HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES
(Fri 5th-Thurs 11th / 9:30pm / £4/3)
(Zombie / 2003 / USA / 89 mins / 35mm / cert 18)

Long awaited debut feature from gothy, unkempt weirdo-rocker Rob Zombie here brings his affections for films like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, FREAKS, and the EVIL DEAD series to his directorial debut. This one begins in traditional schlock-horror fashion with four young road-tripping dolts taking a pit stop at the Museum of Monsters and Madmen. The proprietor is the lunatic Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), a menace in clown paint whom we first meet bumping off two potential robbers. He takes the kids on his haunted house ride, chats them up on the legend of local serial killer "Doctor Satan," then sends them on their way. They end up lost in the woods and stumble across an old mansion inhabited by a weird lady (Karen Black) and her even weirder family. Gore and chaos ensue and are both set to overdrive.

With the run up to the commercial enema they call Christmas, the Cube offers up a film for passive nihilists everywhere- a mixture of Wes Craven's finest hours, Fangoria magazine cut-up, vintage erotica, and the collected body of work of Hershell Gordon Lewis. Having suffered a 2.5 year release delay due to the weak-stomached majors, it was only thanks to Lions Gate, an indie distributor well-known for backing bold, adventurous movies that others wouldn't touch (Kevin Smith's DOGMA being another example) that this flick ever reached the silver screen. If you are willing to let it, this film will scare and shock the fuck out of you.