The Devil May Reject 'Em, But I Won't

The first time round Rob Zombie got it a bit wrong. His directorial debut, the Texas Chainsaw inspired "House Of 1000 Corpses" was an interesting piece of experimental cinema riffing off the old cliche of teenagers breaking down in middle America, only to stumble upon an inbred family of redneck cannibals. As you do. But the teens were unsympathetic and unlikable while some of the techniques Zombie used were off putting and amateurish.

Fortunately, Rob Zombie is a smart man. When it came to directing the follow up, The Devils Rejects, he ditched the stuff that wasn't working, kept the stuff that was, and studied the 70's splatter genre that inspired him. The result is a modern horror classic that shows a film maker in total control of his craft...in everything from the technical side, the characters and dialogue, to refining his exploration of evil.

From a technical standpoint the movie embraces the grainy quality of low budget 70's cinema giving proceedings a rawness while Zombie's editing is outside of the box. The choice in music is inspired utilising several many classic American country rock tunes, including the staggeringly amazing Freebird in the Butch Cassidy finale. The dialogue is more memorable, with an off-kilter Tarantino-eque quality, while the story firmly focuses on bad people doing bad things...whether it's the Firefly family on the run or the twisted Sherrif that's pursuing them.

The cast are on top form with Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Sheri Moon Zombie all electrifying as Captain Spaulding, Otis and Baby, respectively...turning their close knit family of psychopaths firmly into horror icons. It's savage, uncomfortable to watch at times, gut-bustingly funny, sad, thrilling, horrifying and fun. Devils Rejects is the work of a true auteur; someone who's refined and distilled everything he wants to see and hear in a motion picture and packaged a story as a way of expressing that unique vision. It pushing the boundaries of taste, not all will appreciate that singular vision, but it's there to admire in all its bloody glory for those who do.