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 | The Devil's Rejects Director: Rob Zombie Rated: MA 15+ Opens Thurs 13 Oct  'The Devil's Rejects' follows on from the Rob Zombie written/directed funhouse fashioned gore-fest 'House Of 1000 Corpses'... it's 1978 and we return to the farm where 72 young people senselessly lost their lives over a number of years to the sadistic necrophiliac-serial-killer Firefly Family.Whilst this is a sequel, stylistically this and its 2003 predecessor are in many ways poles apart, in that 'House Of 1000 Corpses' revealed itself as having a much greater demonic influence. It was this surprise which threw an already dizzying thrill-kill spectacular into a struggle for survival. It could have even absolved our murderous protagonists. Were they possessed and driven to their evil deeds by what lay beneath their run down ranch? I thought so. Now comes the cops, and lots of them; and after a bullet-riddling shootout Mother Firefly (wonderfully overacted by Leslie Easterbrook) is taken into custody and Brother Otis (Bill Moseley doing his best Charles Manson) and his seriously unhinged sister Baby (the garishly gorgeous Sheri Moon-Zombie), escape via a drainpipe, and along with the clown Captain Spalding (Sid Haig), take a group of four hostage. Thus begins our story... to tell the truth, I really liked 'Corpses', but still wish for a less grand ending. I didn't want any cause for acquittal: I wanted them to be just plain psychopaths and I guess in complete contrast to ghoul-rocker Zombie's choice of ending for 'Corpses', this is what the Firefly's really are. There's not even a hint of the hellish netherworld here, and in a throwback homage to the classic, pre-slasher craze 'seventies horror-exploitation flick, 'The Devil's Rejects' is far less cartoonish and much slower, therefore psychologically much more disturbing than its prequel. 'The Devil's Rejects' is disconcerting, and displays many references to such past classics as 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer', among a few others before the age of CGI. Whether or not this somehow leaves a window open for a third instalment is beside the point. This may not be the most original film you'll see and it's definitely not without holes, but it's still scary to think that these types of people are really out there.  | |
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