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[Leatherface]

I've heard a ton of good stuff about this movie and have been looking forward to it for some time. Screen tests have been highly positive and crititics seem impressed so far. Rotten Tomatoes has 5 reviews up so far and it has a perfect 100%. I'm sure this score will eventually go down, but there's no denying we have a quality horror film about to hit. We may even have a horror movie classic on our hands!!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_rejects/

Sample Review:

The Devil's Rejects B+
Lions Gate Films / Cinerenta


Year Released: 2005
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Rob Zombie
Writer: Rob Zombie
Cast: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe, Ken Foree, Matthew McGrory, Leslie Easterbrook, Geoffrey Lewis, Priscilla Barnes.

Review by Jeremiah Kipp


Though Rob Zombie shows no flair for dialogue and has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the kneecap, The Devil's Rejects is easily one of the finest examples of brutal, uncompromising terror filmmaking. Like Jim Van Bebber's recent The Manson Family, this one looks like it was dug out of a vault circa 1972, and captures the visual texture, spontaneity, and mania of 1970s shock cinema classics like Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Since his debut effort House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie has not only grown as a filmmaker and discovered more compelling ways of sustaining dread, using a freaky-deak soundtrack to convey madness and menace, and stopped relying on direct homage to his favorite movies in order to make his point -- he's also tapped into something that we've known since the Universal masterpieces Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolf Man: that the monster is generally more fascinating than the victim.

Zombie shifts his entire focus and stays with the homicidal, cannibalistic Firefly clan, who live in a macabre shack out in the desert with furniture made of flesh and bones and poor little children kept in cages down in the basement. To the casual reader, you should know by now what you're getting into with The Devil's Rejects, and if you don't have the stomach for it you shouldn't bother finishing this review. Go see the equally nihilistic Mr. and Mrs. Smith and pretend it's wholesome. I prefer my bleak cinema to be honest.

A Waco-style police raid on the Firefly shack sends raggedy maniacs Otis (Bill Moseley) and Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) on the run through the desert, pursued by relentless Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe). Even as Otis and Baby shack up in a backwater motel to torture and murder a couple of unlucky travelers -- and Zombie doesn't shy away from their brutality one bit -- we see the gradual transformation of Wydell from Christian avenger, wanting payback for the death of his brother, to psychopathic witch hunter. It's here that The Devil's Rejects becomes -- for lack of a better word -- thoughtful and contemplative about what it is.

Sheriff Wydell puts these monsters into a kind of focus, because he's as sadistic as they are, yet far more hypocritical. Avenging in the name of justice, he pursues the monsters with the intent of binding them to a chair, torturing them mercilessly, then killing them as savagely as they would their own victims. Wydell suffers from not being as self-aware as the demons he's chasing. And when he finally does catch up with them to carry out his scheme, audience loyalty cannot help but shift to his victims even if the victims in question are a family comprised of evil, heartless murderers. Audience identification gets pushed to a breaking point.

Zombie has a penchant for dumb gross-out jokes (there's a scene where the dialogue is all about what it would be like to have sex with a dying chicken) and an infuriating bit of sentimentality at the climax nearly undermines the horror show that preceded it. But he saves himself in a final scene that feels as epic and expressionistic as Sergio Leone, and benefits greatly from his terrific cast of genre veterans. It's a treat to see Ken Foree, from George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, playing Captain Spaulding's old buddy Charlie, though they might as well have called his character Lando Calrissian since he serves the same function here.

Otis, Baby, and their delinquent dad Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig, having a ball in sicko clown makeup with bad teeth) are all loathsome, irredeemable characters. As spectators, we pity their victims even as we're fascinated by their transgressions. Zombie identifies with them because of their otherness, their ability to not be normal. Baby struts around half-naked and petulant like a teenager. Captain Spaulding has a sense of showmanship and a taste for the good life (first seen having sex with a beautiful girl, later wrapping his lips around a joint as if he'd died and gone to heaven). We can't forgive them or admire them, but we're certainly interested. It reminds us of a time in American cinema where we didn't have to sympathize with the protagonists -- we merely needed to be curious.

Finally, I'm wondering how Zombie achieved an R rating from the MPAA, since the unbelievable violence and full frontal nudity is taken to obscene proportions. Some might label him satanic, others cathartic, but whatever you call him, Rob Zombie has guts.



The Devil's Rejects
US Release Date: July 22nd 2005

HELL YEAH!

 

[Kabuki Waq]

considering house of 1000 corpses sucked bad ....i am not gonna get hyped for this.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

yeah, house of 1000 corpses was terrible. I'll wait and maybe rent it.

 

[FoneBone]

This sounds awesome. [/sarcasm]
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1603869

So I caught this flick at a screening with Rob Zombie the other night. It's a (very loose) sequel to House of 1000 Corpses but with an entirely different tone. It's done like 70s exploitation flick, only with the kind of angry moral ambivalence that makes Cannibal Holocaust and Irreversible look like artfully refined cinema.

This is an odd film. It's a movie that seems to be sadistic and cruel but in an arena that's almost outside of horror movies. Instead of fantasy slashers and monsters, the film seems to be absolutely fixated with creating gritty scenarios of nihilistic cruelty.

Here's some examples from one of the scenes in the film (SPOILERS) of the sort of thing that go down in this movie.

Spoiler

At one point the serial killers break into a motel room and hold a family at gunpoint. First they shoot their friend in the face and blow his brains all over them to scare the hostages. Then they grab the man's wife from the shower and torture her for a while... just because. Then they grab the older woman and force her to strip and suck off the Charlie Manson looking killer. Then he sticks a gun down her panties and masturbates her with it in front of her crying husband. Eventually they march the men off to the desert and brutally bludgeon them to death. The women are stabbed to death, except for one who they leave tied to the wall. They cut off her husband's face and leave it tied onto her. Eventually the motel maid finds her, hanging from the wall, hysterical, and she goes running out of the room only to be run over by a semi-truck, scraped across the asphalt and have her internal organs dragging behind her.

So, yeah it's that sort of movie. Not really horror, just plain ":wtf:"

After the screening, one of the audience members was really upset and started bitching at Rob Zombie during the Q&A asking him why he thought this was a good idea to make a whole film "glamourizing" this sort of thing. I think it's the same guy (or at least someone who agrees with him) who wrote this excellent review:

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=20611

As for myself, I just found the whole idea lacking. There was nobody to root for, the violence and cruelty was pointless, and the reason for watching was ultimately just to see people horribly tortured. Apart from that, it was a shame because it truly did have a nice low-budget gritty 70s grind house style.

And the AICN review:

As the end credits began to roll on THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, writer/director Rob Zombie's follow-up to his HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, my friend turned to me and asked what I thought of the film we had just seen.

"It's a piece of shit," I shrugged. "A torture show."

I stand by my first impression. It is a piece of shit and it is a torture show. But why? Why did Rob Zombie, who has built several successful careers out of his passion for the horror and exploitation genres, miss his mark so badly? And why does everyone who tries to create some kind of homage to seventies exploitation films – movies that were usually slapped together under rushed and less than ideal circumstances - fail with ten times the resources at their disposal?

I should begin by saying that if nothing else, Rob Zombie has made a superior film to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. The most succinct criticism of HOUSE that I heard was from a friend who said she felt like she spent the whole movie waiting for it to begin, then was disappointed when it never really did; the mish-mash of gimmicks, gags and gross-outs failed to gel into anything cohesive or meaningful. And like a lot of 'everything-PLUS-the-kitchen-sink' experiences, at the end of the day not only did it not make a lot of sense, it just wasn't very good.

THE DEVIL'S REJECTS continues the adventures of the murderously unhinged Firefly family first introduced in HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES – played by Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie (aka Mrs. Rob Zombie), Leslie Easterbrook (pinch-hitting for Karen Black) and cult favorite Sid Haig. In addition, Howard Stern regular Matthew McGrory returns to make what is a bit too convenient a cameo appearance as brother Tiny.

It's essentially a road movie with two major detours; the first takes the band of killers to a desert motel where they torment, torture and ultimately murder a family they meet there, while the second occurs in a western-themed bordello where the Firefly clan are confronted by their arch-nemesis: a lawman (William Forsythe) whose brother they murdered in the previous film.

Whatever negative things can be said about the THE DEVIL'S REJECTS – and there are plenty – it does have real forward momentum, an actual plot and a consistent and frequently arresting visual style. Unfortunately, it's all in the service of a film that is crude and sniggering at its best then cynical and downright offensive at its worst. It's the cinematic equivalent of the tasteless drunk at a party who starts out entertainingly enough but soon ruins everyone's good time to the point where folks start wondering just when he's going to get taken outside and have his ass beaten for him.

And that's depressing on a number of levels. It's depressing because some of the technical efforts to re-create the look and texture of the gritty exploitation movies of thirty years ago come so close to working. It's depressing because the movie features several very good performances by some talented and interesting actors who continue to be criminally overlooked and underused by Hollywood (Sid Haig, Ken Foree, Geoffrey Lewis, and William Forsythe, to name a few). It's depressing because it's yet another genre movie in which torture, rape, violence and humiliation are presented in as graphic and unforgiving a manner as possible and then later employed as cheap punchlines. But mostly it's depressing because Rob Zombie was, by his own account, given free reign to do anything he wanted for this movie and this was the best he could come up with.

For his second feature, Zombie turned to the notorious drive-in fare of the seventies for inspiration - a school of film hardly known for its political correctness. Plenty of those movies came under fire upon their initial release and would likely find no warmer a welcome were they to be released today.

And yet, unlike THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, even in the worst of the drive-in trash there is almost always some kind of moral code in play, at least on some level. Good versus Evil is the most basic dramatic conflict we as humans have; you can play it straight or you can play it loose, but when you choose not to play at all you tend to end up with something less than compelling. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is proof of it.

It's practically a rule that exploitation movies have 'anti-heroes' as protagonists, and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS attempts to follow in that tradition by putting its family of killers center stage. But Zombie lacks a grasp of the essential components required to create that kind of character with any degree of effectiveness. An anti-hero may not represent conventional, cut-and-dried concepts of heroism, but they have to stand for something; otherwise, what's the point?

Zombie has created a singularly remorseless and unpleasant cast of characters (they don't even appear to like each other very much!), but no one here is written with any real dimension or depth. They aren't helped by the dialogue, which is comprised entirely of sick-joke verbal showboating, campy pop-culture references or some combination of the two. The end result makes for one or two clever exchanges but mostly it just calls attention to itself. It's safe to say any art or interest found in the characters can be attributed solely to the contributions of the actors themselves, since their performances are pretty much all their characters have got going for them. Old-school exploitation vets like Haig, Lewis and Forsythe have all done more with less in the past, and though they could probably play these roles in their sleep and still walk away with the movie, all three deliver such energetic and even nuanced work, you can't help but wish the filmmaker shared their level of commitment.

Perhaps most annoyingly, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS – even more so than the campier HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES - plays into a trend that has been ruining horror movies for several decades: the idolization of the monster. With the emergence of sequels, T-shirts, toys and Halloween costumes tied to mainstream horror, characters who were once figures of fear have been transformed into bizarre and unlikely cult heroes.

This is different from the long-idolized 'classic' monsters like Chaney's Phantom, the Wolfman, Im Ho Tep or even King Kong. A closer look at that rogues' gallery reveals a common underlying humanity, a pathos to their respective situations that makes them deserving of a certain empathy despite their monstrous behavior. Is this same level of sentiment really appropriate to contemporary movie monsters who, by and large, are merciless, one-dimensional wisecracking serial rapists and killers?

Too many hardcore genre fans – and sadly, Rob Zombie must be counted among them – fail to grasp the essence of what drew them to the genre in the first place: namely, the thrill of being scared by a monster, not the thrill of being one. It is precisely this confusion that lies at the root of the embarrassing glut of truly horrible horror movies of the last thirty years.

Let's be clear: 'Leatherface' was not the hero of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Mars, Pluto and Jupiter were not the heroes of THE HILLS HAVE EYES. The murderous cult members are not the heroes of RACE WITH THE DEVIL. They were the villains. We aren't meant to identify with them. Their brutish behavior is completely alien to what we know and accept as appropriate. We don't understand them, and we certainly shouldn't be able to relate to them. That's what makes them scary.

Zombie misses this point entirely, establishing a cast of characters whose behavior is beyond reprehensible, then puts a few dirty jokes into their mouths as if to say 'aw hell, they ain't all that bad.' But when characters are shown beating, mutilating, raping and killing innocent passersby, they are that bad, and for Zombie to present them as anything less – to say nothing of suggesting these people are the heroes of the piece - moves his film out of simple pseudo-hip bad taste and into the realm of the truly offensive.

If the introduction of issues of taste and morality seems out of place in a discussion of an exploitation film, it shouldn't. A truly effective piece of exploitation should carry with it a very profound understanding of existing standards of decency, of prevailing public tastes and mores; how can the filmmakers possibly hope to capitalize and ( ahem!) exploit their audience's worst fears otherwise? It's about knowing where the audience will draw the line and then elbowing them sharply over it - enough to get under their skin. The exploitation filmmaker who fails to grasp this basic concept is in the wrong line of work.

Even a movie as brutal and nihilistic in its attitudes as Al Adamson's biker trash classic SATAN'S SADISTS at least allows for some kind of moral center. Traditional morality may not necessarily be respected by a film's characters, and certainly it doesn't even have to triumph over Evil, but the acknowledgement of a moral standard – whether it is being enforced or violated – is crucial. It forms the defining point for any character and, by extension, the film itself. It's also what makes an audience able to relate to the film, and it's the only thing that keeps the best of the exploitation films from slipping into a muck of numbing, pointless sadism.

The original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a savage, unforgiving film, but it is also a masterpiece. It is effective not because the forces of good are presented as essentially powerless against the casual evil depicted onscreen, but rather because the villains of the piece don't even appear to comprehend the difference. Think about it: what could be more terrifying to anyone in civilized society than the idea that there are people out there who exist in such a state of complete moral ignorance that the rules of your society don't even apply to them. Their ambivalence, combined with their mystery, makes them terrifying.

By assigning his evil characters attributes the viewer can relate to (or even be entertained by!) such as a gift for gallows-humor wisecracks or a sympathetic music score, a director not only weakens the characters by scaling them down from their more elemental proportions but he weakens the audience, numbing them to the terrors he may have in store for them. Aside from creative laziness (it's done because it's become the norm in these kinds of films) or crass marketing agendas (it makes the characters easier to popularize and franchise), can there be any legitimate artistic motivation for encouraging an audience to like or even admire vicious, sadistic characters to the point where their viciousness and sadism are celebrated and applauded? In THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, the audience is encouraged to cheer two men savagely beaten to death with a club, another man's head twisted until his neck snaps and a woman mowed down by an eighteen wheeler then dragged along a stretch of road. It is worth noting that these characters whose grisly ends prove so satisfying are all presented earlier in the film as likable, innocent victims !

Spoiler

Contrast this approach with the finale he orchestrates for the three murderers. When Zombie puts his family of psychos into an outnumbered, outgunned showdown on a lonely stretch of highway, underscored by the nostalgic, mournful wail of Lyrnyrd Skynyrd's 'Freebird' on the soundtrack like some kind of white-trash BUTCH CASSIDY, what exactly is he saying? Is his point that we should consider the deaths of three remorseless serial killers as somehow tragic because they were only trying to be "free"? Can he possibly believe that line of bullshit?

When a filmmaker chooses to set his scene in an amoral no-man's land where psychotic killers are cast as heroes and their victims are no more than objects of ridicule and target practice, he robs the viewer of any sense of perspective and places his film in the genre equivalent of porn. And like porn, it becomes all about the audience waiting to see the next character get fucked.

With THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie creates a world that turns on dysfunction and cruelty, but sadly there is no method to his madness.

I am g. speedlace, attorney at law

I tried to spoiler-tag stuff, out of fairness to whoever actually wants to see this. If I happened to miss anything -- sorry. Kind of.

 

[Leatherface]

Any actual horror movie fans want to respond instead? Jesus. Apparently some of you don't remember when horror movies were good. Yes it's gritty and unnerving etc... but this is what creates the "horror". Remember TCM? One of the best horror movies of all time. The movie was like a snuff film...

 

[Kabuki Waq]

are you fucking retarded? 1000 corpses was not good as a movie or as a horror movie.


Im a horror movie fan and let me tell you 1000 corpses was shit.

 

[Leatherface]

are you fucking retarded? 1000 corpses was not good as a movie or as a horror movie.


Im a horror movie fan and let me tell you 1000 corpses was shit.

First of all fuck you and your pathetic insults.. Second of all if you read a little bit about this, it's nothing like the low budget campy first attempt. It's suppose to be a great horror flick. Anyway, I posted this for people looking forward to it. If your not, then whatever. Give yourself a pat on the back.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

you are the one using genralizations as if anyone who is not being hyped about some hack fanboy's horror movie makes us less of a horror movie fan than you.

 

[Leatherface]

If you are a true horror fan you would have read all about this by now and realized it's not gonna be anything like the first one. You would have also read how well it tested and the praise it's getting from horror movie fans everywhere. You're also assuming I'm a 1,000 Corpses fan (which I'm not).. I was entertained but I didn't think it was an awesome horror movie by any stretch. I posted this for horror fans who are looking forward to this like I am. Maybe by chance you don't fall into this category and thats fine, but calling me "fucking retarded" based on what you THINK I like and don't like is highly uncalled for and pathetic.

 

[Gattsu25]

fuck...I hated House of a 1000 Corpses

how the hell does liking that shit make anyone an "actual" or "true" horror fan?

 

[Leatherface]

fuck...I hated House of a 1000 Corpses

how the hell does liking that shit make anyone an "actual" or "true" horror fan?

I don't know, but since I never claimed to be a big fan of the first one you make little sense to me.

 

[Gattsu25]

Spoiler

At one point the serial killers break into a motel room and hold a family at gunpoint. First they shoot their friend in the face and blow his brains all over them to scare the hostages. Then they grab the man's wife from the shower and torture her for a while... just because. Then they grab the older woman and force her to strip and suck off the Charlie Manson looking killer. Then he sticks a gun down her panties and masturbates her with it in front of her crying husband. Eventually they march the men off to the desert and brutally bludgeon them to death. The women are stabbed to death, except for one who they leave tied to the wall. They cut off her husband's face and leave it tied onto her. Eventually the motel maid finds her, hanging from the wall, hysterical, and she goes running out of the room only to be run over by a semi-truck, scraped across the asphalt and have her internal organs dragging behind her.

fuck all if I loose interest in a movie after reading this. I'd value the opinion of a bloodhound's shit over someone who thinks this makes a great horror movie

 

[Leatherface]

Well dude, It is a horror movie. It's suppose to be disturbing, which is something most horror movies lack. I'm sure many people thought the same thing about the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre but its a horror classic now. personally, I'm pretty sick of the typical hollywood horror movies and applaud Rob Zombie for trying to bring the actual "horror" back to horror movies. I'm sure this will not be for everyone, but I for one am really looking forward to it.

Eitherway, It'll be interesting to see opinions again once this is released officially. The review your referring to seems to come from someone who doesn't enjoy this type of movie to begin with. It's pretty obvious he was horrified though. Am I rite? :lol

 

[Gattsu25]

Guy, I don't give a shit about any review and I'm not basing my opinion of the movie off of any. I was specifically referring to that particular scene. Is it horrible? YES. Is it anything I would want to watch or would find even remotely entertaining? FUCK NO.

Understand that.

I actually was planning on watching this flick, too...willing to ignore the 1000 corpses movie...but the one aspect of the earlier flick that distanced me the most seems to still be there and in greater effect. I'm not willing to

Spoiler

watch some blood and brain smeared naked chick mouthraped and raped with a fucking gun before having her husbands face put on her

all for the glory of being horrified. Fuck that noise and hit up the ogrish forums for your daily fix.

 

[Spectral Glider]

I'll wind up seeing it eventually. Hell, I just sat through Cursed the other day, if I can sit through that shit then I can watch anything. Now that's what I call horrible baby! Anyway, I never saw all of 1000 corpses, but what I did see didn't do much for me. Not going to let that stop me from watching his second attempt though.

 

[El_Victor]

Wait, isn't the "actual horror" in horror movies the feeling fear? You know, being horrified? I don't want to see *points at Wakunes quote* that.

 

[Leatherface]

Guy, I don't give a shit about any review and I'm not basing my opinion of the movie off of any. I was specifically referring to that particular scene. Is it horrible? YES. Is it anything I would want to watch or would find even remotely entertaining? FUCK NO.

Understand that.

I actually was planning on watching this flick, too...willing to ignore the 1000 corpses movie...but the one aspect of the earlier flick that distanced me the most seems to still be there and in greater effect. I'm not willing to

Spoiler

watch some blood and brain smeared naked chick mouthraped and raped with a fucking gun before having her husbands face put on her

all for the glory of being horrified. Fuck that noise and hit up the ogrish forums for your daily fix.

Awesome. You don't like it. what is there for me to understand? Just move on. Also, wtf. I'm not allowed to post hype threads about movies you deem too fucked up?

 

[LakeEarth]

Spoiler

At one point the serial killers break into a motel room and hold a family at gunpoint. First they shoot their friend in the face and blow his brains all over them to scare the hostages. Then they grab the man's wife from the shower and torture her for a while... just because. Then they grab the older woman and force her to strip and suck off the Charlie Manson looking killer. Then he sticks a gun down her panties and masturbates her with it in front of her crying husband. Eventually they march the men off to the desert and brutally bludgeon them to death. The women are stabbed to death, except for one who they leave tied to the wall. They cut off her husband's face and leave it tied onto her. Eventually the motel maid finds her, hanging from the wall, hysterical, and she goes running out of the room only to be run over by a semi-truck, scraped across the asphalt and have her internal organs dragging behind her.

fuck all if I loose interest in a movie after reading this. I'd value the opinion of a bloodhound's shit over someone who thinks this makes a great horror movie

That does kinda sound like more of the over the top crap from House of 1000 Corpses.

 

[sefskillz]

I loved House of 1000 Corpses and thought it was a great old school horror throwback. I'm really juiced for Devil's Rejects. I got to meet Sid Haig and Bill Moseley a few months ago at a horror convention. They quoted some lines from the new movie and signed a poster for me... can't wait to see it.

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

I WAS excited to see this, until I saw "High Tension". Worst film I've seen in the last couple years. What disappointed me most was that it got glowing reviews from "horror fans" who compared it to movies like TCM and other classics. The difference between that movie and those classics is that the classics had a story that made some sense. High Tension was complete bullshit all around.

So I figure, if Lion's Gate can give High Tension the green light, how far does the bar sit for them? There's no telling just how shitty Devil's Rejects could end up being. I guess I'm still going since it comes out on my birthday, I'm a huge Rob Zombie fan, and I like horror, but I'm really keeping my expectations low. REALLY low.

 

[RedDwarf]

I loved House of 1000 Corpses and thought it was a great old school horror throwback.

Same. I loved the scenes that were parodies of clips from the documentary "Manson".

 

[quest]

Same. I loved the scenes that were parodies of clips from the documentary "Manson".

I also loved house of a 1000 corpses. It is a great change of pace from this pussified PG-13 horror flicks I have been force fed since the 90's. I am so freaking jacked up to see this movie I can't wait to see some real gore and violence. After putting up with crap like the ring it makes me even more happy to see this movie. I hope this movie makes some money so maybe we can see some more old fashion gory horror movies. I remember as a kid the video store had a whole wall of horror flicks with violence,gore and titties. Hollywood can take PG-13 horror movies and shove them up thier asses.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i liked house of 1,000 corpses a lot. i'm looking forward to devils rejects, but i have a feeling im in the minority (here and in general)

 

[Ash Housewares]

horror fan here

house of 1000 corpses sucked, I don't care what genre it is, bad is bad, and it was really really really bad, truly awful

 

[Wraith]

House of 1000 Corpses really was terrible. I wasn't 'scared'. I didn't feel the 'tension'. I did feel like I wasted a couple hours of my life watching what may be one of the crappiest films of all time.

I don't expect the new one to be any better. It's Rob Zombie. Stick to making shitty music instead of branching out into shitty movies.

 

[Ecrofirt]

House of 1000 Corpses rocked.

I wish there'd be a super-duper director's cut of it with some of the stuff he had to cut out in order to get the film into theaters.

 

[hXc_thugg]

Robert Wolfgang Zombie should just start doing stand-up comedy. He's pretty funny.

 

[Zeo]

Wow, a followup to one of the worst movies ever.

Can't wait.

 

[shuri]

House of the 1000 corpse is like Cabin Fever; movies made by obivously a big fan of horror movies with good intentions who finally comes up with the budget and backing after years of hoping one day to be able to create THEIR own horror masterpiece that will be to stack up next to some of their own fav movies, like TCM, The Shining, Night of the living dead, Jacob's ladder, Halloween, etc..


But ends up feeling forced, un-original and lame, because they just tried too hard. I was not impressied by House of the 10 000 corpses; they tried just too hard to have this cult film feel going on

It's like when your grandpa was trying to show you how he could dance like Vanilla Ice back in 1990 during a xmas party. Please Grandpa, no

 

[Leatherface]

Guys I understand the hate for the original. It was definately VERY campy and low budget, had crappy story etc.. It did however have (or attempted to have) a cool 80's horror campy feel to it which some people attached to. I never claimed to love House of 1000 corpses though. You just kind of assumed that to be the case. But if you read my posts I'm specifically talking about THE DEVILS REJECTS, which believe it or not, ISN'T suppose to suck. I can understand the assumption that this will be just like the last one, but your assumption is WRONG. This movie is suppose to lbe a straight up disturbing, extremely gritty and graphic horror. If you do indeed love horror movies like I do, why don't you try looking around at what others are saying (who0 have actually SEEN the movie) instead of ripping into me like I have no idea what I'm talking about. Believe it or not, the vast majority think The Devils Rejects (unlike the original) is excellent. It's also LionGates HIGHEST tested movie in the history of their company.

Anyway, I posted this hype thread for people who love horror movies. Despite what some of you *think*(which is probably next to nothing about this movie), it's suppose to be good. If this isn't your thing, thats fine, but some of us DO like this stuff. This is obviously for them, not you.

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

It's also LionGates HIGHEST tested movie in the history of their company.

Where did you read this? I'm not calling you a liar by any means, but I find that extremely interesting considering some of the other Lion's Gate movies out there. Crash comes to mind....

 

[sefskillz]

House of the 1000 corpse is like Cabin Fever; movies made by obivously a big fan of horror movies with good intentions who finally comes up with the budget and backing after years of hoping one day to be able to create THEIR own horror masterpiece that will be to stack up next to some of their own fav movies, like TCM, The Shining, Night of the living dead, Jacob's ladder, Halloween, etc..

When people tell me they are horror fans, I typically just shrug it off. If I want to test them, I'll give them an easy question like.. what's your favorite Fulci movie or say "isn't Argento a badass". There are *real* horror fans, and the people that don't even have a starting knowledge about the genre enough to answer these questions. To say that Cabin Fever, Devil's Rejects and Ho1KC are trying to create a materpiece or the new Shining, NOTLD, or Jacob's Ladder is laughable. They're trying to create the new grindhouse type feel of an Umberto Lenzi or Lucio Fulci movie. They're trying to bring us films of yesteryear while mixing in some cult hits like evil dead (cabin fever) and blackspoiltation era films (based on what im hearing, devil's rejects), even some giallo, spaghetti westerns and 80s camp. Will the scene spoilered above that everyone is getting pissy about have the impact of one of the most remembered scenes from Henry? I doubt it, but if it does.. more power to them. Devil's Rejects, just like ho1kc, is all about being over the top and ridiculous.. but at the same time being a great ride.

 

[Leatherface]

Being a big fan of horror movies and a straight up elitest are two different things entirely.

 

[Togeo]

It's like when your grandpa was trying to show you how he could dance like Vanilla Ice back in 1990 during a xmas party. Please Grandpa, no

:lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Leatherface]

Where did you read this? I'm not calling you a liar by any means, but I find that extremely interesting considering some of the other Lion's Gate movies out there. Crash comes to mind....

Actually, a buddy of mine told me this which is part of what originally sparked my interest in the movie. Not sure where he read/heard it but he's not the type to make things up. I'll see if I can get more info from him or do a search and find something.

*EDIT*

Just found something on the official site boards by Rob Zombie himself.

Rob Zombie
Administrator

Well gang,
Tonight was the night to test the beast. I got to tell ya I was very excited to show this film to the crowd. Everything when fucking great. It was a crowd of about 300 or so and they loved the fuck out of it.

After the screening everybody filled out their little forms about what they thought about the film and rated it. Lion's Gate were thrilled ! This is the highest testing movie in the history of the company.

After the film they picked a small group of about 20 to discuss the film. 18 of the 20 rated the film as excellent and the other two rated it as very good. Hey, what more can I ask for?

All I can say is thanks for coming out. I was so glad that the studio guys got to see that REJECTS fans are the coolest. They were blown away.

Now let's finish this sucker and show it to the world!

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

Thanks for the verification on that stat. I feel a little bit better about the movie now, but I'm still keeping my expectations low. Doing anything else could only set me up for disappointment.

And let me take a second to call out these "True Horror Fans" that seem to keep being referenced. FUCK those people. These supposed "true horror fans" are the ones who told me that High Tension and Land of the Dead were supposed to be great movies. Just what exactly makes a movie a winner to these people? Is it based solely on the gore content? I just don't see how some of these movies I keep hearing about are worth a shit. It worries me when somebody says Rob's new movie is "JUST THE MOVIE US REAL HORROR FANS HAVE WAITED FOR!".

In my opinion, horror is about being scared to look at the screen. Not about how somebody can be killed in a terribly viscious and awful way. If you want to see a horror movie by that definition, go fucking watch the sick fucks in the middle-east saw some poor bastard's head off. That should just about bring you to a full orgasm, shouldn't it?

By saying "scared to look at the screen", I am talking about movies where paranoia and dread overcome you because you are under the spell of the experience. I think some games like Silent Hill and Doom 3 have nailed it. Some movies have too. I hold "The Grudge" as one of the few horror movies close to my heart. I know a lot of people knocked it to hell, but I find the idea of an unstoppable spectre who's hellbent on torturing and killing anyone it can to be scary as hell. I also like to frequent haunted houses during the Fall. We have one of the best in the nation where I live. Its called SPLATTER HAUS and its the next best thing to being in a horror movie, IMO. All that kind of shit is the horror I'm into. I feel that if gore is your thing, you're not really a horror fan, but really a shock fan or even a sort of closet masochist.

I guess I'm really just tired of "true horror fans" looking down their noses at me because I thought their latest movie was a piece of shit. My expectations are high. I don't think that should effect my status as an avid fan of horror experiences.

 

[sefskillz]

I guess I'm really just tired of "true horror fans" looking down their noses at me because I thought their latest movie was a piece of shit. My expectations are high. I don't think that should effect my status as an avid fan of horror experiences.

Noone is saying you can't have your opinion, or that you have to fall in line with what other people think; just because you're a war movie fan doesn't mean you have to like Platoon. But you've pretty much already explained to everyone you're not a genre fan, but a person who is a fan of horror experiences, that alone limits you to about 0.0005% of the films in the horror genre.

 

[Leatherface]

I don't think any horror fan would claim that gore is the deciding factor of what makes a horror movie great or not, but there is an allure to the macabre. It's intruiging and truely frightening to see situations that aren't pleasent. That's sort of the point of horror. It's suppose to make you feel a uncomfortable, tense, horrified, scared or all of the above. Gore is just a part of what makes that happen. However, it's all the other things that factor in with it that make an experience truely memerable. Take Taxas Chainsaw Massacre for example. When that movie launched it was like nothing else. It seemed like a fucked up snuff film and there was no holds barred. This really got to people and still does today. THAT is a good horror movie. It wasn't just the gore, but it was the grit, the horrible situations presented, the acts carried out on people, the total mind fuck the movie played on us. The best horror movie ever made IMO.

Anyway, I don't want to set my hopes too high for Devils Rejects either, but it's getting a lot of attention and like I said, most reviewers are eating it up. Will there be fucked up situations and gore? With out a doubt, but that's not my reason for wanting to see it. I have my hopes high that it will create an atmosphere that will truely suck me into the experience. Something that will shock me again, make me feel uncomfortable and tense. I can't wait.


p.s - That haunted house looks insane!!! I love that stuff! I almost want to make the trip just to go!!!

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

Splatter Haus IS fucking insane. Take it from me, dude. They don't sell shirts that say "I CAME I SAW I SHIT MY PANTS" for nothing. I have gone for 3 years straight now. Every year the line is like 3 hours long, but its that way for a reason, y'know? Its cuz everybody knows its one-of-a-kind. Totally state of the art. They had monsters that were literally 10 feet tall running around in there. Not shitting you. We walked into this ice cave and a huge sasquatch-from-hell looking thing towered over us at what must have been around 9 feet.

The best part is their use of sound. 50,000 watts of power pump into the rooms. So you'll walk into a room that is seemingly quiet, but then all of a sudden the lights go out. When they come back on (or start strobing or what have you) the loudest roars, screams, and sounds come out of speakers placed in the walls and ceilings. Your senses just get overwhelmed.

Two years ago, they had a game you could play while you waited in line called "THE DEFECATOR". Basically, night-vision cameras were placed in one of the pitch black rooms and when people visiting the house would walk by, you could hit a button that would blow a rush of air at them and sound off a monster noise. Watching people kneel and cover their heads was fuckin hilarious. Made waiting in line seem like not such a big deal. Plus they played a TON of metal over their sound system, had food, beer, etc. It was like a bigass horror party with thousands of people. Fuckin great times.

Gotta go. Wanna know more, just ask me.

 

[Ash Housewares]

I have my hopes high that it will create an atmosphere that will truely suck me into the experience. Something that will shock me again, make me feel uncomfortable and tense. I can't wait.

that's the problem I'm having with this movie coming up in comparison to his first film because it was in creating an atmosphere of tension that I thought he failed so completely with 1000 Corpses and really why should I believe he somehow mastered that which was his greatest failing?

 

[Leatherface]

that's the problem I'm having with this movie coming up in comparison to his first film because it was in creating an atmosphere of tension that I thought he failed so completely with 1000 Corpses and really why should I believe he somehow mastered that which was his greatest failing?

Well take a look around at what others are saying. That should give you an idea at least of what to expect.



Uno Ill Nino- Damn you and your awesome haunted houses!!!! =_(
I wonder how long it would take to drive there from MA?

 

[SolidSnakex]

And let me take a second to call out these "True Horror Fans" that seem to keep being referenced. FUCK those people. These supposed "true horror fans" are the ones who told me that High Tension and Land of the Dead were supposed to be great movies.

That's because High Tension is simply brilliant. It's definetly a great movie. What made you hate it so much? If its the ending then keep in mind

Spoiler

that we aren't seeing the events as they happen. The twist at the end that some mention isnt a twist at all. From the start we see Marie in the institute that leads into the woods. This is her retelling the events. I'll try to explain it

1.) Marie has multiple personality disorder. This is how she creates those 2 seperate people. She gives you this hint at the beginning. She tells Alex in the car ride "The more I ran the more I could sense him". Alex then asks "Who was the guy stalking you" and Marie says "It wasn't a guy, it was me".

2.) Marie doesn't know Alex at all. The part of the movie where Marie and Alex are riding to her house is what Marie adds in to the original story. She's nothing more than a stalker (as hinted above in her in her fake conversation with Marie).

3.) The real events start when the killer shows up in the truck. This is Marie pulling up in her truck. It's also the first time she's had real contact with Alex.

4.) Marie is a serial killer. Notice all the pictures we see in the truck when Marie puts Alex's face in there? That's her list of kills.

5.) What Marie does in her retelling is cast herself as not only Alex's friend but also her hero.

6.) The killings we see are actually how Marie kills Alex's family. Marie knows this in detail because she ofcourse was the one responsible for killing each of them.

7.) The drug store scene. This is quite important. Remember early in the movie during Marie's made up intro she tells Alex that she's never been to that place before? This is a lie and she ofcourse has. That's why when the killer walks into the store the clerk knows who he is. This is Marie's stalking ground so she's been to the gas station numerous times. But its once again her casting herself as the hero. In her retelling she's trying to save the clerk.

8.) The chase much like the intro is fake. It never happens. But Marie creates it as a way to explain all the scars she has. The real reason she has all those scars is because of all the people she's killed and from them fighting back (she recieves a few more from Alex as you see).

9.) Once she kills the killer we finally start to see what happened. The police investigate the tape and see that it was actually Marie that did the killing.

She's got to alter and add some parts to the story since she's gotta be there in a completely different way than she actually was (murderer vs. hero). Yes its confusing. If you don't catch on at the beginning that this is a retelling the entire movie is going to look messed up. Alot of people don't catch onto it being a retelling. What we basically have is someone with multiple personality disorder. Overall the movie is brilliant. Definetly one of the best horror films in years.

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

Spoiler

I know its a person with a dual-personality. Doesn't matter to me. The movie was never scary. To me, being afraid is what makes it good. I was never scared of the fat frenchman and even less scared of the psychotic girl. The gore was also poorly done. You're never going to behead somebody by pushing a dresser into their head. That's bullshit. Also, razor blades do not leave jagged cuts like the one on mom's neck. Bullshit again.

Worst of all, I saw that "twist" coming a mile away. I hated it before they even revealed it. It was just lame.

Its cool if you liked it. Good for you. I am actually jealous. I fucking hated it and felt like I wasted my time.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I wanted to like House of 1,000 Corpses. I was really jazzed to see it. Unfortunately, Rob Zombie has the attention span of an ADD afflicted child and it shows in his direction. That son of a bitch should never be let behind a camera - ever again.

That said - he had some interesting ideas, but isn't qualified to execute them himself - kind of like a horror George Lucas.

Leatherface, you'd do well to remove your "True Horror Fan" badge of honor from your sleeve. Backpedaling and whining isn't going to make folks that hate Zombie's flicks enjoy them any more.

I grew up on Friday Night monster flicks and Saturday matinee monster stuff. I love the horror genre, but I can't get excited for another Rob BOMBie. :X

My advice for any "true horror fans" is to go to the library, or Borders and check out the authors that are keeping the genre alive.

 

[blindrocket]

I know its a person with a dual-personality. Doesn't matter to me. The movie was never scary. To me, being afraid is what makes it good. I was never scared of the fat frenchman and even less scared of the psychotic girl. The gore was also poorly done. You're never going to behead somebody by pushing a dresser into their head. That's bullshit. Also, razor blades do not leave jagged cuts like the one on mom's neck. Bullshit again. Worst of all, I saw that "twist" coming a mile away. I hated it before they even revealed it. It was just lame.

Its cool if you liked it. Good for you. I am actually jealous. I fucking hated it and felt like I wasted my time.

Nice spoiler there, bucko.

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

Nice spoiler there, bucko.

Meh. I just saved you 8 bucks.

 

[FoneBone]

I thought it was basically about how lesbians have penis envy.

 

[Leatherface]

That's because High Tension is simply brilliant. It's definetly a great movie. What made you hate it so much? If its the ending then keep in mind

Spoiler

that we aren't seeing the events as they happen. The twist at the end that some mention isnt a twist at all. From the start we see Marie in the institute that leads into the woods. This is her retelling the events. I'll try to explain it

1.) Marie has multiple personality disorder. This is how she creates those 2 seperate people. She gives you this hint at the beginning. She tells Alex in the car ride "The more I ran the more I could sense him". Alex then asks "Who was the guy stalking you" and Marie says "It wasn't a guy, it was me".

2.) Marie doesn't know Alex at all. The part of the movie where Marie and Alex are riding to her house is what Marie adds in to the original story. She's nothing more than a stalker (as hinted above in her in her fake conversation with Marie).

3.) The real events start when the killer shows up in the truck. This is Marie pulling up in her truck. It's also the first time she's had real contact with Alex.

4.) Marie is a serial killer. Notice all the pictures we see in the truck when Marie puts Alex's face in there? That's her list of kills.

5.) What Marie does in her retelling is cast herself as not only Alex's friend but also her hero.

6.) The killings we see are actually how Marie kills Alex's family. Marie knows this in detail because she ofcourse was the one responsible for killing each of them.

7.) The drug store scene. This is quite important. Remember early in the movie during Marie's made up intro she tells Alex that she's never been to that place before? This is a lie and she ofcourse has. That's why when the killer walks into the store the clerk knows who he is. This is Marie's stalking ground so she's been to the gas station numerous times. But its once again her casting herself as the hero. In her retelling she's trying to save the clerk.

8.) The chase much like the intro is fake. It never happens. But Marie creates it as a way to explain all the scars she has. The real reason she has all those scars is because of all the people she's killed and from them fighting back (she recieves a few more from Alex as you see).

9.) Once she kills the killer we finally start to see what happened. The police investigate the tape and see that it was actually Marie that did the killing.

She's got to alter and add some parts to the story since she's gotta be there in a completely different way than she actually was (murderer vs. hero). Yes its confusing. If you don't catch on at the beginning that this is a retelling the entire movie is going to look messed up. Alot of people don't catch onto it being a retelling. What we basically have is someone with multiple personality disorder. Overall the movie is brilliant. Definetly one of the best horror films in years.

Great discription. I also loved the movie.

 

[Leatherface]

I wanted to like House of 1,000 Corpses. I was really jazzed to see it. Unfortunately, Rob Zombie has the attention span of an ADD afflicted child and it shows in his direction. That son of a bitch should never be let behind a camera - ever again.

That said - he had some interesting ideas, but isn't qualified to execute them himself - kind of like a horror George Lucas.

Leatherface, you'd do well to remove your "True Horror Fan" badge of honor from your sleeve. Backpedaling and whining isn't going to make folks that hate Zombie's flicks enjoy them any more.

I grew up on Friday Night monster flicks and Saturday matinee monster stuff. I love the horror genre, but I can't get excited for another Rob BOMBie. :X

My advice for any "true horror fans" is to go to the library, or Borders and check out the authors that are keeping the genre alive.

What? lol. I didn't realize I was whining simply because i pointed out that I wasn't talking about 1,000 corpses. Thats fine if you don't like Rob Zombie or happen to think this movie will suck. I made the comment about true horror fans in response to people who somehow can't handle a little gore or over the topness of the genre. That's part of what makes it afterall. It just seems to me if people are so overwhelmed by the "over the top" graphic content in a movie like "House of 1,000 corpses" etc.. then they probably aren't a big fan of the horror genre. Simply because, if anything it was cheesy. There are TONS of horror movies out there that are MUCH worse then the cheese in that movie. lol.


Like I said 100 fucking times, the reason why I'm interested in this movie is because all of the attention its getting from the horror community. It's MUCH different from corpses. it's getting GOOD reviews. It tested well with audiences. All signs point to a good horror flick. If that's the case, then why as a horror fan would you not be interested in even considering it?!!! Horror movie fan my ass!!! The only people whining in here are most of you. Acting like Rob Zombie broke your heart with his first movie. lol. Who gives a rats ass?!!

This is what I'm looking at:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_rejects/
89% FRESH so far. 90% of all the reviews I've read are glowing praise. Yet I'm the dumb ass who needs to rip off my horror movie "badge of honor"? Seems to me that I'm a typical horror fan that is noticing a horror movie getting some good press and is interested.

 

[Outcast2004]

horror fan here

house of 1000 corpses sucked, I don't care what genre it is, bad is bad, and it was really really really bad, truly awful

I've said it before about this shit ball of a movie. We went with another couple 3 out of the 4 being horror fans (me excluded, i just like movies, regardless of genre) and it was terrible.

We (and about half the audience left the theatre audibly asking "What the fuck was that and why did we sit through 2 hours of it?"

Zombie misses the point completely. It's nto about gore or shock value.. you want that go get Faces of Death. True horror is more about about building suspense... of which Zombie builds none.

At it's core all horror movies hinge on the building of suspense, you screw that up and you just have a souless snuff movie.