The Devil's Rejects Review
by Jerry Saravia (faustus_08520 AT yahoo DOT com)August 31st, 2006
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars
I wish I could say that "The Devil's Rejects" works as a
pure horror movie, but it does not. As horror, it does little
besides titillate us with blood-soaked images. As a slasher
flick, it does practically the same thing. So what gives?
What has Rob Zombie wrought with a sequel as bloody
as the original? Well, that is a good question. "The Devil's
Rejects" is such a sordid state of affairs that it did not appeal
to my ignoble sense of morality (that is a joke by the way).
Quite frankly, Zombie is not interested in the morality of
these characters nor does he (nor do we) like any of them
very much. So what gives? What is there to gain from a
movie like this? I have no idea except some good old-fashioned
brutality for the sake of those who like that sort of thing.
The reason I persist with these notions when I could easily
dismiss them, since one could dismiss "The Devil's
Rejects" as an average slasher film, is that this movie
does aim slightly higher, a higher body count that is.
This is an unrepentant assault on the senses, but it is
not as cartoonish or laughable in its savagery as its
original incarnation, "House of 1000 Corpses." This time,
Rob Zombie means business.
So we have the returning psychotic family from the original
on hand. Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) and her truly
psychotic brother, Otis (Bill Moseley), and their mother,
Mother Firefly (scenery-chewing, tongue-wagging Leslie
Easterbrook replacing Karen Black), are back for more
carnage galore. The police have discovered this murderous
family's hideout in the opening sequence, where we have
a standard shootout right out of the Old West. Sheriff
Wydell (Snarling William Forsythe) wants some good
old-fashioned, hellbent revenge on this family since they
killed his brother, a cop, last time out. The Fireflys warn
a creepy clown, Captain Spaulding (the King of
Scenery-Chewers, Sid Haig) to meet up with them at the
local motel and, get this, Spaulding is the patriarch of
the family! Of course, at the motel, these Fireflys have
to exact their inner demonic violent tendencies upon
another family, which includes Geoffrey Lewis as a guy
who once shook hands with Johnny Cash, his wife
(Priscilla Barnes), and a young couple. Oh, there is also
the marijuana-stoked guy who wants to be a clown,
which is good for a few laughs.
Watching "The Devil's Rejects" is an unnerving, unbridled,
curiously shallow experience. Shallow only because
Zombie spends no time in getting know the Firefly
family or any of the victims. It is a pre-sold, prepackaged,
grainy 70's homage to slasher films where everyone
gets their comeuppance - they are all action figures with
deplorable personalities and nothing but murder on
their minds (that includes the Sheriff). The acting is about
as good as it can get with Sheri Moon more delirious
than ever, and Bill Moseley acting less anarchic. Only
Sid Haig reaches the same heights of devilish intensity
that we come to expect from Captain Spaulding (his
feverish sex dream is a classic). Add to the mix a human
roadkill scene that is as violent as one can expect, a
movie critic called in to decipher the legend of Groucho
Marx, a nod or two to "The Empire Strikes Back," more
bloody executions, Ken Foree and Michael Berryman,
discussion about screwing chickens, and you got one
hell of a demonic ride that will make you sick to your
stomach. If I can say one last positive aspect, Zombie
is mean as hell as a director and is not about to
tolerate any "Scream" jokes or post-modernist winks
anymore.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at:
http://www.jerryatthemovies.com/
BIO on the author of this page at:
http://www.geocities.com/faustus_08520/index.html
Email me at [email protected] or at
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