A group of nosy young-adults get stuck in a town chock-full of colorful loonies, many of which like to torture and murder people for fun and entertainment.

This one's a weird one, most people aren't going to get it. Everything about it looks cheesy, but nothing seems cheesy when you watch it. It's completely unbelievable, but you don't really notice, Rob wasn't going for believable, he was going for balls-out mayhem, and he got there.

I didn't love it, but I did enjoy it. The closest comparison I can make is this movie uses music and little flashes of vintage horror the way Natural Born Killers used animation. At first it kind of seems like Rob was making a 90 minute music-video, but as it goes on it seems like one of the Italian horror movies where some scenes are made to seem more dreamlike than real.

It works, though. Basically Rob Zombie is a huge horror fan, he made up a horror movie the way he wanted it to be, we'd all love to do the same thing. There's no big twist at the end, he wasn't trying to make something completely original, he was trying to make a horror movie in the way he thought they should be made.

Most horror doesn't go so far as Rob was willing to. Horror isn't taken seriously, it's violence is expected to be light and fluffy. You very rarely see anything shocking in American horror, it's sanitized for your enjoyment. All the victims are usually obnoxious so you don't feel guilty when they get chopped. Rob doesn't bother with any of that crap, as far as he's concerned the good guys are the ones that are doing the chopping, if you can't get behind that way of thinking it's not his problem. He turned up the violence meter and didn't feel like he had to hold your hand while you watched.

It's strange, but while the movie doesn't strive for realism, some of it's more real than anything you'll seen in a slasher flick. The violence isn't all that pretty, the victims are sometimes left naked, hanging by shackles, often mutilated, raped, tortured. It's not graphic, but it's implied, and that's not the cute murders we've come to expect in a horror flick.

I think one of the most important parts of the movie was the use of sound, I guess that's not surprising considering the writer/director, but it's really what made the movie for me.

There's one scene of absolute mayhem, people getting beaten and chopped, women screaming, psychos laughing - while it happened the volume went way down and was covered with a cheesy old country song. This terrible, slow but happy song was playing, and in the background was the screaming, smashing and laughing. It made the scene.

And that's not an isolated incident, Rob used sound the way most directors use angles and lighting. The entire movie was made to seem more like a nightmare than an actual story.

It's also worth mentioning that whoever authored the DVD did a great job. The clown guy is the main menu, and he curses and insults you until you click one of the options. If you just sit and watch, there's more profanity comes out of his face than in a Tarantino flick. It was funny, but worried me that the movie was going to be a comedy/horror, but it never was.

6 out of 10 dead babies in jars

First off, I was entertained by this film and I enjoyed the 88 or so minutes that I took to view it. The gore effects were top notch and at times I did get a slight feeling of dread similar to the one that I had when I saw the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

However, there were some things that soured me just a little bit. I thought the presentation of the characters was just a bit too cartoon-like, with the exception of Otis. I also would have liked to have seen more of Captain Spaulding as he was the one I liked the most.

Back in August at the Horrorfind Convention, I was fortunate enough to sit in on a question and answer session with Sid Haig and Bill Moseley. They made it very clear that the sequel, The Devil's Rejects, was going to be a much grittier and darker film. They seemed very excited about how the shooting went as did the representative from Lions Gate.

I'm looking forward to the sequel not only to see what becomes of these characters but also to get the chance to see Sheri Moon in her skivies again. Mmm Mmm Sheri Moon!

7 out of 10 crazy-assed Stifler's Moms

Initially I was disappointed in this movie. It wasn't even remotely what I suspected. I was expecting reels upon reels of plasma, yards upon yards of intestines, arteries, and major organs eaten in alphabetical order.

I didn't get them, any of them. What the hell is this? The movie that's been going in and out of production, here and there between studios, it must be because it's so violent, twisted, gory, shocking.... It's not.

The more I watch this movie, the more I appreciated it, and it grows on me more with every viewing. Rob Zombie definitely knows what he's doing, and his vision is that of a die hard classic horror movie buff. He didn't cater to the gorehounds who "don't let the plot in the way of their gore." He didn't cater to the horndogs who want fully frontal rape and mayhem (although there is enough nudity to satisfy the sexual deviants somewhat). No, what he did was make a horror movie the way he thought it should be made, with little or no compromising with the Hollywood stuffed suit types.

This movie exhudes Indy type cinematics, and in the end it gives you that eerie Texas Chainsaw Massacre "These people are absolutely, unequivocally, fucking nuts!" feeling. And Sherri Moon is way friggin hot to boot!

Don't make your mind up about it after seeing it only once, or even twice for that matter. Highly recommended.

Started out as 6, but grew to 8 out of 10 fishboys

Initially I had no interest in this movie, but after watching Zombie comment on the films mentioned in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, it seemed like he knew what he was talking about.

I was amazed by how much this movie got under my skin. I loved Zombie's approach of making the victims completely secondary, showing that the family didn't care so much about killing them specifically, just killing when the chance arrose and turning it into a spectacle.

I didn't think it was a perfect movie, and at the time there were specific things I did not like. It's been a few weeks since I've seen it though, and I can't really remember what those things were, so the good definitely outweighed the bad.

In conclusion, Zombie's a badass, I can't wait for his next movie, and I give it 8 out of 10"dad suits" that put Leatherface to shame.

House of 1000 Corpses represents a first for me. This is the only time in my entire experience with the horror genre that the value I placed on a motion picture DECREASED after watching it's sequel. Upon my initial viewing, I was reasonably entertained. The acting was decent, there was some style in the way the film was shot (excellent use of color filters) and overall it was a creepy tale. Then I saw The Devil's Rejects and that sank everything for me.

After watching both films back to back, I am now of the opinion that Zombie had no real handle on the Firefly clan in the original. I don't think he really knew what to do wih these characters until the second film, and upon repeat viewings it shows.

House of 1,000 Corpses doesn't suck, but I do regard it as an inferior horror film, trading on the memories of better films which came out in the 1970's (the era of exploitation Zombie said he was trying to evoke). Since it isn't particularly original, I think the gore quotient should have been rachted up a few notches. As it is, I felt as if I had seen this tale done more effectively (Either version of The Hills Have Eyes or TCM come to mind). This is an okay curiosity, but for real down to earth, meat and potatoes horror fans should skip ahead to the superior sequel.

Terrific performance by Bill Moseley though.

Six out of Ten Freaky Fishboys