As far as sparking the imagination, Rob Zombie’s life has provided much for the director to pull from over the decades. His love of horror was fostered by many nights in front of the TV screen catching up on all things spooky. His family’s work in a travelling circus has directly impacted the director’s artistic approach in both his music and films, with the most obvious example being his debut, “House of 1000 Corpses.”
Taking up the mantle of music video director in the ’90s was easily the best training ground for visuals Zombie could have. Music videos are walking advertisements to titillate the visual sensibilities of a listener. The more striking the image, the likelier someone might be to snatch up an album even if the single was so-so. The current lack of memorability in visual mediums is an issue of contention with Zombie and, as he explained, what drives him in filmmaking:
“Once a movie like ‘Paranormal Activity’ comes out and becomes popular — and that’s a totally fine and valid movie — everyone starts copying it. Everything becomes a found-footage movie that looks like somebody shot it with their phone. The art of moviemaking seems to get thrown away. The cinematography is gone, and the look of everything becomes of little importance. You lose the memorable images; everything looks like it’s been shot at night with a security camera. That was one of the things I wanted to bring back: that sense of memorable imagery in a horror movie.”
