Throwback Thursday: House of 1000 Corpses

The movie that started it all for Rob Zombie's film career. Love him or hate him the man definitely has a look and feel that is all his own and has been one of a few --even with remakes of "Halloween-- that has had an original take on the horror genre.

 Initially shot in 2000 on the Universal Studios back lot (Zombie used the house from the Burt Reynolds' classic "Best Little Whore House in Texas"),  however, what was embraced in the beginning, Stacey Snider the then new head at Universal shelved the  film in fear that it would only garner a NC-17 rating. After several months Zombie was able to wrestle the film back and was then ultimately sold and released by Lions Gate Entertainment.

Zombie draws from the pool and genre he knows best setting "House of a Thousand Corpses" late 1970's during a time when films of this nature where all the rage.

On October 30, 1977, Jerry Goldsmith, Bill Hudley, Mary Knowles, and Denise Willis are on the road in hopes of writing a book on offbeat roadside attractions. When the four meet Captain Spaulding, a vulgar but friendly owner of a gas station and "Museum of Monsters & Madmen", they learn the local legend of Dr. Satan. As they take off in search of the tree from which Dr. Satan was hanged, they pick up a young hitchhiker named Baby, who claims to live only a few miles away. Shortly after, the vehicle's tire bursts in what is later seen to be a trap and Baby takes Bill to her family's house. Moments later, Baby's half-brother, Rufus, picks up the stranded passengers and takes them to the family home.

There they meet Baby's family, Mother Firefly, Otis Driftwood, her adopted brother, Grampa Hugo and Baby's deformed giant half-brother, Tiny. While being treated to dinner, Mother Firefly explains that her ex-husband, Earl, had tried to burn Tiny alive, along with the Firefly house. After dinner the family puts on a Halloween show for their guests. Baby offends Mary by flirting with Bill. After Mary threatens Baby, Mother Firefly makes the couples leave, since their car is repaired. As they leave, though, Otis and Tiny disguise themselves as scarecrows in the driveway, attack the couples and take them prisoner. Otis kills and mutilates Bill's body for art, while Mary is tied up and Denise is bed-bound while dressed up for Halloween. Jerry is scalped because he failed to guess Baby's favorite movie star.

After Denise doesn't come home, her father Don calls the police to report her missing. Two deputies, George Wydell and Steve Naish, find the couples' abandoned car in a field with a torture victim in the trunk. Don, who was once a cop, is called to the scene to help the deputies search. They arrive at the Firefly house and after finding other bodies, are quickly killed by the family. Later that night, the three remaining teenagers are taken out to an abandoned well. They are dressed as rabbits in reference to Otis when he earlier stated that "Scared kids run like rabbits, run little rabbit, run!". Mary attempts to run away, but is stabbed to death by Baby moments later.

Meanwhile, Jerry and Denise are lowered into the well, where a group of feral figures pull Jerry into the water and leave Denise to find her way through an underground lair. As she wanders through the tunnels, she encounters Dr. Satan and a number of mental patients. Dr. Satan has Jerry on his operating table, vivisecting him. Dr. Satan tells his mutated assistant, who turns out to be Earl, Mother Firefly's ex-husband, to capture Denise. Denise outwits him and escapes the chambers by crawling to the surface. She makes her way to the main road where she is picked up by Captain Spaulding and passes out from exhaustion in the front seat. Otis appears in the backseat with a knife. Denise later wakes up to find herself strapped to Dr. Satan's operating table, where she begins to scream in terror

Although compared a lot to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" except as an acid trip, "House of a Thousand Corpses" became a cult classic despite the critics slamming the film as a "cheesy ultra gory exploitation flick, strangely devoid of thrills, shock and horror."

While failing to impress the critics "House of a Thousand Corpses", however, did become a box office success. Generating 16 million plus in box office returns on a 7 million dollar budget.