The Devil's Rejects - Special Edition [2005] [DVD]

Brilliant

"The Devil's Rejects" is the sequel to Rod Zombie's "House Of 1,000 Corpses" and to appreciate it you'd certainly need to see its predecessor. The Devil's Rejects is the story of the psychopathic Firefly and their flight from the law as the police net begins to close in on them.The Firefly family are a kind of twisted, tripping version of the Angel family in the old Judge Dredd comics. In 'House' they waylaid travellers into their home for an evening of wild entertainment, usually ending in the bizarre ritualistic mutilation and torture of their guests. In "Rejects" however, they aren't quite so perverse in their actions, being upstaged by the equally psychopathic cop who is tracking them down.It is possibly because of this that in "Rejects", despite the Firefly family being perverse necrophiliac homicidal maniacs, I actually found myself rooting for them. By the end of the film, in fact, I was somewhat horrified to find myself on their side. Credit has to go to Zombie & Co for being able to make an audience sympathise with such characters!One minor disappointment was the loss of the "surreal" edge that was found in "House", being replaced by a more straightforward sadism (if that's not too much of an oxymoron). This 'dumbed down' "Rejects" slightly for me. "House" and "Rejects" have never been your standard slasher fare, and whilst more disturbing they're also more intelligent and fascinating which is why I feel so justified in liking them so much :-)The characterisations of the dsyfunctional, immature and irrational psychopath family are as always excellent with Sheri Moon Zombie shining as the utterly irresistable but deeply disturbed sadistic seductress "Baby".In summary, "Rejects" is a fast-moving feast of sex, mayhem and violence with some blinding blues music as the score which builds up into a sweeping "high noon" style climax. I truly hope there will be more to follow.

If QT can get away with "homaging" and "borrowing" from every genre under the sun and become critically acclaimed then surely Rob Zombie can do it with his favourite genre, a genre he is a geniune fan of and with a movie he stamps his promise as a director all over. He blew Eli "The Saviour of Horror" Roth's Cabin Fever away with his debut House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects has shown his abilities to go all out and that horror should be handled by the people who know it and love it. Rob Zombie loses a lot of the White Zombie music video techique he used in Ho1000C's and shines TDR's up, showing a lot of the horror in daytime as he takes the notorious Firefly family out of their home and on the run chased by the police led by the intense Sherrif John Wydell. The movie takes you on a wild journey with enough twists to keep your interest, enough cameo's to please even the most bitter old-school fan and enough antics and jokes to keep you entertained. The humour is sick and depraved and the jokes are infantile but they'll make you chuckle...strictly mainstream fans should be cautious before buying it as it's definetly not for easily-offended and the humourless. One shining aspect of the movie that no-one (no matter how big the precious bubble they live in) can deny is the soundtrack which is sheer 70's gold and uses Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird in the unforgettable finale of the film.Well recommended for people who have lost faith in modern horror.

Don't know why like this movie maybe the way it is written considering all the gore should be appauled but somthing about it that captures the imagination. Matthew McGrory also as tiny towards the end walking back into the fire is sad in a way as the actor just did one more film after this.

The Devil's Rejects is the sequel to Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and is far superior in so many ways. I found the first film too bizarre and out there with a few good jokes thrown in. However the sequel has a decent storyline, far better acting and an absolutely excellent soundtrack. The way the film is shot coupled with the music gives a very authentic 70's feel to the film.It's about a family of...well sick pychos I suppose, (Otis, Baby, Spaulding, Tiny and Madame Firefly) who are on the run from the police and will do anything to get away from them. Sherrif Wydell is on their tail wanting revenge after they killed his brother in the previous film. Wydell loses the plot somewhat, almost to the point that has you rooting for the bad guys. There is a dark humour running throughout with some good gags for all but even with some darker sadistic violence but it has all been put together in such a way that it works.There are some great cameos from Danny Trejo, Ken Foree and Michael Berryman for the horror nerds and an excellent finale timed perfectly to Skynyrd's Freebird, absolute genius.This is one of my favouite films and whilst there are violent scenes, this is more a film to make you feel uncomfortable rather than scared, done in a similar vein to The Last House on the Left.