House of 1000 Corpses (2003) DVD - Horror Movie Collector's Edition | Perfect for Halloween Movie Nights & Cult Film Enthusiasts

I just finished watching Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses for the fourth time and was once again amazed by just how good a movie it is; amazed enough to write a review. I remember seeing this in the theater a few weeks after its initial release. The few people that were in the audience walked out of the movie either completely traumatized or screaming like a bunch of demented Kiss fans. There hasn't been a true horror movie like this made in years. What has passed for horror over the last decade has either been gory Clearasil commercials (Scream and its clones) or ghosts-just-need-to-be-understood melodramas (the godawful Sixth Sense and its clones). It seems movie makers have forgotten that horror needs to be horrific. House of 1000 Corpses is not a perfect horror movie. It doesn't even come close to the terror induced by a movie like the Shining. However, it is one of the few horror movies out there that has what you could call a "vision". Rob Zombie took a generic plot (actually, he just stole it from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and beefed it up with some of the best mix of imagery, sound and emotion ever put into a horror flick. This movie didn't give me nightmares, but the images did linger in my mind for weeks after first seeing it. It is filled with an insane amount of detail that really holds up after repeated viewings. What seperates a good horror flick from a great one is atmosphere and this movie has it in spades. Every set from Spaulding's road side attraction to the lair of Dr. Satan reinforces the sense that we, the viewer, have come for a freak show and by God we are going to get it! This movie comes from a long tradition of disturbing and shocking movies that may not make you scream but are guranteed to get under your skin. In it you will find none of the elements that ruin modern horror: there are no digital images, there is no polished dialogue with clever refrences to other, better movies and the killers are about as far away from glamourous as you can get. What this movie does have is an incredible sense of artistry, an excellent pace, great camerawork and a complete disregard for good taste or moral boundaries. The villains embody everything that is disturbing about evil. They hate you, they'll hurt you and hurting you gets them off. The only way I could think of improving the movie would be to make the victims a bit more sympathetic. Excessive character development isn't necessary in a horror movie but I think that I would feel an even greater fear if I like the victims. The victims in this movie are complete jackasses and I almost enjoyed seeing them suffer. I think a villain is nastier if he preys not only on innocence, but on likeable, attractive innocence. This minor gripe doesn't ruin the movie though. I highly recommend seeing this movie, especially if you plan on watching it with someone easily offended....you'll have a field day trying to calm them down. Word around the campfire says that the sequel will pit the depraved Firefly clan against a new set of villains, hopefully nastier than them. I can't wait.