House of 1000 Corpses DVD Review

2003, Region 1 (NTSC), 90 minutes, Rated R 

DVD released on August 12th, 2003

Starring:

Sid Haig

Bill Moseley

Sheri Moon

Karen Black

“Through it’s hardships of prolonged moments of uncertainty during it‘s theatrical release, Rob Zombie’s House of 1,000 Corpses has finally made it’s way to DVD. Dropped by two consecutive studios until Lions Gate Entertainment finally decided to pick it up, Zombie’s House boast enough thrills and chills to make this one hell of a horror movie.”

Movie:

The film opens with an intense robbery that goes awry and introduces us to the likeable character of Sid Haig’s known as Captain Spaulding. Captain Spaulding runs a local museum that houses some unusual things and even an infamous murder ride. Known for his chicken that just “taste so damn good” Spaulding is a mysterious character who every fun loving American finds hidden deep inside themselves.

So the story begins as we meet two young couples driving across country, researching local legends and off road tourist attractions. Running low on gas, they take the next exit to Captain Spaulding‘s Museum of Monsters and Mad Men. Once inside the two couples are greeted by Spaulding himself, and he invites them to tour his famous murder ride. After hearing about a local legend called Doctor Satan the kids ask Captain Spaulding to write them directions to a location that isn’t “more then a stones throw away” from where they are.

Review:

House of 1000 Corpses was probably one of the most talked about horror films in recent years. From the dreaded days of it’s post production, Rob’s film was dropped by not one, but two studios. All seemed lost for Mr. Zombie, and fan’s were getting agitated thinking they were never going to see this film. But thankfully Lions Gate Entertainment picked it up and gave it a proper theatrical release. The film grossed it’s budget and a little bit more, and although the reactions of fans were mixed, the overall general feel was that everyone liked it. My first encounter with the film wasn’t the lasting impression I had hoped for. I did not like the movie, it seemed as though Rob tried way to hard to make a horror film, and the end result was something we’d seen before and better. Well, how times change, once the film was released on DVD, I was hesitate to pick it up, but took the plunge.

The first thing I did, was put the commentary on, while watching the movie. I did this for two reasons, the first being I couldn’t understand the story, and the second being I needed to hear what Rob really sounded like. I was impressed, and I mean really impressed. Mr. Zombie helped guide me through his twisted celluloid of a film, and even explained the things that were going on. I could tell he was very dedicated to making this film, and he takes pride in his work. That being said, I re-watched House with the 5.1 Dolby Digital track on, and I was blown away. With a better understanding of the film, I was able to really enjoy it. The acting is a mixed bag. Firstly Bill Moseley nails every line to perfection, the man has it down to a science. Sheri Moon is quite beautiful to watch on screen, her acting is all right, but if you get the slightest irritated, you might be annoyed by her voice.

Sid Haig steals the show, sadly his role is more so a cameo then anything else, but he really hit’s a home run with his performance. The group of kids aren’t too keen on acting skills, I don’t really think anyone watching this film is really going to care about them anyway. Jerry manages to pull out a few good laughs, but everything else is just so stale. The rest of the cast, Karen Black especially are all quite unique. Grandpa is quite hysterical when he’s spewing the word pussy or eating up all the prop food. You’ll notice Tom Towles makes an appearance in this film, if you remember he played in Savini’s remake of Night of the Living Dead and Henry Portrait of a serial killer. I like the guy as an actor, and he looked like he had a fun time doing this movie. Overall you’ll love it or you’ll hate it. Me, well I think the film is very enjoyable. I understand now what Rob was trying to do when making this film and what he achieved.

Video and Audio:

House of 1000 Corpses is presented here in 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1). The print is fantastic, the colors are energetic and rich. The blood is dark and piled on. There’s tons of filters in the movie, solarized, grain, multi colored hues that resemble something from a Dario Argento film. A lot of people will say the filters are annoying, and Rob’s approach to directing is like watching an hour long music video. I’d have to disagree, the filters I feel really add character to the movie, they give a sense of unknown, like a look into a world of twisted madness. The grainy short films that are shot and mixed in throughout the film are also wonderful. They give a documentary feel, capturing the true emotion of how a killer is really perceived.

The film has several audio tracks which consist of 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, 2.0 Stereo Music, 2.0 Dolby Digital and English and Spanish subtitles. The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is quite impressive. I do not have a home theater system so I can’t add too much insight on it, but what little system I do have, it boosted some terrific sound through. Every little nick, scratch, step, stumble, stab, can be felt pouring out through the speakers. The soundtrack enhances the movie, something I never noticed before until I sat down and watched this film on DVD. During the scene where the police arrive at the Firefly’s home is very tension filled. The music which consist of a long piercing vibrating gong and a couple of bass beats really sets the tone, making the viewer feel anxious because they know the inevitable is going to happen. The 2.0 Stereo Music track is quite nice if you like to listen to the film without the words, it definitely gives you a sense of how composing music works and when and where to identify the music with what is going on, on screen.

Special Features:

• Theatrical trailer
• Stills Gallery
• Director Commentary
• Featurette
• Audition Footage
• Rehearsal Footage
• Cast and Crew Interviews

Although it wasn’t the unrated cut fan’s were looking for, Rob managed to do something quite unique with this disc. Firstly Lions Gate Entertainment released the film in two separate cases, a limited yellow gatefold release, and a clear diamond like DVD case. The limited release was rumored to contain promotional cards for Rob’s latest album, I’m not too for sure seeing as I bought the clear case DVD. None the less the DVDs are both the same, so don’t feel upset if you got one or the other. Now onto the goodies.

When you first put the disc in, you are prompted to ring a bell on the main menu, what happens next is quite incredible to say the least. Captain Spaulding comes out to greet you the best way he knows how. Through the use of blue screen, Rob Zombie directed several animated menus that have different characters from the film interacting with the viewer. It’s insane, and brilliant.

When I first watched the film I put the directors commentary on. My portrayal of Rob Zombie before hand was some guy who was very dark and gritty and talked low and was just all around quite disturbing. Well I’m hear to tell you, that’s not the case. Rob is a very (and by very I mean guy next door) down to earth guy. I felt like I was right next to him, as though he was talking to me about the film. The first thing you’ll notice is Rob was very passionate about his film, and you cant help but feel for him in the trouble he had trying to get it distributed. Rob doesn’t let any of the past movie making demons catch up with him though, he gives great insight on the story, talks about the actors, and just seems all around dedicated. I highly recommend you view the film with the commentary, I can’t stress that enough.

The audition and rehearsal footage is neat to watch. You get to see what Bill Mosley looks like under all that make-up and white hair. He has fun torturing one of the girls, even manages to nails his lines almost perfect, the guys really amazing folks, if he’s at Horrorfind next year, you can beat I’m going to meet him. The featurette is quite short, but gives you a small look at what it was like behind the scenes. I couldn’t help but notice Rob seemed to distance himself from everyone else, maybe it was because he didn’t like the camera on him, but the guy seemed really down for some reason. We get to see footage of a couple of the cast members walking around and even a on the set mishap as a rope gets caught during the ‘buried in the nameless’ scene. The cast and crew interviews are really fun to watch, Sid, Bill, Sheri, and Karen all participate, still dressed in character of course. Sid seems like an incredible guy, somebody you’d want as your best friend. The cast is asked questions about “how dies it feel to be an action figure?” and “What there particular favorite horror movie is.” It’s a great little interview segment and certainly fun to listen to everyone give their own perspective on the success of the film. Also rounding the disc out is a still gallery and a couple of theatrical trailers. There’s a lot of supplements here, and still more that I haven’t mentioned like “Tiny Fucked a Stump”. Something that cannot be explained, and has to be seen. It’s a great disc, loaded with spectacular extras and never boring animated menus. “Do you have anything else to ad?” ‘Mmmm…nope‘.

Grades:
Movie:	– Highly enjoyable if you aren’t to keen on reading into everything.
Video:	– Fantastic-o Pandemonium! The print is dynamic, the filters, the tones, the lighting everything is perfect. No print damage, no grain, Lions Gate has done a terrific job here.
Audio:	– A vast selection to choose from. Every selection offers something good. The 5.1 surround is great, no hiss’s can be found. The voices are clear, the music is pristine, no pops about.
Features:	– Some of the most creative, and energetic special features I’ve ever seen. Character hosted menus, cast and crew interviews, audition footage, rehearsal footage. Enough to keep you busy and still hold your interest on repetitive viewings.
Overall:

Conclusion:

When I first saw House of 1000 Corpses my impressions of the film were less then dismal. I disliked it, and that’s being polite. It did fairly good during it’s theatrical run and even prompted Lions Gate and Rob Zombie to team up for a sequel. House isn’t really a great film, it didn’t re-create the genre, it didn’t do anything new, in actuality it did nothing that fans had hyped it up to do. But the thing is House of 1000 Corpses is actually an enjoyable film. It’s enjoyable because it actually brought back to the screen the senseless violence that had been lost in the '90s. It was unconventional. I’m not saying it’s a great film because of that, let’s face it, House is a film you will either like or you wont.

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