House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 20, 2023

Lionsgate's 4K UHD release gauntlet has provided me with literally years of opportunities for jokes in the "what were they thinking?" category, with the punchline often being that the studio must have had remainder 1080 discs they needed to unload, and packaging them with a 2160 disc was evidently deemed the way to go. In somewhat the same vein of humor (?), it might be argued that Lionsgate (or Lions Gate, considering the age of this particular film) still has piles of 1080 discs of House of 1000 Corpses lying around, and offering a 20th Anniversary package with additional bonus content and a ton of non disc swag (as well as a separate deluxe "standard" packaging release of the film) might be the way to go, especially since this approach doesn't require a pesky 4K scan and/or restoration. Joking (mostly) aside, House of 1000 Corpses has its own peculiar charm, at least for those who are attuned to Rob Zombie's rather trenchant sense of humor and horror, and this edition may be alluring for its packaging, extra bonus content and non disc swag. That said, the main feature is offered on what appears to be the exact same disc that Marty and I reviewed separately years (and years and years) ago, replete with some now probably quaint "coming attraction" trailers as well as both video and audio codecs that may seem positively ancient to some.

As alluded to above, House of 1000 Corpses had a very early domestic Blu-ray release way back in 2007, and those interested in a detailed plot recap are encouraged to read Martin Liebman's House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray review. Years later, Australia's Umbrella Entertainment also released the film as part of Two From Hell, and I contributed my thoughts in my own House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray review. The review below will repeat some of my original review, as appropriate.

House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

House of 1000 Corpses is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The old style "Lions Gate" logo in conjunction with the now outdated audio codec (see below) this release sports makes me think this is probably the same master that Lionsgate itself released several years ago for the United States market, but as Marty discussed in his review of that release, this transfer is surprisingly vibrant in this presentation. Zombie's prevalent use of both reds and blues pops quite impressively throughout. Detail levels are somewhat variable, but in many of the close-ups are excellent, to the point that you can almost make out individual flakes of powder adorning Sid Haig's face. The film is stuffed with archival video and tweaks to the contemporary shot footage, all of which combines to make for an intentionally heterogeneous appearance that can be fairly rough looking at times.

House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

House of 1000 Corpses sports the same DTS-HD HR 7.1 track that was on the previous American Lionsgate release and the Australian release from Umbrella Entertainment. This forerunner of "modern day" DTS-HD Master Audio tracks gets the job done rather well, all things considering, though the low end might have had a bit more oomph, especially considering the head banging music that is part of the offering. Surround activity is notable throughout the presentation, especially once the mayhem gets really rolling. Dialogue is generally presented cleanly and clearly, though sometimes the cacophony of what's going on around it can tend to mask individual lines.

House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Audio Commentary with Director Rob Zombie


• HOTC: Zombietron (HD*) is a kind of goofy "videogame" where you control a lawman with the arrow keys on your remote and attempt to avoid zombies as you rescue various people tied to chairs. It's almost hilariously lo-fi, much like the film itself.


• Making Of Featurette (SD; 4:15)


• Behind the Scenes (SD; 2:35)


• Tiny F***ed a Stump (SD; 3:08)


• Casting Footage (SD; 2:07)


• Rehearsal Footage (SD; 3:44)


• Cast & Crew Interviews

  Bill Mosely (SD; 4:30)

  
  

  Sid Haig (SD; 5:43)

  
  

  Sherl Moon (SD; 1:33)

  
  

  Wayne Toth (SD; 3:33)


*720

Disc Two

• Cast and Director Interviews

  Rob Zombie (HD; 4:27)

  
  

  Sid Haig (HD; 9:20)

  
  

  Bill Moseley (HD; 10:33)

  
  

  Sheri Moon (HD; 11:53)

  
  

  Karen Black (HD; 11:10)

  
  

  Robert Mukes (HD; 13:51)

  
  

  Rainn Wilson (HD; 8:49)

  
  

  Chris Hardwick (HD; 8:53)

  
  

  Erin Daniels (HD; 13:02)

  
  

  Irwin Keyes (HD; 7:04)

  
  

  Jennifer Jostyn (HD; 6:17)

  
  

  Wayne Toth (HD; 10:19)

  
  Note: There is a Play All option for all of the above interviews.

• Behind the Scenes

  BTS 1 (HD; 17:02)

  
  

  BTS 2 (HD; 20:14)

  
  

  BTS 3 (HD; 8:22)

  
  

  BTS 4 (HD; 21:44)

  
  

  BTS 5 (HD; 22:37)

  
  

  Dr. Satan Test (HD; 1:31)

  
  

  Professor Test (HD; 2:24)

  
  

  Electronic Press Kit (HD; 4:21)

  
  

  Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:09)

  
  Note: There is a Play All option for all of the above content.

In lieu of quite a bit of non disc swag and some rather nice, if more "conventional", packaging in Lionsgate's release linked to above, this SteelBook offers a really great looking set of illustrations by Vance Kelly. The emphasis is on deep reds and oranges, with some cooler blues offered on the interior. A mylar O Ring superimposes a cross over the imagery on the front cover. The screenshots accompanying this review give a closer look at the packaging.

House of 1000 Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you've ever wanted to see a film featuring the likes of Karen Black, Chris Hardwick, Michael J. Pollard and Sid Haig (to name but a few), this is your chance. House of 1000 Corpses is a kind of crazy quilt of horror tropes, but it's effectively gory and kind of goofily humorous a lot of the time, too. Technical merits are generally solid despite some older codecs, though fans will have to decide if they want to spring for this version, which comes without all of the non disc swag of the other version. At least for those who like lots of carnage, House of 1000 Corpses comes Recommended.