The Sinister Urge
Combined with music often provided by the artist himself, Rob Zombie’s movies are a unique audiovisual experience.
~ Part 1 ~
“Dead I am the light, Dig into the skin… Knuckle crack the bone, Twenty-one to win… Dead I am the dog, Hound of hell you cry… Devil on your back, I can never die.”
— Rob Zombie ~ Dragula
Thrill of the Kill
Back when I was a kid in the late 70’s and early 80’s, I had a fascination with monsters and monster see movies.
They both captivated me with the ability to both shock and entertain my young mind.
I’d spend thousands of hours of my time watching Creature Double Feature, Tales From the Crypt and classic Universal Monster movies in my bedroom.
One of my favorites were the Hammer Horror films, a company known for their Gothic horror films from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and were the first to give rise to the vampire films that featured nocturnal feeding, blood and fangs.
I had a very high level of appreciation for my beloved Vincent Price and watched classics like The Pit and the Pendulum, House on Haunted Hill, The Last Man on Earth and House of Wax every chance I could.
It was the thrill of the kill and all those suspenseful moments leading up to it in those films, carried by fantastic performances that appealed to me.
Those days eventually started me on my path of deep love and appreciation for the eccentric horror films and campy low budget B-films of the 1970’s and 80’s and shaped my passion for the horror genre.
In fact, I spent hours just staring at the boxes in the horror section of my local Blockbuster Video.
I practically lived there and loved movies so much that I eventually took a job as a clerk at Blockbuster, when I was in High School.
When I look back, it one of my most favorite jobs as a young man.
Truly it was.
I loved making suggestions to customers on movie selections and regularly offered my opinion about what movies I thought would make a great watch for them.
It was thrilling for me.
Especially when they came back into the store and confirmed that they also enjoyed the films I suggested.
It was a win-win job for me as it afforded me all the free rentals my heart desired while making money saving for my first car.
I wasn’t always after the New Releases like mostly everyone else, which left the horror section almost untouched and my oyster for the picking on many nights.
But most of all, it was because I was surrounded by movies.
A passion of mine that is so much a part of my personality still to this day.
As I matured, so did my appetite for horror films. I loved being scared, unnerved and anxious… the more the better, so I was always looking for something new that would shock my mind.
That’s the essence of a great suspenseful story in horror… isn’t it?
The ability to cause anxiety while watching it, despite its objectionable limitations in creativity.
It like witnessing an accident of some type… you don’t necessarily want to look but you don’t turn away nonetheless.
The films that became my favorites almost always had that effect on me and in fact, still do.
In addition to the elements of good horror, what always appealed to me was the art of the crafty dialogue.
From classic directors like Hitchcock and Carpenter to students of classic film turned legendary filmmaker like Tarantino and Brian De Palma… I loved it all.
With the craftsmanship of great character design and sharp dialogue the horror films often take shape as psychological thrillers and are so much more than just the blood on film.
And while it’s true that the way movies were portrayed onscreen in the past few decades as opposed to today’s films have changed over time, its core elements and themes have not.
They’ve just evolved with the times to become what this generation has become accustomed to as a norm…whether straight up shocking or psychologically terrifying.
Mind Echoes
As I grew older, I began to appreciate great character development and the films and franchises that were produced by many different artists and directors throughout the horror genre.
Horror films were in the sweet spot back then, and became more popular with TV shoes and the rise of the B level films during that era.
From Mary Shelley’ s Frankenstein to the gothic horror Dracula with Christopher Lee and into the 80’s with Jason and Myers… horror movies were always a hit for fans worldwide.
Impressionable audiences were exposed to more blood, violence and shock elements than ever before as the times passed on into the new era.
Directors pushed the envelope to make the most shocking films they could garnering more fans along the way.
It eventually turned me onto the style of Rob Zombie’s films.
He, like me grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and was a product of his environment.
So when he decided to remake two of my most beloved John Carpenter films Halloween and Halloween II, I was very excited, to see what his version would bring us.
Sure we all know that the Carpenter version can never be topped, but it was refreshing to see Michael Myers back on the screen with a fresh coat of paint.
I was already a huge fan of John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven and Zombie struck me with his raw energy and approach in his films.
One element I liked the most about his cinematic style were films that were made to produce a gritty and realistic look within the film causing visual despair… Rob Zombie’s films do that just like vintage Tobe Hooper.
When I think back, it’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Tobe Hooper (1974) comes to mind as one of the best examples of this.
I was so engrossed by the surrealistic nature of the film and the scary and disturbing scenes in the film.
The atmosphere was beyond dirty, and made me feel on edge the entire time that I watched and rewatched the film.
It was realistic… and it still echoes in my mind.
The story that was told of Texas Chainsaw Massacre “Based on a real story” of five friends that head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather only to they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house and discover something sinister within forever became ingrained into my mind.
I was absorbed into the terror of the film… I admired the long cinematic shots and lighting which had created a terrifying sensation as I watched the film.
The sinister Leatherface armed with a chainsaw hunting down his victims alarmed me and my sense of security.
I still get that sensation now, when I watch it.
A one of a kind film.
Tobe Hooper had totally enraptured me into his film, and I still sit on the edge of my seat when I watch it.
I loved the film so much, that I was just so elated to find an abandoned house that looked almost like the one in the film nearby where I live.
Living in Northern Massachusetts, many abandoned farm houses give off a classic horror film appeal in the likeness of Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw.
I would visit this location often and take photos from the outside and peer into the dirty windows to see what I could.
Around back was a doghouse, with the name Rusty scrawled over the top of the dog door opening.
I wondered what kind of dog it was… and if he was still alive… or if anyone was inside the house.
Sadly I never ran into anyone… or anything. But the scare level was through the roof as its eeriness bled through the walls and tried to grab me.
I nicknamed it the Nightmare House, as it was the fuel of nightmares to even imagine what had happened in that house and why it was still there.
I still get chills when I think about it and the screams echo in my mind.
Up until last year, my regular visits would come to an end as the property eventually sold and its new owners rehabbed the house.
Im kind of sad that it’s gone, as it really added excitement to my horror obsession and created a sense of its reality for me.
I grew up in New England, and still live here.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire are littered with old and abandoned farmhouses, lakeside camp sites and spooky places, especially along its northern rural areas.
It’s a fun to find them and visit them on roadtrips sometimes. Especially for a guy who grew up absolutely loving horror movies and had a passion for the Friday the 13th films.
Another great place I’ve visited is the Kill Shed, which is in Southern Massachusetts which is privately owned by a friend of mine I met through another close friend and resembles the same kind of barns and sheds that were in the Friday the 13th films.
In fact, it’s almost spot on from the studio soundstage.
He’s somewhat a of a huge movie collector and has one of a kind pieces and the largest personal collection of movie props and vehicles from films like Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters and authentic World War II memorabilia and vehicles.
It’s an excellent collection and I was very privileged to have been able to get to share an incredible experience with friends touring his life’s passion of collecting, which I like to do as well on a much smaller scale.
I’ve included some photo collages in this article and they still don’t do any justice to actually being there and experiencing it first hand and thinking about all the tomfuckery that might have taken place there as a detailed replication of the original film location.
Growing up in the state of Massachusetts where the Salem witches lived is another highlight worthy of mention for the horror fan like me.
I’ll touch upon Salem, Massachusetts later on in my story, as it’s probably the crown jewel of places for the evil within that was a product of my state.
Metal Music and Maniacal Movies…
When I was first getting into metal music, I was a freshman in high school. I had a pausing interest in it as some of my most favorite bands were the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden and not all of that genre music grabbed me.
However, as I sampled more and more bands on suggestions from my friends and classmates my appreciation and love grew exponentially.
American metal musician Rob Zombie is one of those artists I came to love and appreciate.By extension, his first band, White Zombie was weren’t got my first taste of the world of Rob Zombie.
I even remember playing songs from Zombie on the PlayStation Guitar Hero and Rock Band video game series video games and as his albums came out over time, I listened to them, bought them and shared them as my sinister urge to hear more grew stronger as his music did.
There’s really something quite unique about Rob Zombie and his work and his ability to create new life in the steps of Alice Cooper was a testament to his craft.
In fact, Zombie and Cooper teamed up again, this year for the 2024 Freaks on Parade tour, a metal music, horror infused rock concert that is beyond mind blowing.
You see, the world of Rob Zombie’s macabre “spookshow international” is not a world that lighthearted… it’s graphic, but very artistic as a proper tribute fittingly for the horror genre combined with great heavy metal music.
If you’re a metal and horror fan… It’s nigh-on impossible to imagine a better mix… it’s actually an awesome experience.
He embodies the literal essence of a top shelf haunted house ride that never ends.
I think back and think of those days in my bedroom, spinning my records from some my favorite bands like KISS, Black Sabbath and Ozzy, Metallica, Slayer and Judas Priest, and knowing that’s where I grew into my love affair with rock and metal music… baptized from the awesome broadcasts of Wolfman Jack from my early days on radio.
I remember the soulful and raspy voice of the Wolfman bellowing from my mother’s stereo system downstairs, as I lay in my bed and listening to his introductions of some great songs that defined eras in music.
Oddly enough, many of those songs as well as the Wolfman’s iconic voice and howling personality can be heard in horror films, and in Rob Zombie’s movies in particular.
I continued to listen rock music and many heavy metal bands as the years progressed like Rob Zombie, GodSmack and Disturbed among my very favorites.
Over the years, heavy metal has become one of my most favorite genres in music.
The horror genre embraces many forms of art, affecting their aesthetics, content, and style representation. It tackles the themes of death, supernatural, ghosts, monsters, witchcraft, and generally everything dark and evil that can awaken the sense of fear.
Rob Zombie embraces these principles in his films and his music.
The influence of horror although controversial, can be both repulsive and attractive at the same time.
Due to its intensity, it can arouse a creative impulse, and its ambiguity can provide a great source of inspiration for many artists and the audiences who watch it.
Horror loves to try new things, bring new concepts into its ever evolving web, and no form is spared.
Heavy metal and horror have coexisted and influenced each other for over half a century. According to an online source, I read … Asbjørn Dyrendal, a professor of history and sociology, stated rock music began to evolve and manifest a heavier sound in the early 1970s, when the bands started to “look at horror films in cinema and the demonic or evil as inspiration for their music style, lyrics and aesthetics.
Besides cinema, many musicians found inspiration in horror literature, implementing some themes from it in their work.
Alike, Rob Zombie’s films have also done just that, and although he wasn’t the first… he’s done so a a much larger scale as a feature film director and writer.
But metal music has always had a special connection with the horror genre.
- Anthrax’s Among the Living and Metallica’s Ride the Lightning are based on Stephen King novels. Iron Maiden’s Murders in the Rue Morgue is a clear reference to the Edgar Allan Poe’s short story. Metallica’s Call of the Ktulu and Black Sabbath’s Behind the Wall of Sleep are inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s work as is Zombie’s Dragula pays homage to Dracula and the car featured in the Munsters TV show.
Heavy metal lyrics often focus on dark themes like war, destruction, and violence, but are sometimes described as truthful, fictional, or deep as well… it’s arguably the most commercially successful genre of rock music and I just love it.
Rob Zombie has left his imprint on that genre for sure and he’s now taken on cinema as his next passion, which is indeed just as stellar in his own unique strange and unexpected style.
As a lifelong film collector, historian and pop culture fanatic, I’m sure you’ll find, as I do that his films have cultivated a strong cult following over the course of seven features, establishing himself as an undeniable auteur with an unmistakable stamp on the horror cinematic world.
Whether that stamp appeals to you or not is simply a matter of taste, and we take a deep look into it in the next article in my new After Dark series from my All in Writer Journey right here on Medium.
If you’ve made it this far… I want to thank you for reading and implore you to follow me here on Medium and Social Media for much more to come…
While many of his films might make uncomfortable watches for squeamish viewers, there’s no doubt that Zombie has a most distinct, consistent cinematic style, and his willingness to take formal and thematic risks make him an exciting filmmaker, that I deeply explore in Part 2 of The Sinister Urge that you will not want to miss.
Until then… I’m going to cue up some great music from Rob Zombie and wonder what he has lined up next for the horror community as we eagerly await his next project.
See you soon. — CJ ✌🏻
Up next… Greatness from small beginnings, more about Boston area born, Rob Zombie, and I delve in deep into his theatrical journey and lineup of excellent movies in the horror genre.
💢 To be continued… and thanks for reading, stay tuned!! 💢
C.J. CardiacDrop 2024 ©️
The Rundown with CJ returns soon Live from Boston!! Check out my past shows with the After Hours crew!!
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