Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects
A Devilish Romp With a Sadistic Twist
Sep 17, 2008 Deanna Couras Goodson
Plot Summary
The Devil’s Rejects is a sequel to writer/director Rob Zombie’s 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses. In this flick, the Firefly family is on the run except for Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook), who is taken into custody. Despite the fact that Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Otis (Bill Moseley) are fugitives, it doesn’t stop the body count from rising as they torture and murder the members of a traveling country band.
Later on, when they meet up with Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), who just happens to be Baby’s dad, the reunited ‘family’ heads to a whorehouse owned by Charlie Altamont (Ken Foree) where the sheriff (William Forsythe) and his vigilante crew headed up by Rondo (Danny Trejo) are waiting to cause a little mayhem of their own.
A Few Reasons Why Modern Horror Fans Will Like It
- The Devil’s Rejects is a sequel that can stand on its own. You don’t need to know of or even see House of 1000 Corpses to watch this film and enjoy the sadistic romp that Baby and Otis take.
- The characters - Baby and Otis are more than dastardly. They are disgusting and revel in it. They don’t apologize for their sins. They wallow in them. However, you’ll still find yourself rooting for Baby to survive the sheriff’s torture (spoiler alert!) session in the end and … then you’ve got to wonder a little bit about yourself too. In addition, Captain Spaulding is a about as despicable a clown as Steven King or even John Wayne Gacy could think up.
- Rob Zombie, who has also directed his own version of John Carpenter’s classic Halloween, knows his horror, and pays homage to it in a very special and unique way. As a director he is also an unseen character in the film, putting his mark on every scene like every good horror director from Argento to Craven and so forth and beyond.
- Then, of course, there are the sexy women and the exploitation of said sexy women. Without a little bit of nudity, where would the modern-day exploitation flick be?
- Zombie uses casting very well. He takes Priscilla Barnes, who is best known for her squeaky-clean role on the 70s sitcom hit Three’s Company, Leslie Easterbrook of Police Academy fame and E.G. Daly, the voice of Tommy Pickles, the delightful little Rugrats character and puts them in highly unusual roles to say the least.
- Of course, the casting is just one of the pop culture perversions that Zombie uses to total totally titillate horror fanatics. (Hint: the aforementioned Captain Spaulding comes from a Marx Brothers bit.) Now, that’s scary!
Conclusion
Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects is a thrill ride a minute. It’s a horrific romp through a family reunion that makes many of us appreciate the families we have. However, it’s a truly delicious bit of horror film-making that provides a plot amidst the gore and makes a social statement about how righteous killing can turn into something evil just as easily as killing for enjoyment can. It is not to be missed.
Devil's Rejects
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