Rob Zombie on why Sid Haig’s Captain Spaulding is barely in 3 From Hell

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's been well over a decade since we last caught up with Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), and Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), and although it seemed that they had met their end in THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, writer/director Rob Zombie brought the murderous trio back for 3 FROM HELL. Those that have seen 3 FROM HELL, or watched the trailers for that matter, know that while Captain Spaulding is in the film, he doesn't have a hell of a lot of screen-time.

Captain Spaulding is essentially replaced by Foxy, Otis' half-brother who is played by Richard Brake, and while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Rob Zombie revealed the sad reason why Sid Haig didn't have a bigger role in 3 FROM HELL.

The movie that I prepped to make, and was getting ready to start shooting, it was Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby, the three originals. But three weeks out from shooting, I got a call from Sid Haig. He had been in the hospital, and he had just had surgery, and he was now recovering in a rehabilitation facility. I’m like, holy sh—, this is a serious business. So, I went to see him, and he had changed drastically from the last time I saw him. Because Sid, he’s big and burly, and now he’s tiny as a skeleton. So, I was like, oh man. I kind of realized, yeah, he’s in rough shape. So, at that point I was kind of f—ed. I created this charter Foxy for Richard Brake. I had just worked with Richard on a movie called 31 and I knew he would fit the vibe. He was on another movie in Spain shooting. He flew right from that movie to L.A. and started working instantly.

Zombie explained that "a lot of the scenes with Foxy were supposed to be Spaulding and I twisted things around so I didn’t have to rewrite every single thing. It was the funniest situation and the sh—tiest situation. Because, I went from one moment thinking, ‘This is the most prepared I have ever f—ing been to start a movie — everything is locked down tight’ — and within one phone call, the entire production went into complete chaos for three weeks. But at the end of the day, it all worked out great." That said, Zombie was still determined to have Sid Haig in the film. "I knew it was so important he be part of the movie," Zombie said. "Lionsgate was fine with me sort of sneaking him in one day to shoot as much as I could. It was on me to make sure that nothing went wrong. So I got him in, I shot everything I could shoot."

3 FROM HELL will be released on DVD/Blu-ray on October 15, 2019.