| Mother Firefly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mother Firefly | |
| Aliases: | Eve Wilson |
| Notability: | Supporting character |
| Type: | Serial killer |
| Gender: | Female |
| Location: | Ruggsville, Texas |
| Known relatives: | Earl Firefly [1] Hugo Firefly [2] Otis B. Driftwood [3] Rufus Firefly, Jr. [4] Baby Firefly [5] Tiny Firefly [6] |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Died: | 1978 |
| Introduction: | House of 1000 Corpses |
| Final: | Devil's Rejects, The |
| Actor: | Karen Black Leslie Easterbrook |
Mother Firefly is a fictional serial killer and the matriarch of the Firefly family as presented in the 2003 horror film House of 1000 Corpses and its 2005 sequel The Devil's Rejects. The role was originally played by Karen Black and then by Leslie Easterbrook for the sequel. According to the character, she was once married to a man named Earl, who was responsible for causing third degree burns on their son, Tiny.
Biography[]
House of 1000 Corpses[]
On October 30th, 1977, Mother Firefly encountered four youths who had suffered the misfortune of breaking down in the middle of the road during a rainstorm. She invited them into her home and insisted that they spend dinner with them. Mother Firefly warmed up to one of the youths; a boy named Jerry Goldsmith, and made no effort to hide her appreciation of him. During dinner, she made all of her guests and family members wear masks in recognition of Halloween. After dinner, the male members of the Firefly household abducted the four guests and held them captive inside the house.
When the local sheriff's department began making inquiries into the disappearances, Mother Firefly had an encounter with Lt. George Wydell. Fearing that Wydell would soon learn the truth about what had been taking place in the house, she shot him in the head at point blank range using a gun that belonged to a family member named Otis.
Mother Firefly was present during a mysterious occult ritual in a nearby cemetery on Halloween night. She danced through the graveyard and watched as Jerry Goldsmith and a woman named Denise Willis were buried alive.
The Devil's Rejects[]
In 1978, the Ruggsville County Sheriff's Office conducted an early-morning raid on the Firefly home. The family members defended themselves with masks and armor plating made out of iron. Fearful of the outcome, Mother Firefly reminded Baby how much she loved her. The Fireflys had a stand-off with a squad of police officers and Mother Firefly was arrested. Rufus was shot and killed during the fire-fight, but Otis and Baby managed to escape (Tiny was not present during the shoot-out and survived as well).
The arresting officer was John Quincy Wydell, brother of the late sheriff George Wydell. He brought Mother Firefly in for interrogation, but the aging woman proved to be extremely uncooperative. She enjoyed unsettling Wydell by making lewd advances towards him and suggestive gestures with her tongue. Wydell recovered Mother Firefly's private scrapbook collection, which included extensive evidence of the family's murderous activities over the years. Amongst the various bric-a-brac found within the scrapbooks, Wydell found photographs of his brother taken after he had been killed. Mother Firefly joyously confessed to murdering him. This stark revelation drove John Quincy Wydell over the edge and he was determined to kill every single member of the Firefly family. Using a hunting knife, he cornered Mother Firefly in the interrogation room, told her that he was going to kill her son and daughter, then gutted her.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Mother Firefly was created by director and screenwriter Rob Zombie.
- Although not extensively demonstrated in the films, Mother Firefly is a compulsive liar and a nymphomaniac. Her rap sheet revealed in The Devil's Rejects reveals that she was also a prostitute. [7]
- Karen Black was offered to reprise the role of Mother Firefly for the 2005 film The Devil's Rejects, but director Rob Zombie was unable to afford Black's pay scale. The role went to Leslie Easterbrook. [8]
- It is intimated that Mother Firefly may have bore children through multiple husbands. The only paternal figure referenced in the films in relation to Mother Firefly was Earl, the Professor. Presumably, Mother Firefly was also married to a man named Rufus Firefly, Sr., as evidenced by her son, Rufus Firefly, Jr. . The Devil's Rejects reveals that Captain Spaulding is Baby Firefly's father, suggesting that he may have had an affair with Mother Firefly at some point in the past.
- Although Mother Firefly sired a family of serial killers, she herself was not a serial killer. Other than George Wydell, there is no evidence to suggest that she has ever personally taken a life, though she is clearly complicit in the actions of her family members.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Husband; status unknown.
- ↑ Father; status unknown.
- ↑ Adopted son; deceased.
- ↑ Son; deceased.
- ↑ Daughter; deceased.
- ↑ Son; status unknown.
- ↑ Rob Zombie; House of 1000 Corpses; DVD director's commentary; 2004
- ↑ IMDB; House of 1000 Corpses; Trivia section