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The Devil's Rejects is a direct sequel to the utterly atrocious House Of A 1000 Corpses and just like its predecessor it is an utterly absurd, masochistic, obnoxious and, for the most part, fairly boring film. Controversial metal star and noted horror film fanatic Rob Zombie, responsible for both, should stick to making his music, which is underrated. As a director he should just give up.
This film will only appeal to a select few: those who are zealous horror fans, Rob Zombie fans or those with a strong stomach and a high tolerance for on (and off) screen pain. Honestly, with half of 2005 yet to go, this film could possibly be a contender for the vilest and, frankly, crappiest film of the year.
Those desperate for back-story, should pay a visit to House Of A 1000 Corpses (though they’d have to be really desperate). Months on from the events of the first film, the Firefly family home is raided by a strongly armed group of Texas State Police officers led by the determined and foul mouthed Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe), but Otis (Bill Moseley) and Baby Firefly, played by Rob Zombie's wife, Sheri Moon, manage to evade police encapturement and head off to a hotel to meet Baby Firefly’s father, Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). In a stream of bloody violence they move onto a dilapidated amusement park owned by the seedy Charlie Altamont (Ken Foree) who is the half-brother of Captain Spaulding. What results is a (very) messy chase as the family endeavour to avoid the approaching Sheriff and his team of police officers, the FBI and some brutal hired bounty hunters.
The characters in The Devil's Rejects are just so shamefully ugly, loathsome and evil (even the sheriff, who is just as ruthless, despite his passion for justice) that the film ends up being nothing more than a torrent of violent deviancy, abuse, obscenity and curse words. Indeed it is so cheap, nasty and harsh, so poorly written, that it feels exactly like it could be one of those really bad video nasties that was banned back in the early eighties and just now released for public viewing. There is nothing clever about the film in the slightest. It is far too long, the hideous climax alone goes on for an absurd length of time, and the whole thing is merely an excuse to show scene after scene of pointless violence.
In a way, one could argue, it is a twisted homage to extreme horror cinema, decades old. The perverse and graphic imagery at times evokes films by the likes of true horror visionaries such as Dario Argento. But The Devil's Rejects has failed to add anything remotely scary, suspenseful or intriguing to the mix whether that be aesthetically or otherwise. It is just red splatter after red splatter and swear word after swear word.
This film is an abominable crime against cinema and should be rejected to the celluloid dump for incineration. Yet I have this ugly feeling that Rob Zombie will go on to write and direct a third film.
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