AVC: You're obviously influenced by '70s horror films. What sets that era apart, in your mind, from other periods in American horror?
RZ: Actually, I would say that this film is at least as influenced by '70s crime movies and action movies, anything from Dirty Harry to Bonnie And Clyde. And I think what sets that decade apart for me is that those movies were made in a time where the director was key. The director was the god on set with the vision. And I think as the '80s crept in, it became more about actors and gimmicks and studios, you know. I still think the '70s was the last great time where films were being made for the sake of the film and not for the sake of the money. Even though, of course, people were always trying to make money, it seemed like art was still important. And I think now that's what sets those films apart, no matter what type of film you're talking about.
AVC: If you were to compile a list of essential horror films of that period, what would be on it? And why?
RZ: At that time, even the big studio pictures like The Shining were still great and still off the wall. But then you have the nastier stuff—like, say, The Hills Have Eyes was a great picture. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is obviously a great picture. Dawn Of The Dead was a great movie. The Exorcist, of course, was a great movie. I mean, there's just a lot of great stuff from the '70s.
AVC: These movies like The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House On The Left, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre have a realism that's lacking in every other period in American movies. And that's something you recreate in both of these features.
RZ: I think people respond well, because I think you have a feeling when you're watching those movies that everything's not going to be okay. And I think that was a result of all the guys like Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper, who were products of the Vietnam era, where clearly everything was not going to be okay all the time. It can be very upsetting to watch a movie where it soon becomes obvious that there are no rules and you don't know what's going to happen and it's not going to turn out nice. It's really unsettling. And I do feel that today, movies just don't have that feeling. They're much nicer. And I think that when it comes to certain types of movies, like horror movies, you don't want to go in feeling that you're being protected by the studio or the director. You want to feel like all bets are off, if you want that experience. And that's what I tried to do with this movie, that everything isn't going to turn out okay, it's not going to be nice. It doesn't matter what actor you see. They're not safe. [Laughs.] Anything can happen.
AVC: Do you think that young horror fans that have been weaned on movies like Scream and The Ring are prepared for something like The Devil's Rejects or House of 1000 Corpses?
RZ: I definitely think that it's a type of movie, The Devil's Rejects especially, that most young horror-type fans have never experienced in a theater. I mean, now with DVD, people are pretty hip to a wide range of films. But watching a movie like that on its first run on the big screen is... you just don't get that anymore. I mean, this movie is pretty sadistic and brutal, and you just don't see that anymore.
AVC: And as you may have experienced, it's hard to get a major studio behind it, too.
RZ: Oh yeah, it's impossible. And it's even hard to get actors to be in them. A lot of people who read those scripts were like, "Oh no." They're turned off by the extreme violence and the language and whatnot. I mean, sometimes it's not a way that things function anymore. It's a very PC world, and this is a very un-PC movie.
AVC: House of 1000 Corpses took a journey similar to that of a lot of '70s horror films, like Texas Chainsaw and Last House On The Left—it was critically reviled, it found a cult audience, and now it seems to have a much longer shelf life than other more popular horror films. Why do you think it takes so long for films like these to find a home?
RZ: I think that's just the way it's always been. Now, people go, "Oh, the genius that is Last House On The Left." But when that came out, it was treated as a vile, disgusting little movie. I think that it's like that too with music. The stuff that lasts sometimes has just a raw quality that takes time to embrace, because it's not the popular flavor. It's weird, because sometimes things just aren't of their time, and they take a minute to catch on, or they find an audience later. Sometimes bizarre little films are the ones that everyone remembers later. With most big major blockbusters, people will have already forgotten about it two weeks after it came out. But they're still celebrating the 20th-anniversary DVD release of Evil Dead. [Laughs.]
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