Sid Haig was kind of a funny-looking guy to be fully honest and yet he was also one of the most talented individual in Hollywood since he was around for so long and got a reaction from people no matter what he was doing. Sadly he passed away just days ago and at this point is being mourned by a great many fans as you can imagine. His work on the big screen and especially with Rob Zombie in recent years has been something that has been put up on a pedestal by a lot of people and for a good reason. Whether he would put himself up there is a question we might never get an answer to, but enjoying what he’s done and the roles he’s immortalized are nothing short of stupendous. I won’t go on and on to say that he was the best thing to ever happen to acting since unless you really got into his movies he might have been seen as kind of disturbing when he was in character, but from a very general perspective he was quite skilled at what he did, and he’s going to be missed.
Here are his five best movies.
5. Spider Baby
This is a truly demented movie and as such it’s perfect to put on here given what Haig became popular for throughout his career. The Merrye children are obviously psychotic and more than a little troubled since their deeds and misdeeds are enough to worry just about anyone, and their caretaker, Bruno, is just a thread away from losing control at any given time. When their greedy cousins come to claim the home and the family fortune however the three siblings in the home, all of them having gone feral, wreak enough havoc that Bruno knows that he can’t do this any longer and blows up the house with himself and the kids in it.
4. The Lords of Salem
Rob Hunter from Film School Rejects make a good point when he says that this movie is a different animal altogether, but it’s definitely something more than that. There’s a lot at work here and it takes someone that can weather through it as they attempt to figure out just what it is that Zombie is trying to do with this movie. Eventually it becomes obvious and is no doubt kind of creepy in a big way, but also kind of humorous in some ways. The visions and strange phenomena that Heidi experiences throughout the movie are horrifying without having to argue about it, but there’s also something very alluring about it all.
3. 3 From Hell
Haig really only got a short mention in this movie since Captain Spaulding was sentenced to death after the shootout and being found alive. But the others did manage to eventually escape and after battling it out with those that came after them they also managed to make their way to freedom once again. When it comes to messed-up movies you can chalk this one up to being slightly below a few of the others when it comes to the other movies that Haig was involved in. You can imagine that this doesn’t mean much since the idea of how cringe-worthy and how disturbing these movies get makes it easy to think that unless you like such movies it might be best to look away.
2. The Devil’s Rejects
The Firefly family is by far one of the most pyschotic groups to ever grace the screen and there’s a good reason for it since quite honestly there’s no OFF switch to them. Only death seems to stop them, since they seem to keep coming no matter how human they might inevitably appear. That’s the power of crazy and psychotic though, it tends to keep a lot of people at arm’s length and thereby creates a type of legend that keeps people from daring to mess with these types. It also creates film legends in a way that’s seen to inspire one tale after another and create the kind of buzz that you just can’t buy.
1. House of 1,000 Corpses
You can imagine that there was a good deal of disgust and interest that followed this movie, but the idea that it was being put together by legendary musician Rob Zombie was enough to get it pushed through, in part, and gain a reputation at the same time. The movie is something that a lot of people might find a bit over the top, but honestly it hit the mark more than once and earned its fans and its followers in one big, masterful stroke. It’s a matter of opinion, but this movie was something that was hard to watch in some instances but at the same time was worthy of the attention it received.
He’s going to be missed, rest in peace sir.
