30 Day Movie Challenge - #23 - What is your favorite character from any film?
Day 23 - What is your favorite character from any film?
Answer: Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses (2003) & The Devil's Rejects (2005)
This challenge is a pretty easy one. I'll go ahead and pick a character from a film I don't think I picked for a previous challenge. My favorite character from any film? I'll go with the character Captain Spaulding played by actor Sid Haig from the Rob Zombie films House of 1000 Corpses and the sequel The Devil's Rejects. I'm a sucker for the evil killer clown trope. There's something interesting about coulrophobia (the fear of clowns). Clowns are meant to instill cheer and joy, but for some reason it's become a common idea that clowns are scary and evil. I love it. That's one of the big reasons why Captain Spaulding is one of my favorite characters.
In House of 1000 Corpses, Captain Spaulding is the owner of a gas station known for it's fried chicken and The Museum of Monsters and Madmen connected to it. The museum is a roadside attraction where Captain Spaulding tells his visitors about serial killers and urban legends. Our group of teens from House of 1000 Corpses get interested in the local legend of Dr. Satan and find themselves in a world of horror. Captain Spaulding isn't really a main character in the film. No. He's more of a side character that has a connection to the overall plot. He doesn't get a starring role until the sequel, The Devil's Rejects, but I won't go into what that film is about in case you haven't seen either film.
Despite not being one of the main characters of House of 1000 Corpses, Captain Spaulding is easily one of the most recognizable characters from the film. He is part of one of the best openings to a film I've seen. We see a couple of robbers burst through the front door of the gas station and try to hold Captain Spaulding up. Things don't go so well for the robbers. There's a reason why people like this character so much. He is fun. Captain Spaulding can be sitting there and cracking jokes with you one moment. Just having a good time. Then he'll flip his psycho switch and become creepily unsettling. He does this just to keep people on their toes and mess with them. Mostly. There's clearly something not quite right with him.
