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Short review: House of 1000 Corpses leaves the viewer wondering if the decline of modern civilization is being expressed through movie making.
Longer review:
House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses, Written and Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring: Sid Haig Bill Moseley and Karen Black.
You can’t help but think about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(TCM) when watching House of 1000 Corpses (HMC). Mainly you can’t help but think about how far superior TCM is in comparison. Actually you can’t help but think about anything else but HMC while you’re watching it. For instance, I took the opportunity to discover the many features I never knew I had on my DVD player. Did you know folks that if you stop a DVD movie at any given point on some DVD players, remove the disc and turn the machine off, that when you re-insert the same movie, it will continue from the point where you left off? Facinating.
A little less fascinating however is the movie House of 1000 Corpses. Such a blatant rip-off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you wonder why Tobe Hooper hasn’t sued its creators for copyright infringement. The story goes like this—now pay attention, this is original and complicated: Two young couples are taking a trip across America in 1977. They seem to be on this journey solely to document their finds of obscure attractions along the way. They happen to run out of gas in front of a roadside attraction known as Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madness, where patrons can take a carnival-type ride through a world of scenarios depicting famous murderers and their crime scenes. Of course, to the dismay of the women on the trip the two boys are intrigued by the ride and by the bald man in pasty clown makeup running it, and decide to ride it.
It is this scene that sets up what little atmosphere there is, and with the use of split-screen camerawork, super 8 film, and digital video ala Se7en, we get a point of view look at the ride ourselves, although what we’d really like to be doing is cleaning the toilet. This movie says it’s only 88 minutes long, but I swear it’s at least 2 hours. At the end of the ride, after the bald clown(if he has a name, I totally missed it—Capt. Spalding?--I must have been playing with the DVD features), tells the story of Dr. Satan; a local maniac who was hanged from a nearby tree, but disappeared the next day. Suddenly thinking that seeing the tree would be a great idea in the middle of nowhere, and in the middle of a rainstorm they go on their search for said arbor. But, wouldn’t you know it, on the way they pick up a female hitchhiker who giggles her lines in forced cuteness (hee-hee-hee, these are my dolls, hee-hee-hee). Mysteriously getting a flat tire, the group is forced to lodge at the girl hitchhiker’s house; a wooden, two-story shanty decorated with junk, taxidermists’ handy work and so many candles you know the local candlesmith is the richest man in the county.
The problem I had with HMC is that it is truly out-of-date. In the 70’s, when women were finding their ground, standing up for their rights and demanding the same salary as men by actually attending college, a movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre was relevant to the fears of the men at that time. Taking a young girl and putting her in a situation where human male monsters, i.e Leatherface, stalk them, exploit them and gut them. Sort of appeased the notion that women would never fend for themselves in a decade run by men. But today, even though HMC is set in the 70’s, it doesn’t wash. Today, women are our heroes: they are senators, heads of corporations, able to juggle family and profession. So seeing a woman in jeopardy and not giving her the least bit of brains to fend for herself, Rob Zombie has made his female characters offensive to today’s fairer race. Perhaps if the movie were more entertaining one wouldn't think of such profundities. Karen Black, the matriarch of the grisly household, floats about her scenes, talking in a grating southern accent without a hint of insight. But the male characters are categorized as smarter, misogynistic control freaks bent on killing people for no other reason than to spill fake blood.
House of 1000 Corpses takes no risks, part of what made Texas Chainsaw Massacre a classic. Horror movies today are scary because they play upon modern fears. Setting HMC in the 70’s works against Zombie because those fears are no longer valid. And all that you’re left with is a plodding, poorly done horror film that’s high on expletives but short on atmosphere. There are so many “scary” characters in blood drenched makeup, that you forget this is supposed to be set in reality, and therefore hope that inspiration comes soon because that toilet in your bathroom should really be cleaned today. At least one good thing came out of my experience watching this film: I discovered that my DVD player has 3 color options; theater mode, dark mode and regular mode. Now that’s intriguing! House of 1000 Corpses:
The DVD includes one of the best interactive menus I’ve ever seen. The transfer is crisp as is the sound. The “Special Features” include insipid cast interviews, featurettes and what can only be called an insult to knock-knock jokesters and DVD collectors alike.
Longer review:
House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses, Written and Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring: Sid Haig Bill Moseley and Karen Black.
You can’t help but think about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(TCM) when watching House of 1000 Corpses (HMC). Mainly you can’t help but think about how far superior TCM is in comparison. Actually you can’t help but think about anything else but HMC while you’re watching it. For instance, I took the opportunity to discover the many features I never knew I had on my DVD player. Did you know folks that if you stop a DVD movie at any given point on some DVD players, remove the disc and turn the machine off, that when you re-insert the same movie, it will continue from the point where you left off? Facinating.
A little less fascinating however is the movie House of 1000 Corpses. Such a blatant rip-off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you wonder why Tobe Hooper hasn’t sued its creators for copyright infringement. The story goes like this—now pay attention, this is original and complicated: Two young couples are taking a trip across America in 1977. They seem to be on this journey solely to document their finds of obscure attractions along the way. They happen to run out of gas in front of a roadside attraction known as Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madness, where patrons can take a carnival-type ride through a world of scenarios depicting famous murderers and their crime scenes. Of course, to the dismay of the women on the trip the two boys are intrigued by the ride and by the bald man in pasty clown makeup running it, and decide to ride it.
It is this scene that sets up what little atmosphere there is, and with the use of split-screen camerawork, super 8 film, and digital video ala Se7en, we get a point of view look at the ride ourselves, although what we’d really like to be doing is cleaning the toilet. This movie says it’s only 88 minutes long, but I swear it’s at least 2 hours. At the end of the ride, after the bald clown(if he has a name, I totally missed it—Capt. Spalding?--I must have been playing with the DVD features), tells the story of Dr. Satan; a local maniac who was hanged from a nearby tree, but disappeared the next day. Suddenly thinking that seeing the tree would be a great idea in the middle of nowhere, and in the middle of a rainstorm they go on their search for said arbor. But, wouldn’t you know it, on the way they pick up a female hitchhiker who giggles her lines in forced cuteness (hee-hee-hee, these are my dolls, hee-hee-hee). Mysteriously getting a flat tire, the group is forced to lodge at the girl hitchhiker’s house; a wooden, two-story shanty decorated with junk, taxidermists’ handy work and so many candles you know the local candlesmith is the richest man in the county.
The problem I had with HMC is that it is truly out-of-date. In the 70’s, when women were finding their ground, standing up for their rights and demanding the same salary as men by actually attending college, a movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre was relevant to the fears of the men at that time. Taking a young girl and putting her in a situation where human male monsters, i.e Leatherface, stalk them, exploit them and gut them. Sort of appeased the notion that women would never fend for themselves in a decade run by men. But today, even though HMC is set in the 70’s, it doesn’t wash. Today, women are our heroes: they are senators, heads of corporations, able to juggle family and profession. So seeing a woman in jeopardy and not giving her the least bit of brains to fend for herself, Rob Zombie has made his female characters offensive to today’s fairer race. Perhaps if the movie were more entertaining one wouldn't think of such profundities. Karen Black, the matriarch of the grisly household, floats about her scenes, talking in a grating southern accent without a hint of insight. But the male characters are categorized as smarter, misogynistic control freaks bent on killing people for no other reason than to spill fake blood.
House of 1000 Corpses takes no risks, part of what made Texas Chainsaw Massacre a classic. Horror movies today are scary because they play upon modern fears. Setting HMC in the 70’s works against Zombie because those fears are no longer valid. And all that you’re left with is a plodding, poorly done horror film that’s high on expletives but short on atmosphere. There are so many “scary” characters in blood drenched makeup, that you forget this is supposed to be set in reality, and therefore hope that inspiration comes soon because that toilet in your bathroom should really be cleaned today. At least one good thing came out of my experience watching this film: I discovered that my DVD player has 3 color options; theater mode, dark mode and regular mode. Now that’s intriguing! House of 1000 Corpses:
The DVD includes one of the best interactive menus I’ve ever seen. The transfer is crisp as is the sound. The “Special Features” include insipid cast interviews, featurettes and what can only be called an insult to knock-knock jokesters and DVD collectors alike.
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I have been formatted to fit this screen.
r66-The member who always asks WHY?
I have been formatted to fit this screen.
r66-The member who always asks WHY?
