Almost Splatter Free
Misfits take on Rob Zombie to celebrate their 10th anniversary
Valerie Emerick
Looking for something off the beaten path to celebrate Halloween this year? The Misfit Theatre Group, known for being Augusta’s non-traditional performance troupe and for bringing cult films to life on stage, performs their special Halloween show, “House of 1000 Corpses,” sure to deliver the shock and awe their fans and followers have come to expect.
“We try to do stuff that other theater groups can’t,” boasts Robert Seawell, the troupe’s director and head of the cast. “We like to do more pulp and offbeat stuff.”
>Taking Rob Zombie’s film, “House of 1000 Corpses,” and turning it into a stage production would certainly qualify as offbeat. The story focuses on two couples who are held hostage by a sadistic backwoods family on Halloween.
“This year is the 10th anniversary of that film,” explains Seawell, “and it just so happens to be the 10th anniversary of the Misfit Theatre Group, so I was like, how cool for a Halloween show this year, for us to pull Rocky Horror back to August, and then pull out ‘House of a 1000 Corpses’ as our Halloween show and just make it a big thing, since Rob Zombie is on tour with Marilyn Manson, and they’re actually playing in Atlanta the night before we perform.”
Fans of the Misfit Theatre Group will be familiar with the troupe’s previous productions, like “Repo the Genetic Opera,” that have been presented in “Splattervision!” Not to disappoint, but “House of 1000 Corpses,” is not intended to be a splattervision show.
“There’s been a lot of misconception with the show,” says Seawell. “We started this thing with our theater group years ago called splattervision — which is where when we perform something that involves blood whenever somebody is getting killed in the show or if there’s something else with blood involved, then the audience gets splattered with blood as well. So, a lot of people think this show is presented in splattervision but it’s actually not. Now, that’s not to say that some people won’t get blood on them, because the show does have blood in it and sometimes it does tend to shoot out at people, but it’s not going to be officially presented in splattervision this time. It’s just if you happen to be in the right spot, you may get some blood on you. “
What else can the audience expect?
“I don’t want to give anything away,” says Seawell, “but people can expect a lot of surprises — there’s more dialogue than the movie script. This is how it was originally supposed to be. It’s very raw. The show runs about an hour and a half. We used a lot of Rob Zombie’s music in it, which I thought was a nice touch. There’s just going to be a lot of crazy stuff.”
In addition to the performance, there will also be pre-show music and a costume contest. It’s an all ages show, but Seawell says, viewer discretion is advised. It’s very adult themed and very graphic.
“This has everything you’d see in a Rob Zombie show — a little something for everyone,” says Seawell. “People will be shocked at how elaborate it is. It’s going to be a great night. This show is really going to show what Misfit is capable of.”
“House of 1000 Corpses”
Sector 7G | Friday October 26
Doors, 8 p.m.; show, 9 p.m. | $13 at door
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