6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre And House Of 1000 Corpses
Theme: Meet the (incredibly twisted) family. Some people believe that there's nothing wrong with keeping things in the family. But some families take this concept way, way too far, and their family values turn into something far removed from our own. You wouldn't want to meet them in the real world, but through the magic of horror cinema you can spend some time with incredibly twisted families without risking any harm to yourself - beyond possible psychological damage, of course. The first twisted and macabre family in horror movie history can be said to have come from Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A visit to a deceased grandmother's home turns into a fight for survival as the innocent teens find themselves falling foul of Leatherface and company. Hooper's film broke new ground in many respects, but it is the iconic screen villain Leatherface who lingers in the mind once you're tucked up in bed and the lights are out. Clearly relishing in the slasher genre and playfully sending up some of the classics, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses is perhaps best summed up by the expression grand guignol. About as subtle as a chainsaw to your face, this is a visceral thrill ride of a horror movie; a cinematic freak show in which deranged psychopaths and Hellish creatures lurk in every room. And then there's Dr. Satan to contend with...
