S. Quentin Quale

S. Quentin Quale is a fictional mad scientist and psychopath featured in the 2003 Grindhouse horror film, House of 1000 Corpses. He was played by both Dennis Fimple in one scene, and by Walter Phelan in another.

Biography
S. Quentin Quale, better known as Doctor Satan, was a part of urban folklore in the towns of Ruggsville and Deadwood. As legend has it, he was an intern at the Willows County Mental Hospital, but unlike the traditional surgical intern, Quentin Quale specialized in murder and torture as well as surgery. The hospital earned itself the unflattering nickname "Weeping Willows" because of the never-ending cries of pain that came from the operating rooms. Quale believed that he could create a master super-race bred from stock of the mentally ill. When his actions were discovered, Quale was hung from a nearby tree. The following day however, his body was missing, leaving behind no trace of Quail's existence. A gravestone was erected for him in a local cemetery, but no body was ever buried.

Known as Doctor Satan, Quale lived on, and continued his practice inside an underground warren. Attending him was an assistant named Earl Firefly, who was better known simply as the Professor. Firefly's family members knew the truth about Doctor Satan, and routinely fed him fresh victims for him to experiment upon.

In 1977, the Firefly family members captured two youths named Denise Willis and Jerry Goldsmith and condemned them to die in the mine shaft that led to Doctor Satan's underground operating room. Jerry was captured by the bizarre subterranean denizens that comprised Doctor Satan's staff, and brought to his chamber, where he performed experimental brain surgery on the boy, ultimately leading to his death. Denise Willis had a chance encounter with Doctor Satan, but was able to escape from his clutches as well as that of the Professor. Denise's freedom was short-lived however as Otis Firefly and a local man named Captain Spaulding re-captured her and brought her back to Quail's laboratory where she was presumably killed.

Notes & Trivia

 * Doctor Satan was one of four main exhibits featured on the "Murder Ride" at Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen.


 * The name "Dr. Satan" was inspired by a character from Weird Tales magazine.


 * Like many characters from the film, Quentin Quale is named after S. Quentin Quale, a character played by Groucho Marx in the 1940 comedy Go West.


 * Doctor Satan is also the name of the antagonist from the 1940s film serial The Mysterious Doctor Satan, played by Edward Ciannelli.


 * Another version of Doctor Satan appeared in the 2009 animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, directed by Rob Zombie. This version of Dr. Satan however, was a former high-school nerd turned evil genius named Steve Wachowski.


 * Doctor Satan's appearance varies from scene to scene. In the telling of his legend, he is presented wearing surgical scrubs and a hood that completely covers his face. When he encounters Denise Willis and Jerry Goldsmith, he is seen wearing a strange rebreather and is wearing a metallic rib-cage harness attacked to cables that lead up into the ceiling of his operating room.


 * Dennis Fimple, who also played Grandpa Hugo, played Doctor Satan in the Murder Ride movie reels. Walter Phelan played Doctor Satan in the film's climax.


 * In the original shooting script for The Devil's Rejects, Doctor Satan was intended to make a return appearance in the film, in which he is taken to a hospital and kills a doctor played by Rosario Dawson. Rob Zombie decided that the scene didn't work and it was cut from the film. A lingering element of the scene remains however. When the police officers are sealing up the crime scene, a body can be seen being loaded into an ambulance. This is meant to be Doctor Satan.