Creeptober Day 26: House of 1000 Corpses
Murder and mayhem await in the House of 1000 Corpses.
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Haunted-house attractions are a staple of the Halloween season. House of 1000 Corpses is like a haunt (or more precisely, a “murder ride”) come to life in a gloriously stylized way, and that’s why it’s our pick for day twenty-six of Creeptober!
Read on for our thoughts on House of 1000 Corpses (2003) as well as a recap of the movie, and join the conversation on our Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram!
Reacting to House of 1000 Corpses
Rob Zombie is a filmmaker I admire. He knows what he likes, and he has a clear vision of the kinds of movies he wants to make. His style is unmistakable, and I enjoy seeing it when a director can bring themselves to the screen like that. His movies are hit or miss for me personally, but the ones I like, I really like. House of 1000 Corpses I love. It’s my second favorite Rob Zombie movie (after The Devil’s Rejects).
House of 1000 Corpses is awesome because it’s fun horror for people who watch tons of horror movies. The inspiration from the first two Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies is abundant and obvious (there’s some Spider Baby in there as well), and that’s part of the reason I love it. I’m a big fan of the “backwoods killer family” subgenre of horror, and it’s clear Zombie is a fan as well. It’s like he just wanted to make his own version of a chainsaw-massacre-style movie for his first feature film as a director, and House of 1000 Corpses was the result. As a fanatical fan of genre movies of all types, I think his idea was great.
We’ve written about this movie before, and in that article we mention that the idea for House of 1000 Corpses was originally pitched by Zombie as a haunted house attraction for Universal Studios. After I learned this fact, it helped make the movie even better. The haunted attraction aspect of the movie becomes even more pronounced when you know how the original idea came to be. The four friends go through a cheesy haunted attraction at the beginning of the movie, and Denise is dropped into another horror-filled tunnel at the end of the movie. I’m always pleased by symmetry like this. Plus, bookending the movie with two horror attractions loudly announces to the audience exactly what this movie is: it’s a ride. It picks you up, throws a ton of horror and humor at you, and then it’s over.
And, of course, the cast is brilliant. Longtime fans of horror (and fans of movies in general) will see a lot of beloved faces among the actors. Starting a movie with Sid Haig and Michael J. Pollard joking around with each other puts smiles on a lot of viewers’ faces, especially those who are fans of superb character actors. Plus you have other icons like Karen Black, Tom Towles, and Bill Moseley along with actors whose stars were rising at the time like Rainn Wilson and Walton Goggins. I’m leaving people out for the sake of brevity, but that’s just how deep this cast is. They’re all perfect for their roles, and they’re a joy to watch.
Taking a more personal look at it, my favorite part of House of 1000 Corpses is what could be considered the second act. It’s from the time when Mary wakes up in Otis’s room up to when Deputy Naish is executed by Otis. This is when all the madness happens, but it’s not as exaggerated as the final scenes in the underground tunnels (which I like, but not as much). If I had to pick just one sequence as the best, it’s when the deputies arrive to search the house. It culminates in murder set to Slim Whitman’s “I Remember You,” and the extended silence when Otis has Naish at gunpoint is fantastic. So smart, and so effective. This is up there with the best things Rob Zombie has ever done on film (which includes scenes like the motel in The Devil’s Rejects, and Annie’s final moments in Halloween II).
House of 1000 Corpses isn’t a movie I strictly watch only during the Halloween season. It’s perfect for any time of year, regardless of the days it’s set on. But it is a movie that I try to fit into my Halloween schedule whenever I can.
House of 1000 Corpses – A Recap
On October 30, 1977, two men in masks attempt to rob a business owned and operated by Captain Spaulding, a man dressed as a clown. The business is a combined gas station, fried chicken shop, oddities museum, and killer-themed carnival ride. Spaulding stands up to the robbers, and he shoots them to death with the help of a man named Ravelli.
Later that night, two couples—Jerry and Denise, Bill and Mary—arrive at Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen. They go through Spaulding’s “Murder Ride” and learn about the local legend of Dr. Satan. Dr. Satan is said to have performed brain surgery on mentally ill people as an attempt to create a race of superhumans. Dr. Satan was hanged by vigilantes, but his body was never found. Jerry receives a map to the tree where Dr. Satan was hanged from Dr. Spaulding, and the four friends drive away.
During the drive, Bill stops to pick up a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker, a woman named Baby, says she can lead them to Dr. Satan’s tree. On the way, someone in the woods shoots out one of their tires. Baby tells them her brother, Rufus (who is the man who shot out their tire), can tow their car and get it fixed, so they all go to Baby’s house to wait. There, Baby’s mother, Mother Firefly, invites the four friends to dinner. During the meal, they meet Tiny, Grampa Hugo, and Otis. The dinner conversation starts to get contentious when Otis arrives and responds to Jerry’s inquiries about Dr. Satan, and Grandpa abruptly ends the meal.
After dinner the family is treated to a show put on by the family. Grampa begins with a filthy standup routine. Next, Baby lip-syncs to “I Wanna be Loved by You” by Helen Kane (the voice of Betty Boop). During the song, Baby sits on Bill’s lap which prompts Mary to shove Baby to the ground. Baby pulls a knife on Mary, but before a fight starts, Rufus arrives and tells the friends that their car is ready. They start to drive away, but they only make it as far as the gate before they’re attacked and abducted by Otis and Tiny.
The Next day, on Halloween, Mary wakes up tied to a chair in Otis’s room. Otis shows her Bill, dead, with his body turned into a half-fish monstrosity Otis calls “Fish Boy.” Meanwhile, Denise’s father, Don Willis, calls the police who begin searching for her by questioning Capt. Spaulding. Concurrently, Denise is tied up in Tiny’s room. Tiny releases her, but she is caught by Otis and put inside a cage. Elsewhere in the house, Baby uses a razor on Jerry’s head.
Lieutenant Wydell and Deputy Naish of the local sheriff’s office are joined by Don. They stop at the Mother Firefly’s house to search the grounds and ask if they know anything about Denise and her friends. Wydell is shot and killed by Mother Firefly. Naish and Don are shot and killed by Otis.
That night, the family takes Jerry, Mary, and Denise to a large hole in the ground. Mary runs, but she is caught and stabbed to death by Baby. Denise and Jerry are put into a large coffin and lowered into the ground. At the bottom, Jerry is carried away by people in the mud. Denise wanders through a series of underground tunnels where she finds Dr. Satan performing brain surgery on Jerry. A large mutant man with an axe chases Denise, but the mutant is buried when the underground tunnel collapses on him.
Denise survives the collapse, and she finds a way up to the surface. In the daylight, Denise flags down a car, gets in, and falls asleep. The car is driven by Capt. Spaulding… and hidden in the back seat is Otis. When Denise wakes up, she is in the lair of Dr. Satan.
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