Rob Zombie's directorial debut, House of 1000 Corpses, made the director a household name amongst horror fans and, while the film has since become a cult classic, Zombie isn't in love with the final product.
House of 1000 Corpses is beloved by genre fans for numerous reasons. The Firefly family worked well within the adage of "the family that slays together, stays together", and the lethal charm portrayed by lead actors Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and Sheri Moon Zombie earned them a strong fanbase. Beyond that, it was a return to a specific type of horror that more hardcore fans tend to get behind; it's a throwback to the gritty, 1970s style grindhouse and exploitation films. Plus, the killer redneck tropes got a refreshing makeover in Zombie's hands.
Even so, Rob Zombie expressed that making the film wasn't without its hardships and more than a few difficulties during production left him feeling disenfranchised with the material. For a while, it seemed Zombie might not make a return to horror at all, and part of that was due to this film and harsh critiques of his attempt to remake John Carpenter's Halloween through his own lens in 2007.
Rob Zombie Doesn't Like His Movie (Despite The Cult Following)
In an interview, Zombie expressed his opinions about House of 1000 Corpses being a failure in his eyes. Zombie said, "The first film [I directed], which people seem to love, is just a calamitous mess. Well, when it came out it seemed like everyone hated it. Now everyone acts like it’s beloved in some way. All I see is flaw, upon flaw, upon flaw… upon flaw.” Though this may come as a shock to fans, there could be numerous reasons for Zombie's feelings about the film. Rob Zombie is typically known for his sharp tongue and brutal honesty, and doesn't seem to pull any punches here. He's cited difficulties with production before, which seems to be standard fare for horror productions that have gone on to be very successful, like Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The Firefly family's home in House of 1000 Corpses is the same house that was used in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and is located on the Universal backlot in Los Angeles. At Universal Studios, the tram tours of the backlot run during the park's normal operating hours, and despite Zombie filming a rather intense movie, Universal refused to stop the tours. This resulted in delays and set-backs of crucial scenes during filming. Zombie has also stated that, to appease Universal, he had to shoot many of the film's more violent scenes twice. Usually, these differences would be with blood and without blood, but other alterations had to be made accordingly, which likely would have been a tedious undertaking.
Zombie also struggled with getting an R rating for the film, which was initially given an NC-17. Some reports state that, to achieve this, around forty minutes had to be cut from the film. Zombie spoke about releasing a full version with all the death scenes and gore in their original forms, but this never came to fruition. Though fans have been asking for the unrated director's cut for years, Zombie has stated that the footage is no longer available, which may add more reason as to why he's so displeased with the theatrical version as it currently exists. Despite not being fully satisfied, Zombie reprised House of 1000 Corpses by bringing the Firefly clan back in The Devil's Rejects and 3 From Hell.