Talk With a Zombie

Blood. Strife. Life-and-death struggles. And that's just what went on behind the scenes of musician-turned-director Rob Zombie's horror film, ''House of 1000 Corpses,'' about two young couples who seek refuge in the wrong joint. After Zombie wrapped the $7 million Universal project in the summer of 2000, studio execs informed him that they weren't going to release the slasher flick. ''They said it was nihilistic and morally corrupt,'' says the director, who subsequently bought back the rights to the film and began negotiating with MGM. But after a comment he made to Ben Affleck was picked up in Variety -- Zombie joked, in effect, that MGM, unlike Universal, had no morals -- MGM decided that it didn't want ''House'' either. Finally, last summer, Lions Gate moved in and offered to release the R-rated gorefest (which, we should add, includes '70s staple Karen Black). ''It doesn't glorify violence, but it does focus on the bad people,'' says the former White Zombie frontman, who recorded a couple of pieces for the soundtrack. ''My thing was I don't want the bad people to get it in the end, because that feels fake.'' (Not to mention it eliminates any sequel possibilities.) So is the film that nihilistic and morally corrupt? Says Zombie with a laugh, ''I sure hope so.'' (March 28)