*Originally written November 24th, 2018*
Almost every part of me wants to hate Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, his homage to '70s horror and crime cinema and sequel to House of 1000 Corpses, but for some reason, I find myself enjoying it a tiny bit more with every watch. It's utterly repulsive, completely unrestrained and just bat-shit insanity. It's Rob Zombie's vision put on the screen without a single bit of compromise.
I'm still unsure how I feel about Zombie himself as a director. He certainly has a vision, style and tone that feels unique to himself, which is something I always like in a director. A Rob Zombie film FEELS like a Rob Zombie film for better or worse. His films vary in quality, but out of what I've seen (Only Lords of Salem left to watch) I'd say this is by far his best work. On only his second film, he's let off the leash to deliver his sun-drenched horror show of sadism.
I remember very little about House of 1000 Corpses, so I'm not entirely sure how it connects aside from the use of the Firefly Family. Anyway, it finds the last surviving members of the family on the run after their 75+ murder spree is finally connected to them go on a road-trip to escape the authorities.
The big problem here is just how unlikable the Firefly Clan are. Rob Zombie really needs to stop casting his wife Sheri Moon Zombie in things, she is just the absolute worse. Not helped by the obnoxious writing that has every character dropping the F-Bomb every 2 seconds. I gotta mention the brutal "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these" scene. Just brutal and irritating.
Moon Zombie aside, the characters are far from likeable, but they do at least have some charisma that keep you going through the film. Sid Haig is by far Zombie's best creation as the murderous party clown Captain Spaulding. The last of the trio of leads is Bill Moseley's Otis, who is easily the most sadistic of the 3. It's strange that a film with such disgusting and horrible characters is entertaining to watch for me. There's not a single redeeming aspect to any of these monsters. They kill, rape and torture their way through the entire film, but it's still somewhat watchable.
It's rare a film actually makes me uncomfortable, but Devil's Rejects is one of those rare films that actually pushes the boundaries. The tone and treatment of the film is grotesque. Our lead characters graphically murder, rape and torture people no remorse. Zombie's style is inherently ugly, but it has '70s look and vibe to it I kinda like. It's a sun drenched, Texas Chainsaw Massacre homage in some respects, but it's let down by Zombie's frequently annoying use of stylistic touches that just don't work. His constantly use of slow-motion is aggravating to say the least and the digital blood gore looks atrocious, I expected better from someone like Zombie, who imagined would go practical any chance he could.
If you expect any of the victims to get away or have any kind hope, yeah, this won't be the film for you. Innocent bystanders are merely fodder for the Firefly Family to abuse. It's tough watching, especially the extended motel scene where we actually spend time with a few of their hostages and after their treatment, you kinda hope they will get away, but nope. Not in this one.
By the end of this thing it's just kind of exhausting spending just under two hours (Which is a little too long) with these horrible characters. I'd love to watch this with friends who have no tolerance for this sort of thing. Oh, and as memorable as the ending is, did Zombie really have to use the 8mm home video footage to try and make us feel anything for these characters? It's just asking a little too much for audience at this point to even attempt at making us sympathetic for these repulsive scumbags.
For better and worse The Devil's Rejects is Rob Zombie's finest work as a director and I'm honestly very interested in his sequel to this due out next year, which is an interesting prospect considering how this ended. Not for people who can't handle horrific content, but if you can stomach it, I'm sure there's something you can get out of this.
7/10 Dans
The Devil's Rejects is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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Letterboxd: Dan
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