Five Fun Facts About Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses

Posted by Melissa Locker on July 18th

We’re showing a double dose of horror tonight kicking off at 8/7c with The Hills Have Eyes 2, followed by heavy metal rocker Rob Zombie’s directorial debut with The House of 1000 Corpses at 10/9c. It’s a macabre film heavily inspired by the horror and exploitation cinema of the 1970s like IFC faves The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. The film follows two couples on a road trip to research a book on weird roadside attractions. On their travels they come across the Museum of Monsters and Madmen, run by a strange gas station owner who calls himself Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). Spaulding tells the teenagers the legend of Dr. Satan, a sinister physician who was hanged from a nearby tree. Obviously they want to investigate, which puts them in the path of the Firefly clan, a family of twisted rednecks who proceed to terrorize and torture the innocent travelers.

Here are five fun facts about the film to know before you watch The House of 1000 Corpses tonight at 10 p.m. ET:

1. The Office‘s resident straight man Rainn Wilson stars as Bill. It’s one of his first forays onto the silver screen.
2. The names of the film’s villains were taken from the names of Groucho Marx characters (Animal Crackers’ “Captain Spaulding”, A Night at the Opera’s “Otis B. Driftwood”, Duck Soup’s “Rufus T. Firefly”, and A Day at the Races’ “Hugo Z. Hackenbush”, among others).
3. Nerdist’s own Chris Hardwick stars as Jerry Goldsmith.
4. Justified star Walton Goggins plays number one sheriff’s deputy Steve Naish
5. The titular house in the film is the same house used in the 1982 Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds flick The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

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House of 1000 Corpses airs on IFC tonight at 10:00 PM ET; Friday, Jul. 19 at 2:00 AM ET; Wednesday, Jul. 31 at 8:00 PM ET; Monday, Aug. 12 at 12:00 AM ET; Monday, Aug. 12 at 3:45 AM ET