Rob Zombie trades horror for hockey to lens the brutal exploits of the Broad Street Bullies

by Steve Newton on June 21st, 2012 at 11:14 AM

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Hey, everyone knows that violence and hockey go hand in hand. We don't need Don Cherry to tell us that. But who ever expected that horror director Rob Zombie--the man behind such gruesome shockers as House of 1,000 Corpses and the Halloween remakes--would turn his blood-spattered lens on a Stanley Cup-winning team from the seventies?

According to an article posted on deadline.com, Zombie's next project--after the nearly finished witch-revenge flick The Lords of Salem--will be Broad Street Bullies, a drama about the Philadelphia Flyers, the rough 'n' tumble NHL team that--under the leadership of scrappy captain Bobby Clarke--won the cup in '74 and '75.

"Each character involved is more outrageous than the next," Zombie is quoted as saying about the project. "The backdrop of the turbulent year of 1974 is perfect for this 'stranger than fiction' sports tale."

Anyone who's seen his hapless opponents pounded into oblivion by Dave "The Hammer" Schultz--who, coincidentally, became an enforcer in his first year of pro hockey with the Salem Raiders--has an idea of the brutality that Zombie could bring to bear with the film, which he describes as "Rocky meets Boogie Nights". And by "boogie" we here at Ear of Newt hope he means the classic '70s rock of Foghat and the J. Geils Band, not the so-called "boogie" of KC and the Sunshine Band.

At any rate, here's another suggestion for Mr. Zombie, just in case he wants to inject some Halloween-style gore into Broad Street Bullies. He could have a scene where Clarke has a bad dream about playing for Team Canada two years earlier and taking out star Russian player Valeri Kharlamov with a wicked, two-handed, ankle-busting slash. Except in the nightmare Clarke's stick has been fitted with an actual "blade" that takes Kharlamov's foot clean off, his skate sliding off into a corner of the rink, leaving a nasty red trail.

Okay, I apologize for that. It was uncalled for. Bet Don Cherry kinda liked it though.

You can follow Steve Newton on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.

Comments

2 Comments

Ray I

Jun 21, 2012 at 1:51pm

I love the part where the announcer says that the Soviets were unfamiliar with that level of aggression. The millions that died during the Stalinist Purges were VERY familiar with that kind aggression. Nice try!