House of 1000 Corpses (2003)


REVIEWER RATING: 
5/10


I didn't expect much from this, because I know any movie that gets so much hype will only be let a down. I wanted to really like this, but there were a lot of scenes that seemed rather unnecessary and sometimes it felt like I was just watching just another Rob Zombie music video.

It's obvious that Rob's main inspiration for the movie came from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is one of his favorite horror films and mine as well. He even casted Bill Moseley, who starred in the second film.

Much like TCM, the story is about a group of travelers who end up crossing paths with a psychotic family. The movie was basically a mix of many different horror movies. There wasn't anything original here, but I wasn't expecting any originality and I'm sure Rob wasn't aiming for that anyway.

To get more into the story it's about four group of friends on their way to visit some family, but end up making a stop at a gas station which is also half a museum. That's where they talk with a clown named Captain Spaulding who tells them the story about Dr. Satan, who practiced weird experiments and such on his patients. The story is said that he was hung on a tree and naturally the travelers want to visit the tree.

They pick up a hitchhiker named "Baby" while on the way, who happens to live next to the tree. They get a flat tire and the driver has to follow the Baby to her home where her brother is a tow-truck driver. Without giving too much away, the whole group ends up at Baby's home and meet her unusual family. R.I.P.

The movie has no scares and there were a lot of scenes that I guess would aim to shock the audience, but I was not amused. It's a film with balls, but I think Rob Zombie was just trying too hard at times. Like I said before, there were a lot of unnecessary scenes, but I'm sure they were put there to show just how crazy the family is.

The acting was average for the most part, but a little over-dramatic and unrealistic at times. I wasn't sure what to make of Baby's (Sheri Moon) acting. It seemed too silly in some scenes. She's probably better off just sticking to Rob's music videos. I thought the best performance in the movie was by Sid Haig's character Spaulding. Good stuff. Bill Moseley could have been better though.

I really don't remember if I saw much, if any, gore in the movie. At least it had some decent blood and I enjoyed the music. There are some scenes that I liked, like for instance towards the end when one of Dr. Satan's creatures is shown and a couple camera angles and such I thought was cool.

Though, in the end it just seemed a little rushed and out of nowhere. I'm not complaining, but it sure was weird. The shot at the end of the movie reminded me much of a shot in the original TCM, which I thought, although brief, was a great homage. I wanted to give the movie a higher-rating, but I just didn't like the movie that much. The horrible editing just gave me a headache.

Doesn't really live up to all the hype that it received prior to its release. If you catch this movie don't expect much more than what you've already seen countless times before, only with a music video twist.
OVERALL: 
Doesn't really live up to all the hype that it received prior to its release. If you catch this movie don't expect much more than what you've already seen countless times before, only with a music video twist.


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