Category: Commentary

I have seen The Devil's Rejects and it was... good? Huh? That's right folks! Reject the notion that this movie is bad! Sure, House of 1000 Corpses kind of sucked, but it all had a purpose. See, House of 1000 Corpses simply introduced these characters and showed you the things they do. The Devil's Rejects doesn't need any of that nonsense and just gets right into it. Before I continue, I should give you a fair warning: you're entering spoiler country. There. You've been warned.

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The movie begins with the cops making an attempt to arrest our fine family of murderers. They must pay for their crimes from the first movie, as well as dozens of murders that took place before that. There's a shoot-out, some cops die, a family member dies, and the mother is arrested. Two of them escape and attempt to meet up with their father, who was not at the house at the time. What follows is scene after scene of hardcore violence. You really don't see this kind of violence in movies anymore. Sure, zombie movies can get gory, but those are zombies. Rob Zombie movies, however, inflict a disturbing amount of violence on innocent human beings. I'm talking head shots, bone splintering leg wounds, stabbings, sexual violations with a gun, face removals, and my personal favorite, a woman being hit and splattered by a semi truck. You think you've seen somebody get hit by a truck in movies before? You haven't seen anything yet. You'll see detailed shots of internal organs squished all over the road. All of the violence is done in such a detailed and shocking way that you'll be cringing as you view it.

Rob Zombie doesn't just succeed with the gore factor. He also made a damn funny movie. There are so many hilarious moments, you'll think you're watching a comedy. I missed several lines due to the excessive and hysterical laughing by me and everyone else in the theater.

And then there's the nudity. Oh my, there is a lot of nudity. This is something that's been missing from horror movies for years. It kind of disappeared during the 90's after the horror genre decided to become clever rather than just an excuse to show naked teenagers getting slashed to pieces. Rob Zombie certainly brought it back, hopefully to stay.

What Rob Zombie has done here is basically get away with filming whatever deranged ideas he wanted to see in a movie. Considering what actually made it into this 'R' rated movie, I have to wonder what he was forced to cut. I'm not quite sure how he managed to get an 'R' rating with this much violence, nudity, and filthy language.

There's not much to the story, and there doesn't need to be. It's just about three mass murderers running from the law and the people they torture and kill in the process. But what was done with this minimal story is amazing. See, when the movie starts, these killers are really bad people who deserve some tough justice. You really, really want to see them pay. Then when they go out and violate and kill an innocent family, you begin to really hate them. You want them dead. But then something happens. Without them doing anything redeeming, you're suddenly rooting for these characters once justice really does come for them. You want them to live. The tables are turned and the killers are now the victims and you just can't wait for them to kill the "good guy".

The truly amazing accomplishment is that Rob Zombie took a movie which was so bad that it absolutely did not need a sequel, made a sequel anyway, and made it so good, with characters so compelling, that I'm actually tempted to watch House of 1000 Corpses again. I'm not sure if I will, but one thing I am sure about is that I will be buying The Devil's Rejects on DVD when it comes out. An unrated director's cut seems likely and welcome. I'm now actually looking forward to Rob Zombie's film career, which is a total reversal of my opinion from just yesterday. Amazing.