The Devil's Rejects

 



Director - Rob Zombie - (31, Lords of Salem)
Starring - Sid Haig (Spider Baby, Aftermath), Bill Moseley (Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), and Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween, Halloween II)
Release Date - 2005
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "This summer, go to hell"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     When House of 1000 Corpses was released on home video I became obsessed with it.  I watched it so many times I could almost quote it from beginning to end.  I did this for a few years until Rob Zombie announced his follow up The Devil's Rejects.  By this point I was burned out on the film but I didn't want to skip the opportunity to see this one.  A theater had just opened near my home so I was able to check it out.  I absolutely fucking loved it and was shocked.  Not only by how much he had grown as a director but by the route he took the film.  I was not expecting that at all.  I loved the film even more than the first but I was smart to not burn myself out on it.  It has been a few years since my last viewing but it was time to check it out on blu sent to me from Umbrella Entertainment.  Thanks guys!

     The film begins with the police invading the Firefly farmhouse with an investigate by Sheriff Wydell (Forsythe).    They capture Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook), kill Rufus (Tyler Mane), while Baby, Otis, and Tiny gets away.  Tiny goes into hiding while Otis and Baby go to a their planned spot to meet Captain Spaulding who is actually Baby's father.  Wydell is hot on their trail and he hires two bounty hunters, The Unholy Two, to track them down.  Baby and Otis meets with Spaulding and goes to Spaulding's brother's whorehouse to lay low but Wydell knows about their aliases and plans an ambush at midnight.  He captures them and tortures them at their farmhouse before freeing Baby for a game of cat and mouse but Tiny is able to save her and kill Wydell.  The three try to ride off into the sunset but a police roadblock stands in their way...

     House of 1000 Corpses gives fans a dark and relentless horror film that takes a story similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and builds upon it.  The Devil's Rejects does the opposite.  It is brutal in it's own rights but it has an old exploitation feel to it.  It almost feels like a modern day hixploitation film and many could argue it is.  Either way, this film is superior to the first film.  The acting in this one is fucking fantastic.  Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Sheri Moon Zombie kills it.  Sheri Moon Zombie didn't sell me on her character with the first film but she brought it with this one.  Her character is not as annoying as the first film and she pulls together a wide range of emotion.  She did a fantastic job.  The same can be said for the entire cast.  Mosely, Haig, Ken Foree, Leslie Easterbrook, Geoffrey Lewis, Danny Trejo, and so on absolutely kills it.  Every scene is perfect.  With that being said, no one brings the intensity that William Forsythe does.  He absolutely steals every scene he is in and his character truly deserved his own spin-off.  The story for this one builds up on what the first film created but added even more unforgettable characters.  It took the claustrophobic atmosphere from the first and replaced it with a road trip type film.  It makes the film feel bigger in scope.  I also liked how the film turned three iconic horror villains into anti-heroes of sorts while the film's authority figure takes on the role of villain.  It was great.  Honestly, I can't find a problem with the story outside of the masked killer in the first one being Tiny's father while Baby's father is Captain Spaulding.  I get that they are a dysfunctional family but that's stretching it.  Finally, this film was hit and miss with the effects.  The practical effects and gore are fucking top notch.  The effects team really out did themselves here but the visual effects were shit.  I know it was almost 15 years ago but these visual effects were so bad.  I'm talking Syfy bad.  Who approved them?  Overall, The Devil's Rejects is an iconic horror film that I would be shocked to meet a horror fan who hasn't seen it.  This release from Umbrella is a must for horror fans and fans of Zombies' films.