I recently re-watched, "The Devil's Rejects" and forgot just how much, love him or hate him, Rob Zombie loves his influences, but still manages to add that little Zombie touch. I know, I know... "House of a thousand Corpses" might get a bit over-the-top, but I still maintain that, for what it's worth, that film's first two acts are so wonderfully violent and tense that it makes up for the strange "B" movie finish. Anyway, after re-watching it again I remembered that I had written something about it when it came out and low and behold, needing something to post, I found it...
Rob Zombie might be the greatest thing to happen to over the top, ultra-violent, sadistic cinema since…well, maybe Tobe Hooper, yet even Hooper didn’t go as far as Zombie does in his new flick, The Devil’s Rejects. As I awoke on the Friday of Rejects release I was a bit reluctant knowing I only kind of liked Zombie’s debut film, A House of 1000 Corpses, yet as I got in my car a good friend of mine (a huge Zombie fan) kept reminding me that this was going to be different and in his mind, better, so off we went to our favorite theater (oh, and by the way it was the early show, around 11:30am, which is a trip. I mean are you kidding me a Rob Zombie film that early?).
I had heard things surrounding this flick, such as, Zombie couldn’t believe Lion’s Gate (the company responsible for putting Rejects in theaters) gave him final cut and didn’t want him to change a frame, then I heard that it was so over-the-top the words NC-17 started to creep up, yet apparently the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) without hesitation gave the film an R rating. So, now my curiosity was peaked even more, what was I about to see? Was it an extremely violent Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or perhaps an even more vicious Natural Born Killers? It couldn’t possibly be an even more evil look at something like A Clockwork Orange…could it? No…no, and no. What we were given as the lights dimmed was a wickedly sadistic kick in the ass. Right from the start we are given one of the coolest shoot outs in history, which unfolds into a fucked up road trip sort of flick, with so much debauchery and malice that I think Lucifer himself might have thought, “what the fuck, man?” With performances that were spot on, for the type of movie we were watching, I mean let’s face it Sheri Moon Zombie isn’t going to win an Oscar (although, I think her ass could), but she and the rest of the cast are perfect in this type of film. And again, Zombie isn’t trying to go for some ground breaking new cinematic style, yet the film posseses a great look and style that is spot on old 70’s horror, which Zombie is clearly a fan of and pays great homage to that gritty, washed out style. With a very fun and interesting score (the end scene plays out with ‘Freebird’ playing for Christ’s sake), good performances, and Zombie’s awesome love for everything…not normal, Rejects is worth the price of admission, and most likely your soul for the devil. So, thank you Rob Zombie for making the kind of flicks you want to make and for releasing that devilish side in all of us.
Swanny out.
2 comments:
yes, my goodness what a GREAT ass :)
You get to see Sheri Moon's great ass in every movie Rob Zombie does and that was one of the small things I always looked for in his movies. Three from Hell was alright - Sid Haig died during the filming (sad) but don't look for dat ass in Three from Hell, she didn't give it up.
~ Savage
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