Review: The Devil's Rejects (repost)

 
Note: This review was contributed by Deidre Woollard. Though new to Cinematical, Deidre will be familiar to frequent Weblogs, Inc spelunkers as the editor of Luxist.

Last Tuesday I attended Creative Screenwriting Magazine's screening and Q & A for The Devil's Rejects. Rob Zombie's second movie bears little resemblance to the first even though it is essentially a sequel, picking up the story of the murderous Firefly family as they try to elude a sheriff with a grudge. But where Zombie's first movie House of 1000 Corpses was more of a stylized continuation of his music videos, a chaotic gorefest set to pounding music, this movie holds to a linear narrative. That doesn't mean that Zombie has scrimped on the gore, in fact this movie may be bloodier than the first and there are certain scenes that are rather intense. It isn't as much as horror movie as it is a road movie, perhaps a super-bloodied version of Smokey And The Bandit or Vanishing Point.  

 What is most striking about this movie is how completely it holds to its 1970s aesthetic.  The soundtrack is heavy on the Lynyrd Skynyrd, Terry Reid and Allman Brothers Band. Hand-held cameras were used to achieve the shaky effect of the period. The overall lighting in the movie is positively sunsplashed, and the split screen editing is absolutely Brady Bunch.

The story takes place in 1978 in a town called Ruggsville which is supposed to be in the South, but like most 1970s movies, seems to really take place in the Southern California desert. The film is also stocked with 1970s and 1980s B-film stars including Priscilla Barnes of TV's Three's Company in a small but memorable role.  The killing is so unremitting, however, that character development isn't exactly a priority.

It is impossible to review this film without discussing the violence. In the Q and A afterward, Rob Zombie said that although people often compare this film to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he took his cues more from movies like Bonnie and Clyde and Electra-Glide In Blue. While it can be argued that Zombie was glorifying violence, he stated after the movie that it was his goal that the violence in the movie be disgusting and that the characters committing the murders not be seen as heroes.

While the film may not sit well with some audiences, any fan of 70s horror and cult films should not miss this one.