House of 1000 Corpses - Development and Production

Development and Production

Rob Zombie had a very small list of credits in film at that point— he had done animation for the 1996 film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America, tried to write a script for The Crow: Salvation, and directed some of his own music videos but little else. Zombie had designed a haunted maze attraction for Universal Studios; Bill Moseley, who later starred in the film, presented Zombie an award for his design in 1999. Back in the late 90's and in 2000, Rob Zombie was instrumental in reviving Universal Studios annual "Halloween Horror Night", which led to a friendship between he and the company.

Zombie initially took his script for House of 1000 Corpses to Universal Pictures with his manager Andy Gould to pitch the project in January 2000. Aesthetically and in the film's script, Zombie drew from a number of influences, particularly from 1970s exploitation horror films and monster movies of the 1930s. With the company's interest in the film and past collaboration with Zombie, production began in May of that year. The film was shot on a 25 day shooting schedule in 2000. Two weeks were spent filming on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlots— the house featured in the film is the same house used in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and can be seen on Universal Studios' tram tours. The remaining 11 days of the shoot were spent on a ranch in Valencia, California. The starting budget was $3–4 million, but finished at $7 million.