It’s a bit of whiplash to go from covering Psycho (listen), Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 classic, to Rob Zombie’s Southern-fried feature debut, House of 1000 Corpses, but that’s what Jenn and I are doing as we continue our month-long exploration of Ed Gein. If you haven’t listened to the primer (here), that’s the best place to begin.
In Zombie’s first film, four College kids – Jerry (Chris Hardwick), Bill (Rainn Wilson), Mary (Jennifer Jostyn), and Denise (Erin Daniels) – run afoul of the Firefly clan and fight to survive the night. Of course, the demented family is more fun to watch, especially sexually aggressive Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) and knife-happy Otis (Bill Moseley).
What’s fascinating about Zombie’s film, apart from how overwhelming his visuals are, is how many horror and true crime homages he packs in. This includes the trio of historical killers in Captain Spaulding’s (Sid Haig) convenience store ride, the skin mask that Otis makes from Denise’s father, and the shed of horrors containing mutilated women that heavily evokes Gein.
But is this Zombie doing a pastiche of his greatest influences, his take on the Gein story, or his attempt to replicate Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre?
Listen to find out!
Episode 8: House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Jenn and Joe talk Mr. Robert Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses (2003) aka a “Punch Me in the Face” film. Is this film adapting Ed Gein or is this Zombie’s take on Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre?
Plus: Southern stereotypes, the film’s overwhelming visuals, gendered violence, and how the discussion extends into The Devil’s Rejects.
If you want even more Murder Made Fiction, be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have ~11 hours of bonus content. Episodes in this month include a full-length primer detailing Gein’s crimes, in-depth discussions of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, and episode by episode coverage of MGM+s Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein.
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