Rob Zombie

His first feature outing came in 2003, with the controversial House of 1000 Corpses, a kind of Texas Chainsaw Massacre update, overloaded with buckets of gore, packed with references to '70s and '80s horror staples, and starring no less than Karen Black. Universal rejected the picture, certain of an NC-17 rating, but Zombie refused to make cuts and still emerged with an R. House drew critical pans but purportedly (and unsurprisingly) earned almost twice its small budget. His follow-up, 2005's The Devil's Rejects, did well critically (Roger Ebert commented, "The movie is not merely disgusting, but has an attitude and a subversive sense of humor,") but disappointed studio heads, earning only slightly more than its production costs even as it thrilled genre loyalists. Later he went on to helm the troubled remake of John Carpenter's seminal slasher pic, Halloween. The production did not find an audience and was considered a step down for the filmmaker. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide