THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Every artist knows there is more art to express after initial express. Everything Rob Zombie gained from the various success of his directorial debut, House of 1000 Corpses, was all needed to continue being a filmmaker.
PLOT
The 2005 sequel The Devil’s Rejects takes place in 1978 and follows the Firefly family be pursued by Texas Sheriff John Quincey Wydell, as they are wanted for dozens of homicides and disappearances. Siblings Baby & Otis are able to escape through their tunnel and steal a car, whereas Mother (Leslie Easterbrook) gets apprehended (and Doctor Satan gets captured & taken to a mental hospital as shown in a deleted scene). They head to the Kahiki Palms motel where they meet to rendezvous with their father Captain Spaulding. After they call him for help and wait for his arrival, they take hostage the musical group, ‘Banjo and Sullivan’ and kill their roadie Jimmy (Brian Posehn). Otis has Adam Banjo & Roy Sullivan (Lew Temple & Geoffrey Lewis) come with him for an errand, that is picking up weapons he buried, whereas Baby watches over their wives Gloria & Wendy (Priscilla Barnes & Kate Norby) after they’ve sexually assaulted them. Just as Otis gets his weapons, he kills both men when try to kill him first. Gloria does try to kill Baby as well, but she gets the advantage by fatally stabbing her. Wendy tries to make a break for it, but is stopped by Spaulding who arrives in time. Once regrouped, the Fireflies keep moving and leave Wendy for dead. She’s left stuck until a maid runs terrified of her being forced to wear her husband’s skinned face. When she tries again to run out for help, she’s struck by a truck in the highway. Wydell takes the investigation more personal than ever when she kills Mother over her confession to have killed her brother. He also recruits the assist of bounty hunters Rondo & Billy Ray (Danny Trejo & Diamond Dallas Page) aka the Unholy Two, who narrow down the Fireflies will be heading to a brothel owned by a friend of Spaulding, named Charlie Altamont. Once he finds them thanks to following the latter and forcing him to direct him to where they are, he takes the remaining family to their home to torture them all. He does so by shocking them with a cattle prod, stapling crime scene photos onto their stomachs, nailing their hands to a chair and taunting them of killing Mother. Wydell then decides to leave Otis & Spaulding in the house where he intends to burn them alive, while choosing to hunt Baby for sport. Charlie does try to save them, but the sheriff kills him for his efforts. Thankfully for the family, they are instead saved by Tiny (Matthew McGrory) who was hiding elsewhere. After killing Wydell and getting Otis & Spaulding out of the house, he decides to stay and die with the house. With the trio driving down the road again, they are blocked by police ahead of them. The film ends with them being shot down as they sped towards the barricade rather than surrender.
THOUGHTS
I knew Rob was gonna top himself in making a ballistic experience compared to his predecessor, but boy did I find myself impressed on the overall execution. At this point, you know it’s gonna be full of depravity and he embraces every bit of it throughout the runtime. The film is edited in a cat and mouse chase where the villains are on the run, the hunters become the hunted, and all we have to do is watch the madness continue. It’s rightfully disturbing of an adventure because you just know it’s meaner than you’re expecting. All such strengths were possible thanks to the trio that made the first film work and now ante up all the evil that defined them. Sheri Moon is probably the most vicious of the group because you already know she’s going to be playful with who she wants to kill. Even when she ain’t laughing, she’s just as frightening with every glare. Bill Moseley was still a menace as Otis because he seemed to enjoy all the pain he committed and has the most focus to what he thinks he has to do. Sid Haig also gives an interesting dive of Captain Spaulding for becoming much of a patriarch to his family where he gives enough leadership in between the vulgar news you expect from him. While it’s obvious we shouldn’t condone these characters for all the pain they caused, the oddest thing you would seem to respect them for is their shamelessness. What I get out of this entry is its approach to say to stick with what you know when the world’s against you, as long as it doesn’t destroy you. Even though 3 From Hell reveals the trio to have survived the final shootout, that moment comes to prove how they’d rather die for who they are then surrender knowing their time was up. Going into the new characters, Ken Foree brought his whole enigma as Charlie because he matches being as brash and vulgar like his friend Spaulding is known for, which defends why he gets along with the family so well. Whether or not he knows what they do, there was no doubt he had such unordinary loyalty when choosing to protect them rather than give them up so easily. Despite his actions, the only one who has the closest moral compass is Wydell. William Forsythe does an impressive job in making the sheriff a guy who is about doing the right thing in stopping the villains, but can’t help choosing to relish it because it’s in his genes to be a vigilante and avenge his loss. It’s one thing for a person of the law to be proud in stopping the bad, but it’s another to enjoy which is why you can say he almost becomes no different than those he was trying to stop. Although he seemed the closest in stopping the Fireflies, all we can do at this point is respect his efforts. This movie does work overall, but then there are a few moments more confusing than the conversation of chicken beastiality. Like for example, I think Wydell should’ve thrown in the gas before he started shooting because it ain’t like he knew the Fireflies had masks on them on the way out. I even believe Baby & Otis should’ve burned the tunnel if they covered their tracks. Had they done that, Wydell likely would’ve not figured out Spaulding was part of the family. And how come no one else saw Spaulding car jack a woman and her son? If they did, there should’ve been a scene to further prove Wydell was on the tail. Also, why didn’t Otis take the knife from Roy sooner? That was straight up asking to get stabbed. Lastly, how did Charlie get to the Firefly house so quietly? It wasn’t like he parked a mile away, so it’s a surprise Wydell didn’t hear him park. Ignore this, then you’ll still respect what this movie is going for. In short, The Devil’s Rejects is Rob Zombie’s best film for defining exactly what to expect from ‘Hellbilly’ horror. If you’re a horror fanatic that enjoyed the predecessor, this is worthwhile too.
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