What people fail to realize is that Rob Zombie is NOT a master director like Spielburg or Scorcese, instead he is a singer thats been rocking out for 15 years. A lot of people blasted House Of 1000 Corpses saying it was amateur and cheap, but some people need to step outside the box and realize that this movie was his big screen directorial debut, so hes bound to learn and improve by the next movie, The Devil's Rejects. Yes, it was not the most original story out there, but it WAS creepy, gory, and inventive with dialogue and characters. The best scene, in my opinion, was the opening sequence with Captain Spaulding murdering the two redneck wannabe muggers. The Devil's Rejects looks promising for many reasons, mostly becasue this movie will have experience behind it. I cant wait to see it again and again.
Well, I just got back from it, and I have a solid hour before I go see "Hustle and Flow", so I'll share a review.
"The Devil's Rejects"
When auteur Horror director Rob Zombie last left us, the Firefly clan leader, Captain Spaulding, had picked up a lone survivor of the estate, suggesting the circle wasn't yet complete. In the latest journey into the sadistic, Zombie reacquaints us with our favorite dysfunctional family. Fugitives, cum mass murderers, the S.O.S. is put out by Baby that the law is hot on their trail. In typical Firefly fashion, why not partake in a little murder and mayhem on the way out of town?
"The Devil's Rejects" marks a totally new approach by Zombie. His characters, stern, lacking the vibrance and animation abounding in the original, save the always colorful Captain Spaulding. A mature tone in it's place, the movie is a chronicling of one brothers quest for revenge and retribution, carried out with incredible conviction by William Forsythe. On the subject of casting, in addition to great roles filled by iconic figures including Foree and Berryman, kudos to Bill Moseley's "Otis", for his standout performance.
Crtiquing the meat and potatoes of the film, lets talk violence. After seeing "Haute Tension" in theatres, I'm now certain the MPAA has a few Horror buffs on their panel, because "The Devil's Rejects" without question is the most violent and provocative film I've seen in the past 5 years, in this time of such strict ratings.
The lowly nature of the Firefly clan shines through in Zombie's visual narratives, set to a FANTASTIC Southern rock soundtrack. At times, so much so, I was uncomfortable, mostly with the crude sexual nature. Some times just.."there", other times a plot device. While it gave us an idea exactly HOW depraved this clan was, it wasn't necessary, and the violent acts commited spoke volumes already. Straight up, it's an incredibly brutal, and eerily realistic film that leaves you unnerved like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
While I think it was an honest attempt at a more "mature" Horror film, in the way of experience, I think Zombie's on his way. It's a very raw film, very striking, and he seems to know the subject matter in and out, but at times, it just felt wobbly, shifting gears with it's plot, not sure of where to put the importance, either the revenge angle or the "NBK" kill thrill angle.
Overall, it's a very different film from the original. Less campy, more direct, an overall solid effort that's just oozing with violent content, snappy humor that enriches the seemingly inhumane characters we're supposed to hate, and one hell of a job by Mr. Forsythe.
Saw it. I liked it, a lot. Zombie's very fond of emulating 70's horror to no end, though. His "TV" cuts make more sense, but some of the early-on pacing, aswell as the pacing in the otherwise spectacualr last scene were off. Killer soundtrack. Not quite as much fun as "house", though. He needs to pop that camera on a tripod, every so often. Much better story.
i liked the first one second looks better they got Danny Trejo
Such a bad ass movie. I loved the first, so it will always be my favorite, but the second was much better as far as quality goes. Awesome ****ing movie, the best I've seen all year.
And yes, he does get rid of the random hypercolor shots. Even though those didn't really bother me. It was just kind of Rob Zombie being himself, in my opinion.