House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses is a 2003 American exploitation horror film written, co-scored and directed by Rob Zombie in his directorial debut. The film stars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon, and Karen Black as members of the Firefly family. Set on Halloween, the film sees the Firefly family torturing and mutilating a group of teenagers who are traveling across the country writing a book. The film explores a number of genres, and features elements of the supernatural. Zombie cited American horror films "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) and "The Hills Have Eyes" (1977) as influences on "House of 1000 Corpses", as well as other films released during the 1970s.
List of Rob Zombie characters
Rob Zombie described Spaulding on the commentary for "House of 1000 Corpses" as a "lovable asshole" and wanted to make the character's motivations and connection to the Firefly family ambiguous. Because Spaulding never interacts or talks to any members of the murderous Firefly family, it is never fully explained in the movie at just how much Spaulding knows about the family; if he is in league with them, or if he is just a murderous vigilante unconnected to the Firefly clan (in the film's opening scene, he shoots and kills two burglars attempting to rob his store). Although, in one of the final scenes in the film, Spaulding is shown driving a car in which Otis Driftwood is hiding in the backseat ready to claim another victim. He is described in the script for "Corpses" as a "crusty looking old man in a filthy clown suit and smeared make-up". He has the words "LOVE" and "HATE" tattooed on his knuckles, a reference to the character Reverend Harry Powell from "Night of the Hunter". Just as several characters from the series are named after characters from the Marx Brothers films, Spaulding is named for Groucho Marx's character from "Animal Crackers".