20th Anniversary TLDR: House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Fried chicken and gasoline.
Plot: Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Direction & Screenplay: Rob Zombie had never made a movie before and definitely had no idea that this would spawn a few sequels, or that he would get to make Halloween and Munsters movies, or that he'd still be doing this. He just wanted to make a movie full of everything he ever loved. Elvis Costello once said, "You have 20 years to write your first album and you have six months to write your second one." Zombie was 35 when he made this and it's 35 years worth of horror references, inspirations, and favorites all crammed into one crazy feature. As a result, Universal couldn't believe what a nightmare it was. Production was completed in 2000, but it was shelved for years as Universal didn't want to release it and they couldn't find anyone else. Eventually, Lionsgate bought it and today it's a cult classic. What do they know? Anyway, I suppose it's the first entry in my 20th Anniversary series celebrating 23 years.
Performances: A cast full of horror icons (Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley), future horror icons (Sheri Moon - that's right, I said it!), and "Wait! Is that..?" (Rainn Wilson, Chris Hardwick, Walton Goggins) performances. There's no weak spot. They're all a blast to spend time with.
Best moment: I can't decide which t-shirt I like more: Tiny wears that shirt that says CHEAP ASS HALLOWEEN COSTUME, which is great. But I also love when Captain Spaulding is being interrogated by police and he's wearing a devilish Piggy Wiggly-looking tee with the phrase PIGS IS BEAUTIFUL.
Fun fact #1: The Firefly house is the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas house.
Fun fact #2: According to Zombie, all of the extra/other footage is lost. In his Fathom Events intro, he said that this is the "final" version of the film.
Fun fact #3: Zombie's Blu-ray commentary is hilarious. It's very literal. “That’s Rainn Wilson.” “We filmed this at 5:00am.” “There’s a dog lying in front of the car.”
Imaginary accolade: Best Texas Chainsaw Sequel/Prequel/Remake/Rehash (Yes, it's better than that one - sorry!)
Everything is too long. Is it too long? 89 minutes - that's how long movies should be. Even better, the recent Fathom events screening didn't have any trailers!
Rating: Perfectly walks the line between homage and parody.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.