Barnes & Noble

Redneck Americana and slasher-film hysteria abound in the gleeful transgressions of House of 1,000 Corpses, the outrageous B-movie throwback from rock star turned filmmaker Rob Zombie. As required by horror-flick law, the premise is simple: It is October 30, 1977, and two young couples find themselves stranded in a rainstorm and forced to seek help from a bizarre and dangerous backwoods family. The film's title gives it away from there. A shoddy roadside tourist trap (literally) called Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen points toward a local legend surrounding an Ed Gein-like character, "Dr. Satan," and it's all Texas Chainsaw Massacre from there on out. That is, until the surreal, labyrinthine climax of dungeons, mutants, mad scientists, and satanic rituals. In his feature writing and directing debut, Zombie flaunts his love for schlock by way of music-video tricks (his previous directing experience) that make for a lively, kinetic visual style. The film's flamboyant thespians run the gamut from histrionic to more histrionic, including a spectacularly vamped-up, big-haired Karen Black and B-movie veterans Sid Haig and Bill Mosely. A rather wicked sense of humor ties the movie together, but it's that same sensibility that almost sent the film to its own early grave. Indeed, due to a level of brutality that's rarely seen in an era of teen-friendly Scream knockoffs, Zombie's fright fest spent two years gathering dust on the shelves of two distributors awaiting release. But the wait was worth it: 1,000 Corpses is at once a twisted and heartfelt homage to splatter thrills and chocolate-syrup gore. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Taking his cue from such 1970s horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), animated rocker Rob Zombie goes celluloid with the throwback shocker House of 1000 Corpses. Running low on gas as they travel the highways of America in search of the ultimate roadside attraction, a group of teens pull into Captain Spaulding's (Sid Haig) museum of oddities (which also offers fried chicken and gasoline) only to become obsessed with uncovering the mystery of a legendary local maniac known only as Dr. Satan. When an attractive and mysterious hitchhiker subsequently offers to give the thrill seekers a personal tour of Dr. Satan's old stabbing grounds, a breakdown forces them to take refuge with a group of menacing oddballs as a fearsome storm rages outside. As the evening progresses and the backwoods hosts' Halloween festivities become ever more threatening, the teens soon realize that the legend of Dr. Satan may hold a bit more contemporary weight than any of them had previously thought. Jason Buchanan

Product Details

• UPC: 031398218180
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Surround EX
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 19,320

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Rob Zombie 3-Disc Collector's Set

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