31 Nights of Halloween Horror - House of 1000 Corpses

We have made it to the end.  Here is a list of the all the movies we have watched for the month of October.  Of these I have only seen 8 of these films before, and they were all blu ray upgrades.  Which makes 22 new flicks I have not seen before, not too bad for a month where most people just watch the same old things over and over again.  Unfortunately none of these movies were outstanding, usually I seem to find at least one movie that really impresses me and I need to let everyone know.  But this year I did not come across such a film, ah well, that's 2020 for you.

1. The Outing (fun 80s campy horror)

2. Black Water:Abyss (killer crocs from down under)

3. The Godsend (killer kids)

4. 28 Days Later (welcome to 2020)

5. The Fearless Vampire Killers (one of the best vampire movies ever)

6. The Binding (new Italian horror)

7. From Beyond the Grave (Amicus anthology)

8. The Hole in the Ground (more killer kids)

9. #Alive (more 2020)

10. Haxxan (witches, bitches)

11. Lake of Death (Norwegian horror)

12. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (werewolves, sort of)

13. It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (cartoon classic)

14. The Beast Must Die (more werewolves)

15. Carnival of Souls (creepy classic)

16. Followed (haunted hotel)

17. The Wretched (more witches)

18. Deathdream (be careful what you wish for)

19. Lucifer's Women (Hail Satan)

20. The Night Stalker (TV Vampires)

21. Laid to Rest (slasher)

22. Hubie Halloween (Halloween comedy)

23. Pulse (Jhorror)

24. The Mortuary Collection (another anthology)

25. Shock Waves (Nazi zombies)

26. Z (imaginary friend)

27. Howl (even more werewolves)

28. The Unseen (locked in the basement)

29. Antrum (this movie will kill you)

30. The Hunchback of the Morgue (Paul Naschy nastiness)

Which brings us to number 31

House of 1000 Corpses

89 mins.

Dir. Rob Zombie

2003/USA

Of course I had to do House of 1000 Corpses on Halloween, I am dressed up as Captain Spaulding after all.  Needed to do my research.

On the eve of Halloween four friends are driving across country writing a guide book on roadside attractions and weird shit you see when you are driving across country.  I know, you don't drive across country.  But if you did.  They come across Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen,  where Spaulding tells them about the local legend of Dr. Satan.  The two couples dive off to find where Dr. Satan is buried when they pick up a local hitchhiker, Baby.  The car gets a flat tire and Baby says, her brother can tow them to her house up the road and fix the tire for them.  With no other choice they agree.  Once at Baby's house we meet the eccentric Firefly family, Mother Firefly, Grampa Hugo, Tiny, Rufus and of course Bill Mosley as Otis.  Unfortunately for our weary travelers, the Firefly family has other intentions for them.  These kids wanted to meet Dr. Satan and so they shall.

A few things, I know Rob Zombie has a stigma against him.  A lot of people aren't a fan of his music, he is a Hot Topic sellout, there for you can't like his movies.  And I get all that, a lot of his music is very repetitive and if you are not fan of his style, he isn't going to change your mind.  But I will say this about his movies.  All these people who want gore and exploitation and craziness in movies like we had in the 70s and 80s are in Rob Zombie movies, and a lot of them were in theatres.  So quit your bellyaching about not being a fan of his movies, cause I would rather go to the theatre and see a midget clown dressed as a nazi soldier speaking Spanish kill someone, then whatever flavor of the month horror movie is in the theatre now.  With that being said, the first time I saw House of 1000 Corpses I didn't really care for it, and here is why.  Rob Zombie, horror guy, loves horror, making a movie so crazy the studio won't release it.  At the time Jhorror was popular and pretty scary and rose above most of the other horror crap being released.  So I was expecting, a serious dark and scary film.   What I was not expecting was to see was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, which I likened this movie to with its bright colors, eccentric characters and of course Bill Mosley playing Otis Choptop.  So after watching it again in a different frame of mind, I came to enjoy it for what it was.  Watching it again recently, for reference on my Captain Spaulding costume, I appreciated his filming style even more.  It is very ADD music video, with snippets of Manson dialogue and imagery spliced through out the movie.  Now it could be from literally watching a movie or more every day and getting used to the linear style of story telling, so to see something that kind of broke the mold was a little refreshing.  At the end of the month House of 1000 Corpses gets two thumbs up in my book.  Plus it takes place on Halloween, so it is fitting.  Not the biggest fan of his music, though he does put on a great stage show, I like his movies, though the last two seemed very lazy and uninteresting.  But show me a filmmaker who doesn't have bad movies in their portfolio.  Not counting Russ Meyer or John Waters.

So there you have it folks, another 31 Nights of Halloween Horror has come to end.  But that doesn't mean you should stop watching horror movies, I know I won't be, come Nov. 1st I will be right back at it again.  Actually I may watch the new Borat movie, been wanting to see that, but had to put it off because in October it is only horror.  All day, all night.  Maybe will see you next year.  Until then, watch Horror movies and keep America strong.