Films: 2000s
(2003) House of 1,000 Corpses
Sunday, October 07, 2007
House of 1,000 Corpses
Director: Rob Zombie
Release: 2003
Disconcerting beauty and colorful settings abound in "House of 1,000 Corpses." There are odd contraptions of torture, backgrounds detailed with freak-show finery and sanguinary tableaux, beautifully rendered on film.
Two couples on the road in search of notorious serial killer cynosures quickly become the victims of bad luck, poor judgment and smart mouths.
Rainn Wilson is cast as straight man to Chris Hardwick's Jerry " the tour guide of the group in need of remedial lessons on manners. Erin Daniels and Jennifer Jostyn play the girlfriends.
Zombie contorts the female duo into such abhorrent shrews that the audience can't help but cheer their demise
Following some misleading travelogue tips from a dubious roadside clown, the foursome loses their proper and propitious route. Wilson becomes the quarry of an inviting temptress with a portable storm " Baby Firefly.
The Firefly family is rife with miscreants and sinister characters: Tiny " the glowering burn victim with a soft spot for the female victims of his clan; Grandpa Hugo " the slovenly pater familias and burlesque show barker; Otis " a Johnny Winter idolater accursed with a wanton bloodlust and short temper.
The lucent beacon of the Fireflies, however, is the comely daughter, Baby. She is portrayed with exceptional lan by Zombie paramour, Sherri Moon. There's little dismissing the lure of her serpentine form, but beware she is a siren, with all the attendant malevolence.
Then there is Mother Firefly. Played to perfection by Karen Black, she's a sultry concoction of sin, sex and questionable dental hygiene but you can't help but fix your gaze upon her. Zombie and Black skillfully a softened heart beneath her tattered housecoat and bustier.
Zombie won't garner approbation for his script either.
The loss of innocent life at the whim of the merciless is hardly going to give modern audiences pause. This is no longer original shock. The story of "House of 1,000 Corpses" is hackneyed and the dialogue probably looked better on paper than it sounds to the ear.
It is clear, however, by the film's conclusion, these are merely the means of locomotion for the images and cultural signifiers for which Zombie has previously, musically, declared his fealty.
What salvages the enervated plot is the development of the Firefly family as a reflection of the Manson family " another group of societal castoffs. There are early images of Charlie's followers; bizarre orations delivered by Otis regarding his demented philosophies; bloody bodily engravings and forehead crosses aplenty.
One might even allege that the squealing laugh of Baby Firefly is meant as a direct correlation to one of Manson's most famous acolytes " Squeaky Fromme (but that seems a little obvious).
Charlie would likewise be proud of the distinction between the social classes of "House's" two competing interests. Resentment of social superiors was a lynchpin of indoctrination into the Mansons.
The lowly Fireflies despise the haughty snobbery and elitism represented by cheerleaders and take pleasure in dulling their knives on such flesh.
The director's imprimatur ensures that "House of 1,000 Corpses" becomes more than a tepid trot through the horror movie graveyard. His supple hands and evil-photographer's eye resurrects the skimpy plot and forced dialogue.
There's sexed-up and Zombie-fied simplicity about "House of 1,000 Corpses." It's hard not to appreciate the director's cinematic intentions.
Jeffrey K. Wahr
Cinescare Correspondent
House of 1,000 Corpses, 2003
Zombie contorts the female duo into such abhorrent shrews that the audience can't help but cheer their demise
