Film/TV Direction
House of 1000 Corpses
was Rob Zombie's directorial debut and his first horror film. Zombie
wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. It took four years
to make (1999–2003), and was finally released by Lion's Gate Films in 2003, after Stacy Snider, then-head of Universal Pictures,
sold the film to them. It featured a great deal of violence and gore.
The movie told the tale of a group of unlucky teenagers who stumble
upon the Firefly Family, a family of sadistic and vicious murderers.
The film was shot in a surreal and over-the-top style that alternated
between dark and campy humor. The film was mostly panned by critics but
had its share of fans.
The House of 1000 Corpses' sequel, The Devil's Rejects, which Zombie also wrote and directed, showcased a much different style. Whereas House was at times comedic and bizarre, Rejects was darker, more serious and grittier. Released in 2005, Rejects
had the Firefly Family on the run from the law and a particularly
vengeful sheriff whose brother had been murdered by them in the first
film. It had a higher critical reception than Corpses. Zombie contributed to the 2007 exploitation film Grindhouse, by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino by directing a faux trailer, called Werewolf Women of the S.S., starring his wife, exploitation veterans Udo Kier and Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Cage, who appeared free for fun.
Zombie next wrote and directed Halloween, a reimagining of the 1978 classic
that was released August 31, 2007. Although it was a success and opened
at number #1 at the box office with $26 million, it registered only 27%
at Rotten Tomatoes.
It would go on to gross over $78 million, his biggest hit yet and the
highest grossing "Halloween" film of all time (when not adjusted for
inflation).
Zombie is the executive producer of the animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, based upon his comic book series, The Adventures of El Superbeasto (which appeared in his Spookshow International comic book). The film was released directly to DVD on September 22nd, 2009. It features Paul Giamatti, Zombie's wife Sheri Moon, and Rosario Dawson.
Zombie directed a sequel to Halloween entitled Halloween II,
which was released on August 28, 2009. Filming began on February 23,
2009 in Atlanta, Georgia with Tyler Mane returning as Michael Myers. Zombie will next be directing a new movie for Dimension Films known as Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex.
In an interview at Comic Con 2009 with his younger brother Spider One
of Powerman 5000, Zombie stated that his album would be released in
October with a tour following.
Variety
Magazine announced the weekend before the release of 'Halloween II'
that Zombie will be directing a remake of the 1950s/1980s films "The Blob". Zombie will also create a new comic called 'Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock?'.
On 3 October 2009 received the Filmmaker of the Year title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.
In December 2009 he announced an interest to direct an episode of CSI.
On January 13th, 2010, Associated Press reported, Rob Zombie's "CSI: Miami" episode will air March 1st. He shot the part of the series with the full cast of the Series and casted for minor roles Michael Madsen, Malcolm McDowell, William Forsythe, ZZ Top's leader Billy Gibbons and even his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie.
TV Host
|
|
Turner Classic Movies hired Rob Zombie to host the series. Zombie, an
avid horror movie fan whose filmwork included directing and writing the
controversial horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's
Rejects, hosted the series until the December 1st, 2006 installment of
the series.
TCM Underground is a weekly late-night cult film showcase airing on
Turner Classic Movies. It was originally hosted by Rob Zombie. TCM
Underground began airing Friday the 13th of October 2006 with Plan 9
from Outer Space and Bride of the Monster. TCM Underground airs in its
usual slot at 2:00 AM (EST). The series was launched in an attempt to
attract more young viewers to Turner's older-skewing audience.
Though Fangoria described his presenting style as the antithesis to TCM
host Robert Osborne's film introductions, Zombie's hosting format was
the same as Osborne's. Both introduce the proceeding films, explain the
basic plot, and tell the story behind the making of the film. The only
variation was Zombie's ending segment, shown after the end of the film,
where he discusses the reasons behind the film's box office failure.
Currently TCM Underground is without a host. At this time, it is
unknown whether or not Zombie will return to host TCM Underground, as
there has been no official announcement from Zombie himself or Turner
Classic Movies. According to an online post by a Rue Morgue Radio host,
Zombie has unofficially indicated that he will not be returning. |
TV Guest
Rob Zombie's been a guest on several talk shows including Late Night with David Letterman (several times), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (twice), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and even Space Ghost Coast to Coast (while he was in White Zombie).
Zombie also made a few guest appearances in movies: such as Airheads (with White Zombie on stage playing Feed the Gods) and the voice of Dr. Karl (on the phone) in the movie Slither. He did a few voiceovers for cartoons such as the voice of Ichthulthu, a creature from an alternate universe in Justice League Unlimited. He also voices Dr. Curt Connors a.k.a. the Lizard in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. In the video game Left 4 Dead 2
there is an achievement named after him called "Robbed Zombie" it is
earned after picking up 10 bile bombs dropped by dead hazmat zombies.
Music Video Direction
Zombie is responsible for the direction of all White Zombie's music videos, with the exception of "Black Sunshine," "Thunder Kiss '65," and "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker," as well as all of the videos during his solo career. He has even lent a hand to other artists, directing the videos for Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer," Black Label Society's "Stillborn," Powerman 5000's "Tokyo Vigilante #1," Prong's "Rude Awakening," and The Ghastly Ones' "Hauling Hearse" (who were signed to Zombie's own record label Zombie-A-Go-Go Records).
|
Film / TV History 