to outdo her equally demented daughter Baby in the tortures she puts her 'Guests' through.

OTIS (Otis was the name of serial-killer Henry Lee Lucas's sidekick), played by Bill Mosely is the head of the family resembling a mean-spirited Riff-Raff (Rocky Horror Picture Show).
His Mansonesque vision underscores the remainder of the movie's scenes which mostly depict a series of fun-house horrors.

Characters and scenes are, for the most part, culled from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, itself heavily spoofed throughout the movie. The DVD adds something special over the film: a selectable menu hosted by Captain Spaulding who berates the viewer with filthy-mouthed taunts, while a less intimidating, but equally menacing baby seduces you with herseself and nit-wittery through a menu of of the usaual DVD Featurettes.

A must see for any true Horror/Cult Film Fan.