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Reviews
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
A revival of true horror
Its sad that a film as wonderfully made as this is so grossly misunderstood.
Let me say this right off that bat. If you're idea of a horror film is I know What You Did Last Summer and you consider Scream and The Exorcist to be the most shocking films ever made, this is not a film for you. If you havent seen I Spit on Your Grave, Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead or Last House on the Left, this is not a film for you. If you've never listened to "Living Dead Girl" or "Superbeast" this is not a film for you.
Now having said that, this is a film for me. It is a film for true horror fans, the kind that stay up and watch Dawn of the Dead and The Beyond, who know who Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento and George Romero are. This is a film that was meant to be seen by people like this and will only be enjoyed by people like this. This is not exactly mainstream stuff here. Only a small percentage of people enjoy this stuff, and for those people, this film is a true rivival of classic exploitive horror.
Rob Zombie has created a homage to 1970's exploitation/horror films, and he has been extremly successful in achieving that goal. The film borrows largely from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Last House on the Left, with his own little bits of original demential thrown in and an assortment of other horror film references. The film tells the tale of four teenagers who are terrorized and tortured by a bizarre southern family living in a remote farmhouse in 1977. The film uses all sorts of camera tricks--negative colouring, split-screens and seemingly random inserts of grainy snuff-like footage of various S&M and gore images; the off-the-wall effect is similar to what Oliver Stone did in Natural Born Killers. The film is not about plot, or about characters. Its purpose is to shock and disturb, to serve no other function than to entertain through exploitation and disgusting and bizarre violence. Just as you think the limits of weirdness are approaching, Zombie takes the film a step farther, and before long you surrender yourself to the mercy of the film and just accept things for what they are. The film has the feeling of an out of control freight train being piloted by a madman and the climax of the film is truly bizarre. The reviewers who wrote the film off as overly-sadistic with little in the ways of character development, plot or suspence have come to see a different kind of film, perhaps more at home with titles like The Sixth Sense or Silence of the Lambs. The have no busineness debasing a great film like this.
Rob Zombie has created a film that is both a homage and derivative at the same time; most things in the film have been done before, in one shape or another, and the level of gore is a fraction of what was intended, due to its shameful R-rating. To see the inevitable Unrated Directors Cut on video is going to be a true horror experience.
But this film is something has hasnt been seen in decades and it has been made with the utmost care that only a true horror fan could provide. It is a film made by horror fans for horror fans, a true labor of love by Mr. Zombie, despite some flaws. If you arent sitting the theater going "hey, theres Bill Mosely from TCM 2!" or "hey, that shot is a homage to the cover of Evil Dead!" or "hey, he wears peoples skin like Leatherface!" then you probably arent meant to be seeing this film. But for those who are, the film is a true gem and a rarity; it is a kind of film that hasnt been seen on the screens in over twenty years and probably wont be for another twenty years. Get out there and enjoy this rare experience while you still can.
An instant cult-hit.
Grade: A
For true horror fans only. Everyone else just wont get it.
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
Its doesnt get any better than this!
Well,if you didnt like this one, then you wont like any of them. This is without a doubt the best F13 movie to date. Its just kicks ass on so many levels!
first the acting. This is Friday the 13Th part 6. You wouldnt expect good acting. but you get it.Granted,its overacted sometimes, but this has the best acting of any of the F13's. Thom Mathews is great as Tommy Jarvis, the slightly wacked-out kid from part 4 and 5 . He gives a believable performance and is probably the best role the series has to offer. The slimy "bad cop" Sherrif Garris is nicely over-played by David Kagen but in a good way.
The script is good too. Not only is this one of the only Friday the 13th movies where the dialogue is not clumsy and the plot is not full of more holes than Jason is by the end, but its funny too! Some of the deaths are played for laughs and the characters actually have personality. This is one of the few movies in the series where the charcters are not so annoying that you cheer as Jason impales them. The paintball players are a prime example of this. The whole scene is one big joke and it works perfectly with the bouncy army theme played with it.
and Jason himself. I dont know why, but he seems really intense in this film. And more human too. Just the things he does in the film that are never matched by any of the others like the scene where he walks through the childrens cabin and kneeles beside the little girl and just watches her.like he is remembering his childhood.And that look he gives the camera when he hold up the arm of the paintaballer,like he gets the joke.There is just that little hint that Jason is still a human under that mask that is so subtle you almost miss it. C.J. Graham's subtle performance as Jason is almost as good as Kane Hodder's animalistic portrayal of Jason in the last few films.
the deaths are simple yet extremely effective. they arent the ludicrously elaborate ones in the previous ones but they are done with style, something missing from all the other sequels. the tree face smashing death and the Winnebago scene are examples of this.then there are the creative deaths(*caution: minor spoilers* one man is folded in half the wrong way so that his heels touch the back of his head and another has her face smashed so hard against the inside of a winnebago that her face leaves an imprint in the metal).
But for me a big part of what makes this film so good is the suspense created by director Tom McLoughlin. Usually i just watch the F13 movies to see jason beat the crap out of a bunch of annoying college kids, but this time i was like "look out!behind you!" and it surprised me. This is one of the few movies in the series where there are genuinely suspenseful moments. There are some amazing sequences in here as well. The opening scene in the cemetary is one of the best openings for any horror movie i have seen.its just so intense and well directed and the pacing is great.The Jason scene in the Winnebago is cleverly crafted and even a bit humerous. Tom McLoughlin even manages to get the people to act.what? acting in a F13 movie? well, its no oscar performance but its good enough for low budget 80's trendy horror. and there is some good music in here too.
what more can i say?this is as good as it gets.if you dont like this one then theres no hope of liking any of them.