The Devil’s Rejects (2005)

Directed by Rob Zombie

Viewed on HBO Go

 

Summary: Cutting out what didn’t work and doubling down on what did, The Devil’s Rejects is a huge improvement on House of 1000 Corpses. It’s still mostly for people who enjoy Rob Zombie’s signature blend of black comedy and gore, though.

Ahhh, Rob Zombie. I’ll work my way through your entire filmography in no time. Previously I talked about some of Zombie’s other works, House of 1000 Corpses and Lords of Salem and while they were a mixed bag there is something I find strangely interesting about Zombie’s films. I have a slightly different relationship with The Devil’s Rejects. This was the first Rob Zombie movie I ever saw, and because of that it’s still kind of nostalgic for me. I watched this movie before I was really into horror movies and I remember really enjoying the dark comedy and disturbing fare that the film had to offer. However, I’ve started re-evaluating movies that I’ve previously seen and I figured that taking another look at my introduction to Rob Zombie would be a fun trip. Please join me as I dive back in to Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects!

Devil’s Rejects picks up where House of 1000 Corpses left off, the police have figured out that the officers who went missing where last going to the Firefly residence and well…they just put the pieces together. This leads to a tense standoff with the police, lead by the brother of an officer that the family killed in the first film, demanding the surrender of the Firefly Clan. For some reason these serial rape murderists don’t want to surrender and a well executed firefight proceeds to happen, with deaths and injuries happening on both sides. Only two of the Firefly clan manage to escape, Otis and Baby, while the others are either dead, apprehended or unaccounted for, including the best character in the series, Captain Spaulding, leading to a massive search operation. The remainder of the plot is that of a cat and mouse game where the fleeing Firefly clan are trying to stay one step ahead of Sheriff Wydell, who is looking less for justice and more for vengeance after the death of his brother in the previous film.

So the only really important stuff from the first film is that Captain Spaulding is the father of Baby and he operated a roadside attraction. Also he’s a clown and wears his clown makeup whenever possible. Also also all of the Firefly clan (Spaulding, Baby, Otis) are aggressively terrible people, indulging in crimes like murder, sexual assault, grand theft auto and so on. They were the antagonists of House of 1000 Corpses, but are now villain protagonists and I think that works a lot better. So much of the first film was dedicated to Firefly family stuff and there were way too many characters, so I really liked the decision to radically change directions and take the movie out of the Firefly home and away from the larger Firefly family.

Seeing these people now out of their element and trying to stay incognito while on the lam is a welcome change of pace, especially because everyone from this family is incredibly bad at being inconspicuous. You’d think that because the cops are on the lookout for anything suspicious, like murder, that the Firefly clan would just get a motel room, grab a pizza, and try to lay low for a bit while the heat is on. NOPE. Otis and Baby instantly resume their family unfriendly ways, torturing and otherwise harming people they meet on this trip, seemingly just because they can.

Unlike House of 1000 Corpses I do enjoy this movie mainly because it seems so different. The first thing that really stuck out to me was the bizarre sense of humor that this movie has, there are so many weird characters saying weird things that genuinely surprised me and got a laugh out of me, including an at that point unexplained scene at a brothel where the owner/workers are discussing how to improve business and whether or not the machines in Star Wars are robots or droids. All of these bizarre moments tap into something pretty unique and I will admit that I laughed a LOT during this movie, especially at the insanely quotable dialogue. Part of it is the juxtaposition, one moment the Firefly clan are doing genuinely horrible things and the next they’re disagreeing about whether or not to stop for ice cream.

What makes the Firefly clan so creepy in this movie is how stripped down everything is. They are no longer in their torture house with all their weird plans and implements, they are just out and about, being cruel to whoever they can with whatever they can. It gives the disturbing moments a casual feel, like ‘oh, I wasn’t planning on doing this today but since I’m here might as well!’ It seems that the Firefly clan is just this raging id doing whatever they want whenever they want and just assuming that the consequences of their actions won’t catch up with them. But those consequences are hot on their tail in the form of the vengeful Sheriff Wydell.

During Wydell’s hunt he slowly becomes disillusioned with the ponderous nature of the justice system, spurring him to make hard choices to try and bring the Firefly clan down. Though understandable, Wydell’s actions become unethical, ranging from hiring extralegal bounty hunters (played wonderfully by Danny Trejo and a rare screen appearance from ex-pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page) to outright murder. Wydell is definitely the heart of this story, showing just how easy it is to give in to hatred and vengeance and how that could taint even well meaning goals, like apprehending wanted criminals. Wydell’s journey shows another, more interesting, side to it though, and that is highlighting the glaring flaws that our villain protagonists have. And no, I’m not talking about flaws like the horrific actions they perform. I mean flaws like their narcissism and arrogance. The Devil’s Rejects consider themselves invincible, but when reality hits them, it hits hard.
This all builds to a wonderfully satisfying climax that I don’t really want to spoil, but rest assured that it is brutal and disgusting and very much in line with Zombie’s twisted sensibilities. More than that though, The Devil’s Rejects feels like a turning point for Zombie, the movie where everything kind of matured and came together and cemented his blend of dark humor and ultraviolence that has become his signature. Even the characters from the first film have improved here, with everyone, except Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding who was always great, coming into their own and making Otis and Baby more distinct both visually and personality-wise. This is one of the best examples of a sequel that figured out what worked and what didn’t work about the original and actually taking that to heart to make a better movie.

I’m not saying The Devil’s Rejects is a perfect movie, some of the movie goes a little too far off in the fluff category where it seemed like Zombie wanted to get a few more jokes in, especially in one scene where we see a foppish and absurd movie critic that feels like it’s in the movie just so Rob Zombie can get a jab in on the people who savaged House of 1000 Corpses in their reviews. Other than that though, I thoroughly enjoyed The Devil’s Rejects, especially its bizarre sense of humor and the more balanced ultraviolence. I wouldn’t necessarily give this a general recommendation, because it is still pretty niche, but if you like gorefests and black comedy then I would definitely give this a look!