Well my
friends it is that time of year again. That’s Right it is Halloween time. Haunt
time and it is horror time.
Yes I know
that it seems to be Halloween year round with me but that is what Halloween
more special for me. As a result the movies that I watch this time of year have
a far more special meaning to me.
There are
people that consider movies that they watch around the winter holidays to be
required viewing.
On a
personal note I am reminded of an incident that happened at my home a couple of
years ago at my Halloween party that was held at my house.
I had a
guest that had too much to drink and this person was also a “Horror Hater” and
then proceeded to give me a hard time about the fact that I watch the same movies
allot. Now what I was bothered about that incident is that not too long after
that she said very loud that starting Thanksgiving Weekend her and her family
watched It’s a Wonderful Life every day until Christmas, and I felt the need to
ask her what was the difference between that and me watching what I watch and
her reply was that her movies are “Acceptable”.
The truth is
that Halloween is the 2nd most popular holiday season of the year
following closely behind Christmas and I feel that the recommended movies are
“Acceptable”.
Another
thing that made me go about with this series of Blogs is the fact that I was
watching a different show that had a top 10 list of Halloween movies that were
recommended. Well it wasn’t too bas as some of the recommendations were movie
like John Carpenter’s Halloween and Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.
I plan on
doing a long article on Halloween as well as it’s sequels and remakes.
Now I have
to admit that Nightmare Before Christmas will not be on this list because I
consider it on my list of Christmas films and if this series of Blogs is
successful then I will be happy to treat all of you to my Christmas picks.
However the problem that I had was that these were the only real Horror Flicks on the list the rest were movies with Halloween scenes.
Scenes like the Karate Kid where the Cobra Kai attack the main character.
I have decided insted of getting mad I am just going to make my own Halloween Picks.
Now let us
move on to the first in recommendations.
Now I know
what a lot of you are going to say.
Why is this
your first pick and the truth is because while I am doing this for all of you I
ask that you please bear in mind that I am blogging about them after I finish
viewing them. I was just watching these flicks. Now let us get on with the
reviews.
Rob Zombie’s House of 1,000 Corpses.
First off
this flick is very special to me. As the videographer of Texas Frightmare
Weekend and my work as a talent manager I have met more than half of the people involved in this movie.
I have both
met and interviewed both Sid Haig and Bill Moseley on many occasions. I have
also met Irwin Keyes and interviewed Karen Black for the 2009 DVD.
The story of
the production of this film is very interesting.
First off
House of 1,000 Corpses was made in the year 2000 by Universal Studios.
Many people
in the Horror Genre followed the production of this film because the director
was the famous Rock musician Rob Zombie who despite directing many of his own
music videos over the years had yet to direct a feature film. However Zombie
had quite a following and years of experience in the industry with his music
videos and Universal hired him to write and direct the film.
Universal is
highly respected in the horror field. Universal is famous for not only Jaws and
Psycho’s franchises but all of the Classic monsters from Dracula to the
Creature form the Black Lagoon, and in the late 1990s they had the rights to
Chucky and the Childs Play and Zombie was supposed to take Universal Horror
into the new Millennium.
The film was
shot on the Universal backlot in the same house that was used to film the Best
Little Whore House in Texas aka The Chicken Ranch as I was told when I toured
the Studio in 2008. I was actually the one that told the tour guide that House
of 1,000 Corpses was filmed there. Zombie even said in the DVD commentary that
the tour busted many sound takes.
At the time
that House of 1,000 Corpses was in production Universal even had a Haunted
Attraction during their Halloween Horror Nights event during the Halloween
season of that year.
Well things
didn’t exactly go as planned.
Now I am
sure that some will dispute this fact but I refer to all of the events like
this as Columbine Fallout.
You see
there was a rash of school shootings in the late 1990s where it seemed like
every week there would be a kid that walks into a school with enough firepower
to start their own personal war and in 1999 there was Columbine.
I’m not
going to go into too much detail because it is a minor fact in this story but
the bottom line is the fact that when this shooting happened the entertainment
industry was the first in the crosshairs of the parents support groups that
felt that blaming violence in cinema and Video Games had more to do with the
killings than things like Bullying.
Needless to
say this affected many films and television shows including Scream 3. Many
other films like Idle Hands had their release date halted. The season Finale
episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was postponed a month in the aftermath of
the Columbine shooting.
In late 2000
Zombie finished the production of Corpses and then he presented an early cut of
the film. It was then that he was informed by Universal Studio Executives that
the film will not be released due to the content.
However I
don’t want Universal to look like the bad guys here. The truth is that House of
1,000 Corpses was far too ahead of itself. The was a “little of the old Ultra-violence”.
A precursor to the “Torture Porn” Universal decided that it was a direction
that they didn’t to go so after a couple Zombie got some money together and
purchased the film rights himself and then shopped it to distributers.
Then at the
time an up and coming distribution company at the time picked up the film and
released it in 2003. Than distribution company was Lionsgate.
Lionsgate is
now one of the leading both distribution and production companies in the
business.
Now let’s
get on to the flick.
House of
1,000 Corpses is a definite throw back to all things. You can also see the
influence of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other Grindhouse, Drive-in, and
Late Night Horror Shows.
In the first
5 minutes of the film the viewer is shown Dr. Wolfenstein a horror host and his
Creature Feature Show and then we are introduced to Captain Spaulding and his Museum
of Monsters and Madmen. The flick then shifts to real time and Captain Spaulding
is shown dispatching two would be robbers and the credits roll.
After the
opening credits we are introduced to two young couples including a pre Office Rainn
Wilson and a barely recognizable Chris Hardwick. After going on the “Murder
Ride” and learning about the local legend Dr. Satan, Macabre enthusiast Jerry
(Hardwick) begs Spaulding to draw him a map to where the killer was lynched by
a vigilante mob and in the drive there they pick up a female hitchhiker.
Eventually the viewer realizes that the group
is driving to a trap where they end up captive in a ranch house with the Firefly
Family including Sheri Moon Zombie as Baby, Karen Black as the matriarch and
former madam Mamma Firefly, the muscle-bound Rufus, the late Matthew McGrory as
the gigantic but kindhearted mute Tiny, the loudmouth and vulgar Grandpa is played
by longtime character actor Dennis Fimple in one of his final screen roles
before his death in 2002.
Finally we
are introduced to Otis played by genre veteran Bill Moseley. Many will consider
Otis to be the main villain of the film, The character is a pure sociopath that
not only is the killer of most if the victims he is the one that really runs the
family. Otis also takes great pleasure in the torment of his victims and makes
artwork out of their corpses.
The film
then focus on the investigation of the disappearance of the group by one of the
girl’s father as well as two police officers including Deputy Sheriff George
Wydell, played by another genre veteran Tom Towles.
All of this
leads to the climax and the film then goes into the underground under the house
where we are finally introduced to Dr Satan (Walter Phelan).
Now House of
1,000 Corpses is one of those flicks that the audience is divided on. There are
some people who really hate it and there are people that think it is one of the
greatest movies ever made and I fall closer to the latter.
What many
people aren’t divided is the sequel to the film the Devil’s Rejects.
There are a
couple of releases of the film that are all highly recommended.
On the DVD
of House of 1,000 Corpses the DVD is entertaining as it is hosted by Captain
Spaulding, Otis, and Baby.
My personal favorite
is the main menu where Spaulding yells at the audience for not promptly picking
an option and gets angrier and angrier.
You need to pay attention to Moseley on the
Scene Selection Option to get the Tiny Fucked a Stump Joke.
10 Dead
Bodies
6 Breasts
5 Beasts
4 Heads
Blown off
1 Fishboy
1 Brutal
Stabbing
1 Human
Halloween Costume
1 Head
Sawing
Head
drilling
Cheerleaders
Fu
Tiny Fu
Agatha
Crispies Fu
I really
liked Dr Wolfenstein
4 Stars
Check it out
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