Review of House of 1000 Corpses (2003) by Thequietgamer — 17 Oct 2020

Rob Zombie's throwback to '70s era video nasties is essentially just a more deranged version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Some moments like the dinner scene even feel directly lifted from Tobe Hooper's southern horror classic. Yet, while it never deviates far from how you would expect a film about a group of college students getting butchered by a family of insane rednecks to play out outside of it's urban gothic, satanic imagery laden final act, there is still value to be found here due to the Hellbilly rocker's one of a kind flair. His stylistic flourishes and twisted vision ensure that there is always something cool to look at, even if things like the random vignettes of people going on psychotic rants don't always make sense.

Shockingly enough, this might not be the best choice for gorehounds. You will see grotesque sights and quite a few acts of grindhouse style violence, but most of the drive-in thrills come from the profanity and deranged behavior of the antagonists. Zombie came up with some memorable psychopaths whose antics are equal parts vulgar, amusing, and disturbing. The standout easily being the late Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding who is a good enough creation that he could of carried a standalone film all by himself.

If you enjoy a good exploitation flick Zombie hit all of the right nostalgic notes here right down to the grainy visual aesthetic. It's even a better Texas Chain Saw movie than any of the actual sequels or remakes in that franchise. It's not classy, deep, or thoughtful in any way, but since when has horror ever necessarily needed to be? It's not like the genre hasn't been able to squeak by on blood, grime, and coarseness many times before. Plus, when the action is this entertaining it's hard to fault it too much. Especially when the creator clearly knew what audience he was pandering to.