Rob Zombie Concedes His Flawed Debut Film ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ Was A “Calamitous Mess” In Resurfaced Comments – But Was It All Bad?
Metal vocalist and filmmaker Rob Zombie is some kind of reverse Jared Leto with the way he was able to make a jump from music to having a go at directing movies. Though he’s had an uneven output, his career has been eventful from the creation of the memorably sadistic Firefly family to his unique, to say the least, reinterpretation of Halloween.
He is also credited with starting the torture porn trend in the 2000s that took horror by storm in America and a bit later in France with the New Extremity movement. However, Zombie doesn’t look back fondly on the effort that made all this possible despite his accolades.
His first movie, House of 1000 Corpses, introduced the world to the Fireflies and made a scream queen out of his wife Sheri Moon. It also cultivated a devoted following over the years while a new set of appreciators are catching up on the slasher since it showed up on Prime Video.
Tyler Doupe’ of Dread Central – who defends House to this day – said in an editorial, “All in, Zombie’s feature film debut isn’t without its issues. But the flick serves up a sleazy tone and visual aesthetic that makes it feel very much like a lost export from the grindhouse days. House of 1000 Corpses captures the essence of a bygone era and serves as a loving nod to the films exploitation enthusiasts grew up devouring.”
Zombie disagrees and made his feelings plain once upon a time to Screen Rant. “The first film [I directed], which people seem to love, is just a calamitous mess,” he said. “Well, when it came out, it seemed like everyone hated it. Now, everyone acts like it’s beloved in some way. All I see is flaw, upon flaw, upon flaw… upon flaw.”
That’s a fair assessment, but Zombie could be suffering from an inner neurotic regret that all artists struggle with. Practically every director, and certainly every horror director, looks at a final cut of something they made years ago and sees a million things they’d do differently. This is often despite the popularity of a film or a salient positive reception.
You might think A Nightmare on Elm Street is a perfect movie, but you couldn’t have told Wes Craven that when there are minute things even he would’ve changed. Conversely, some of his most popular movies – such as Deadly Friend, Shocker, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and The People Under The Stairs – have devoted followings despite deep flaws.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a true axiom here. Someone’s Citizen Kane is another’s Plan 9; what movie is being discussed makes no difference.
Rob Zombie delivers on that paradox in spades with every film he’s made. Taking Halloween II for instance, most fans of the entire series who’ve adored it since John Carpenter’s original don’t put Zombie’s sequel anywhere near the top of their personal list.
Tyler Mane was inspired casting for Michael Myers, and Danielle Harris returned to the delight of many, but the end product was too surreal and experimental for many to stomach. It wasn’t what they wanted or expected out of a Halloween movie.
Still, you can give Zombie credit in his second outing, which was done under pressure, for not copying Carpenter at the very least. One of the biggest criticisms against the former is that he is guilty of ripping off the latter – as well as Tobe Hooper and Ken Russell among others.
But all directors bask in their influences and seek to capture the magic of the movies they were reared on, even those mentioned. Zombie is just another one of those aspirational artisans in the end whose strengths are evident when he can blend his influences into a palatable porridge.
According to IMDB (if that’s a real measure of fan opinion), his best results came in his music video output and his Grindhouse short Werewolf Women of the SS. Even if they score above a 5.0, his films are rated second-tier as far as stars, including House of 1000 Corpses which scores a 6.0.
At the top, I posed a question that’s more rhetorical than anything. The truth: the answer is, like that old axiom says, in the eye of the beholder. If you like that kind of thing then House of 1000 Corpses is a good movie, and you might have a point.
After all, one, we all like Sid Haig and, two, as long as The Munsters exists, House won’t suck as bad in comparison.
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