Pop guitarist Michelle Branch and back-road legend Dr. Satan canbe linked by three degrees of separation.

Ready? Michelle Branch strummed alongside Carlos Santana in65533;The Game of Love.65533; Carlos Santana backed up RobZombie for a 65533;Smooth65533; result. And Rob Zombie gavecinematic life to Dr. Satan in last spring65533;s 65533;Houseof 1,000 Zombies,65533; now available on DVD.

65533;Twas the night before Halloween when all through thecountryside, many creatures were stirring, more frightening than amouse. Two young couples are making their way home when they happenupon a chicken and gasoline joint run by a freakish clown namedCaptain Spaulding. A young man in the group gets curious about Dr.Satan, a local legend whom Spaulding is at first reluctant to tellhim about.

And so begins the story of how these four kids become trapped inhouse of satanic rituals, underground surgical horrors and abrupthomicidal tendencies without rhyme or reason.

This 65533;House65533; isn65533;t half bad, actually. Nobig names save for director Zombie himself, but it65533;s theanti-modern day horror flick. No token minorities, no 65533;oh,he/she65533;s gonna get killed next,65533; and it65533;s notthat predictable either. Unfortunately, there65533;s not much ofa story either.

As the doomed teens lumber through the movie, it65533;s prettyawesome to admire the sick imaginations at play here. Theacid-trippy characters are genuinely creepy and far more freakierthan the ghost face killer of the 65533;Scream65533; films, theGorton65533;s fisherman of the 65533;I Know What You Did LastSummer65533; catastrophes and even John Carpenter65533;shandful of mishaps in the last few years (65533;Vampires65533;anyone?). Certainly Sid Haig65533;s Captain Spaulding makes oneseriously whacked clown, for what little screen time he has, but hestill doesn65533;t hold a candle to Tim Curry65533;s Pennywisein 65533;Stephen King65533;s It.65533;

Whereas the movie is an enjoyable watch for horror fans, the DVDis a surprising marvel of the technical and feature-packed sort.It65533;s bombastic with a clean video transfer, though a bitover-saturated on the reds sometimes.

A bevy of clips including audition footage, rehearsals andinterviews show just how thorough an entertainment the cast andcrew attempted with 65533;Corpses.65533; Not exactlyOscar-caliber, but even with Captain Spaulding65533;s revolvinghead as the DVD cursor, it65533;s less a joke than most mightthink. Rob Zombie65533;s also quite the kick on his runningcommentary, worth checking out for fans of Rob as well.

It65533;s certainly not something to watch with the65533;rents on Halloween night while handing out candy to thekiddies. But if an evening of tricks and treats is your bag, visitRob65533;s 65533;House.65533;

Michelle Branch may be on tour, but Dr. Satan65533;s waitingfor visitors.

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