It’s tough to scare rocker Rob Zombie, but Hollywood terrified him
It’s tough to scare hard-core rocker Rob Zombie, but what happened during his dealings with Hollywood studio chiefs terrified him. The 37-year-old musician, who began his career with the group White Zombie, grew up watching edgy fright films such as Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” (1978) and Wes Craven’s “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977) and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984). He had always dreamed of making his directing debut with a movie that would salute those genre favorites and wrote “House of 1000 Corpses” as a tribute to them.
Three years ago, Zombie completed the script and approached Universal Pictures, where the executives quickly wrote him a check for $7 million to cover the cost of the modest production, which was filmed in 2000 and originally scheduled to open May 2001. (The average Hollywood movie costs approximately $60 million.) The studio chiefs kept a close eye on the debuting director as he shot his dark tale, which concerns four teen-agers whose road trip turns deadly when they unwisely travel some bleak back roads and encounter a family of freaks and psychopaths.
By the time Zombie completed the 1977-set “House of 1000 Corpses,” which stars Karen Black (“Trilogy of Terror”), Bill Moseley (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”) and Sid Haig (“Spider Baby”), the mood among lawmakers in Washington, D.C., had changed to a strong anti-violence stance due to the Columbine tragedy. Suddenly, the studio chiefs claimed the film would be rated NC-17 (even though it eventually received an R rating) and planned to put “Corpses,” which they described as “nihilistic and morally questionable,” into permanent retirement.
For two years, Zombie fought to have the film released and initially succeeded when approaching the production chiefs at MGM. They agreed to distribute it in 2002, but then Zombie casually made an offhanded comment about the controversy, and the media picked it up. His words scared the MGM chiefs, who worried about the company’s image and buried “Corpses” once again.
The movie remained orphaned until Zombie approached Lions Gate Films, a company famous for handling potentially risky projects such as “American Psycho” and “Irreversible.” Zombie and Lions Gate eventually co-purchased the distribution rights and will release it on April 11.
According to Zombie, “House of 1000 Corpses” is the victim of a prejudice against fright films and rock music.
“I find that both horror movies and heavy metal are frowned upon,” Zombie says in the fantasy magazine Cinescape. “I really wanted to make a weird film like the ones I remember as a kid in the ’70s. I was constantly discovering a new weird film.”
This isn’t Zombie’s first Hollywood headache. In the late 1990s, Miramax Films hired him to write and direct “The Crow III.” The studio dropped him when Zombie planned to make an extremely hard-edged tale and the executives preferred something lighter for teen audiences.
Those two experiences haven’t soured the rocker on Tinsel Town. He still wants to be a filmmaker, and if “House of 1000 Corpses” scores at the box office, Zombie plans to write and direct a sequel, which is no doubt a scary thought for the Hollywood establishment.
Mark your calendars
Fans of dark-fantasy tales like “House of 1000 Corpses” will be happy to hear that the Chiller Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo will be held April 25-27 at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel, 2 Meadowlands Plaza in East Rutherford (just off of exit 16W of the New Jersey Turnpike).
Presented by Chiller Theatre magazine in association with Something Weird Video, the convention, held twice annually in the fall and spring, is the biggest fantasy film gathering on the East Coast. In addition to dealers rooms with collectibles ranging from art works and vintage posters to model kits and comic books, the event features numerous guest stars who sign autographs and answer questions.
Those will include: Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in the original “Star Wars” series), Stella Stevens (“The Nutty Professor”), Yvonne Craig (TV’s Batgirl), Linnea Quigley (“Return of the Living Dead”).
For prices, show times, complete guest list and other information, go to www.chillertheater.com or call 201-457-1991.
An ‘Explosion’ of Japanese work
With Hayao Miyazaki’s exquisitely made pen-and-ink import “Spirited Away” winning the Oscar as best animated film, many eyes are suddenly on the “anime” work being done in Japan.
A guide can be found in “Anime Explosion: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation” by Patrick Drazen (“Stone Bridge Press Publishers; www.stonebridge.com; $18.95).
Drazen describes “Anime Explosion” as a handbook to the Japanese art form, which has its roots in Japanese culture and comics and features archetypes such as war, reincarnation and ghosts. The author looks at key anime filmmakers, notably Miyazaki, whose other credits include “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Princess Mononoke.”
According to Drazen, the 62-year-old Miyazaki’s discomfort with the behavior of young people in today’s world helped to form Chihiro, a girl who goes on a sometimes frightening journey in “Spirited Away.”
“Chihiro is what Miyazaki considers to be an all-too-common modern 10-year-old: jaded, cynical, lacking any passion for life,” the author writes in “Anime Explosion.” “The change happens when her parents drive through a tunnel and come out the other side into an alternate reality, a therapeutic hot springs for spirits, monsters and witches.”
“Spirited Away” (Disney; $19.99, tape; $29.99, DVD) arrives in stores on April 15, and “Anime Explosion” is a good way to obtain insights into that Academy Award-winning film and many other colorful works from Japan.