Overall Rating
  Awesome: 22.92%
Worth A Look: 12.62%
Average: 1.99%
Pretty Bad: 8.64%
Total Crap: 53.82%
9 reviews, 247 user ratings
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| Devil's Rejects, The |
by brianorndorf
"Rob Zombie finally gets it right"
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Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” was a promising debut for the rocker-turned-filmmaker, but it crumbled in the final act. “The Devil’s Rejects” is the semi-sequel that vividly brings Zombie’s full-throated vision for horror back to the big screen. A relentless, exceptionally violent, deliciously twisted road movie/torture chamber, “Rejects” is a near-perfect follow-up to “Corpses,” and a valentine to the genre from Zombie.When the local police, led by Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe), finally catch up to the vicious, mass-murdering Firefly family, “siblings” Otis (Bill Mosley), Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) manage to escape the siege and hit the road, littering the dusty southern landscape with sadistic murders as they try to find refuge. Wydell, driven by the death of his brother at the hands of the Fireflys, follows them closely, salivating at the thought of torturous revenge. Yet, can this sick trio, regurgitated from the depths of hell, ever truly be brought to justice for their heinous crimes?
Rocker Rob Zombie’s debut film, the controversial 2003 chiller, “House of 1000 Corpses,” was a patchwork quilt of Zombie’s more ambitious designs for a horror experience. “Corpses” never quite came together evenly, mostly due to Zombie’s inexperience with feature-length filmmaking, and a long gestation period that allowed too much tinkering with the finished product; however, it had spunk, and a desire to pay homage to the horror gods while investigating some new attitudes for the genre. Now, free from studio baggage and delays, Zombie has created the semi-sequel, “The Devil’s Rejects,” and he’s found a crackerjack vehicle for his particular brand of madness.
If “Corpses” was a haunted house picture, crawling with murder, mayhem, and freak-show oddities, “Rejects” is a road picture that inhales deeply from the 1970s drive-in movie genre, where exploitation and questionable morality reigned supreme. The furor over “Corpses” was found in its violent content, which convinced Universal Pictures to dump the film after seeing it for the first time; but, “Corpses” is kitten play compared to the buffet of repulsion in “Rejects.” For an R-rated film, “Rejects” pulls very few punches, violently detailing the Firefly clan’s murder bender across the American south. Peppered with a classic rock soundtrack (featuring the best use of “Free Bird” yet in a film) and liberal use of freeze-framing, the action is captured on grainy, low-tech film stocks and utterly looks like a product of the grindhouse era, which is the same type of delight Quentin Tarantino had with his “Kill Bill saga. However, “Rejects” isn’t a pulpy joyride like “Bill.” It’s a fairly sadistic film that takes immense pleasure in making the audience squirm, and plays directly to connoisseurs of horror. Those expecting a passively spooky experience should look elsewhere. Zombie is here to itemize a slow killing spree lead by morally unredeemable characters, and the claustrophobia and blood-caked imagery is relentless.
“Rejects” works extraordinarily well because Zombie isn’t playing it safe the second time around. This film is a stronger piece of directing, confident with its tone and ambition, and Zombie never lets the picture get away from him, which could’ve been so easy considering the chaotic nature of this gory opus. And, unlike “Corpses,” “Rejects” feels like Zombie is having fun behind the camera, and with his performers. If the cast list were a K-Tel album, it would be titled “Superstars of the 70s and 80s!” Not only does Zombie give actress Leslie Easterbrook (“Police Academy”) a juicy role as Ma Firefly (replacing Karen Black from “Corpses”), the supporting cast also includes the great Ken Foree (“Dawn of the Dead”), Ginger Lynn Allen, P.J. Soles (“Halloween”), Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Michael Berryman (“The Hills Have Eyes”), Priscilla Barnes, Geoffrey Lewis, and E.G. Daily; all adding wonderful color to an already vibrantly coarse film.
The real firepower of the movie is found in the film’s four main characters. Returning to the madness are Bill Mosley as the brutal, unrelenting Otis, Sheri Moon Zombie as the temptress Baby, and the hilarious Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding. Thankfully, Zombie has jettisoned the bewildering Dr. Satan subplot that stalled “Corpses,” and now just focuses on the three fleeing members of the family, giving the actors plenty more to do this time around. They all handle the growing, knife-wielding challenge superbly. On the other side of the law is William Forsythe as the relentless, revenge-obsessed Sheriff Wydell. Any casual followers of Forsythe through the decades know already that the man is never short of intensity. However, “Rejects” manages to keep him under control this time out, and the actor gives his best work in ages, carefully measuring out his rage under the watch of Zombie.
Taking dips into pure “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” torment, redneck conversation (mostly obscenities, with the occasional bestiality exchange), revenge and road picture worship, and his own unique potion of horror, Rob Zombie has met the potential of this series head-on with “The Devil’s Rejects.”Again, I stress this film will not be for everyone’s tastes. Yet, those with a strong stomach and weak knees for terror should sprint to the theater and enjoy a second slice (after June’s “High Tension”) of horror that will (gasp!) genuinely horrify you.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=12301&reviewer=404
originally posted: 07/22/05 14:32:56
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 CineVegas Film Festival For more in the 2005 CineVegas Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Fantasia Festival For more in the 2005 Fantasia Festival series, click here.
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USA
22-Jul-2005 (R)
DVD: 08-Nov-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
13-Oct-2005
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