House of 1000 Corpses is a 2003 American black comedy horror film written, co-scored, and directed by Rob Zombie in his directorial debut, and the first film in the Firefly film series. It stars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon, Karen Black, Rainn Wilson, Chris Hardwick, Tom Towles, Erin Daniels, Jennifer Jostyn, Walton Goggins, and Dennis Fimple in his final role. The plot centers on a group of teenagers who are kidnapped and tortured by a psychopathic family during Halloween after traveling across the country to write a book. Inspired by 1970s horror films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Zombie conceived the film while designing a haunted-house attraction for Universal Studios Hollywood, where filming took place in 2000 on the backlots and in Valencia, California. When the studio shelved the film fearing that it would receive an NC-17 rating,[7] Zombie re-acquired the rights. They were eventually sold to Lions Gate Entertainment, who released the film in April 2003. Despite receiving an unfavorable response from critics, it went on to gross $16 million worldwide. Since its release, the film has achieved a cult following, was developed into a haunted-house attraction by Zombie for Universal Studios, and was followed by two sequels: The Devil's Rejects (2005) and 3 from Hell (2019).