The Devil's Rejects (2005)

Director: Rob Zombie

Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe, Geoffrey Lewis

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Hell doesn't want them. Hell doesn't need them. Hell doesn't love them. This world rejects them.

Plot: A little while after the murders of the young people from HO1KC The Firefly family must escape Their house because it is surrounded by police. Capt. Spaulding meets up with Baby and Otis to find a hiding place. Meanwhile, Officer Whydel, Sherrif Whydel's brother seeks revenge on the family who became known as The Devil's Rejects.



My Rating: 8/10

Would I watch it again? Shit, yeah, Buddy-ro!

What a refreshing modern genre film. From the great opening credits sequence with the freeze-framing and the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE-type voice over to the gore fest throughout the film to the (almost) great downer (sort of) of an ending. Zombie's got some talent and I hope he didn't shoot his wad with this film. I'm looking forward to watching HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (2003) and, to a lesser extent, HALLOWEEN (2007).

I do have some issues with it, though. First of all Rob's wife, Sheri, is not a good actress and it really shows when she's around good actors. Her onscreen mother, played by Leslie Easterbrook, is equally bad. WAY over the top. In one scene, Zombie just lets her go nuts in an interrogation room for what seems like forever as she's acting as if she's possessed or something. I wouldn't have been the least surprised if she started foaming at the mouth. It's laughable.

HOUSE OF 1000 SPOILERS...

The end of the film has our anti-heroes driving on a desert highway approaching certain death by way of a road block with a shitload of coppers with boom sticks. The Skynyrd song, Freebird, starts playing (I'm OK with it so far) but the scene drags on and in slow motion, so much so that it's obvious Zombie is waiting for the point in the song where it picks up the pace before the shooting is to begin. I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and wishing he would hurry the fuck up until eventually, it's over. THAT was way too much. Shorten the tune or something. Shit fuck.

END OF SPOILERS...YARRRR

I ended up watching again with a friend and it was a blast the second time around. Except, of course, for the two bad actors and the final scene which seemed twice as long. Oh, and Sid Haig and Bill Moseley should have their own franchise with these characters. Badass.