10 Most Messed Up Horror Movie Families

4. The Firefly Family - House Of 1000 Corpses

House of 1000 Corpses Firefly Family
Lionsgate

Not just House of 1000 Corpses, of course, but the Firefly clan were also involved in plentiful bloodshed and brutality in 2005's The Devil's Rejects and 2019's 3 from Hell.

In Rob Zombie's 2003 directorial debut, Hose of 1000 Corpses introduced this twisted family in such a way that it immediately positioned them as one of the all-time great, all-time most disturbed family units in the history of horror.

With major genre favourite Karen Black heading up this clan as Mama Firefly, that '03 picture saw Baby, Otis, Tiny, Rufus, Grandpa Hugo, Earl, Dr. Satan and the ever-charming Captain Spaulding on chilling form for the poor saps who found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time.

By the time of The Devil's Rejects, Mama - Leslie Easterbook replacing the sadly deceased Black here - Baby, Otis and Captain Spaulding would be back, with minor roles for Tiny and Rufus. And once more, the M.O. of the Firefly unit was to amass an impressive body count, this time while on the run.

That sequel would end with the entire Firefly clan 'dead', as an explosive shootout plays out to the soundtrack of Lynyrd Skynyrd's iconic Freebird. But dead didn't really mean dead, for Otis, Baby and briefly Spaulding would return for yet more carnage in 3 from Hell.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.