House of 1000 Corpses - A gritty, gory mess

If there’s one thing modern cinema is criticised for, it’s that it’s made by executives and corporations rather than by fans of the genre itself.  However, that cannot be said for the delightfully-titled ‘House of 1000 Corpses.’ It’s made by the (equally delightfully-named) Rob Zombie, who, despite being better known at the time as a musician, is definitely a fan of the horror genre.

But, without even going into who made it, perhaps it’s the title that should give you all the information you need to know as to whether or not you’ll like this film.  If you’re expecting anything deep and meaningful then you’re going to turn it off within minutes.  What you have is a pretty standard ‘slasher’ flick (okay, so it probably bears more in common with ‘Texas Chainsaw’ types films than ‘Scream,’ but there are definitely ‘slasher’ elements thrown in there), but presented with a sense of art.  Or, if you’re feeling a little harsher, you could replace the word ‘art’ with ‘bits-thrown-in-that-look-like-they’re-taken-right-out-of-an-MTV-music-video.’

Rob Zombie tries to do something different with the way the film is shot.  It’s got a lot of cutaway films and stylishly-filmed segments which break up the narrative.  Some may find those interesting and different, others may find that they distract from the narrative – it’s really a question of taste, but you can see his music video influence shining through.

But, you probably don’t watch a film called ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ for its artistic integrity – you want the gore.  And it doesn’t disappoint on that one.  It’s packed full of disgusting characters and imagery – from grotesque mutants to gorgeous babes (who are equally grotesque when it comes to their tendency to murder people at the drop of a hat – Sheri Moon Zombie, I’m looking at you!).

Overall, ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ isn’t an original story, but it’s done differently enough and with the required levels of gore that will satisfy anyone who wants to watch a film entitled so.  It does feel a little ‘raw’ here and there.  Sometimes I felt that was almost intentional, other times I wondered whether Rob Zombie was letting his visions get a little too convoluted.  However, he definitely proves that he can do more than sing (assuming you agree with that in the first place!) and, seeing as he’s a fan of the genre, hopefully this will be a good stepping stone to launch what might be a promising horror career.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that