10 Scariest Movie & TV Clowns
3. Captain Spaulding – House Of 1000 Corpses (2003), The Devil’s Rejects (2005) And 3 From Hell (2019)
In House of 1000 Corpses, Captain Spaulding is introduced as the proprietor of Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen. He seems friendly and normal except for his creepy clown face paint. However, before the opening credits have rolled, maniacally shoots dead some gunmen who hold up his shop.
The museum includes a funhouse train exhibit about various serial killers, including one called Dr Satan, and a group of teenagers are treated to his show. Captain Spaulding sends them excitedly off to find the tree where Dr Satan was hanged, leading them to meet a hitchhiking girl called Baby.
The film continues to be a kind of circus-themed Texas Chainsaw Massacre as their car breaks down and they end up in the house of the horrifying Firefly family, which even includes TCM’s Bill Moseley. After a gruesome night, one of the girls manages to escape, where she thankfully hails down Captain Spaulding who is driving past. The twist is that he is the patriarch of the family and lures people in for them to ‘play’ with.
Probably the best example of a deep south, hillbilly clown, he and his family appear in two sequels; The Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell. He is executed on Death Row early on in the third film, although his family continues to carry out his murderous legacy.