True to style, House Of 1000 Corpses has that one character, Bill, who couldn't just leave things to be and as a result things go wrong, very wrong.

The story is simple... Bill and three friends are travelling across America so he can write a book about off-beat roadside attractions that they encounter.

Luckily, they stop to fill up with petrol at a gas station that also doubles as a Museum of Monsters and Madmen.

Of course, they go in, hear about some evil murderer/torturer/masochist called Dr Satan who was hanged from a tree but then disappeared, and Bill, bless him, decides they should go off and find his trail...

Oh, and coincidentally it's All Hallows Eve.

On their way to the mysterious tree where Dr Satan was hanged, they get a puncture but 'fortunately' a super attractive young blonde, Baby, is on hand to help.

They get towed to her house which turns out to be the house of 1000 corpses.

What ensues is too many minutes of gruesome and bloody torture and killing.

At times you may laugh, but for most of the time you may well feel a bit queasy as a family of seriously sick and twisted individuals prove to be as murderously demented as the exhibits in the Museum of Monsters.

There's plenty of hammed up characters to laugh at, but like the drag queen looking Mother Firefly and Baby, who bears a spooky resemblance to Christine Aguilera, you can be laughing at them one minute and then wincing at their cruelty the next.

Otis (Bill Moseley) is especially frightening, as he deals with the five missing cheerleaders before starting on our group and any who come looking for them.

The make up artist should get a special mention, as some of the characters are made up in a way that makes Marilyn Manson look au naturel in the face paint department.

By the time the film comes to an end, it's a relief to get out in the fresh air and away from the family of extreme social misfits who, if only they collected stamps instead of corpses, would have made for a far more pleasant 89 minutes.

If you like sick films with plenty of blood, you're going to love this, but if violence and masochism (and torture and murder) are not your cup of tea, steer well clear.

House Of A 1000 Corpses works as a schlock horror film, but one that makes you question the minds of those who made it.

Victoria Saggers