[Demdike@Cult Labs]

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Rob Zombies grimy debut feature is a grizzled homage to the bygone era of Grindhouse cinema, referencing the likes of Tobe Hooper classics The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and 81's The Funhouse. However it's also a homage to classic horror as we witness scenes from Universal classics such as The Wolf Man (1941) and House of Frankenstein (1944) all thrust into the insanity of the Firefly family's chamber of horrors.

Seeing this for the first time on Blu-ray was pretty awesome. The cinematography is superb as is the mind bending use of film stocks and random weird clips that assault the viewer every so often, such as Sheri Moon sticking her tongue into a rotting corpse's mouth, however these film stocks make zero use of high definition, picture wise anyway.

Speaking of the cinematography. That scene where Bill Moseley's Otis has Walton Goggin's sheriff on his knees with a gun to his head. We wait for the shot to ring out. It doesn't. Zombie edges his camera out still focusing on the pair, again nothing. It's not until we get a birds eye view before the inevitable finally happens. It's a sequence that takes about thirty seconds to play out and seems like an eternity.

Terrific stuff. House of 1000 Corpses is must see October viewing for me.