The Devil's Rejects (2005) - The Wizard Watches
The film begins back at the house of the serial killers from the first film only known as the Fireflys. The house is being surrounded and ambushed by cops, led by a self-righteous Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe) seeking revenge against the family for killing his brother in the previous film. Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Otis T. Driftwood (Bill Moseley) make it out of the chaos and call their old friend Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) to arrange a getaway plan, leaving Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook) to being apprehended by the Sheriff and his force. The film focuses mainly on the journey taken by Baby, Otis, and Spaulding running from Sheriff Wydell and his specialized "task force" a. k. a. his cops and a pair of hitmen known as "The Unholy Two". As expected, the trio cause trouble the whole way; they torture and kill whoever they feel like along the way. The plot isn't as strongly-detailed as House of 1000 Corpses but the execution runs so much better. Everything feels like it falls into place in a perfectly twisted sort of manner. The cuts are cleaner, all of the established loose ends in this film are tied up, the horror is more based on mind than body, and it's overall more intelligent in its deeper aspects.
One of the things The Devil's Rejects does excellently at is truly making the antagonists you hated in the first film the protagonists you nearly find yourself actually rooting for by the end. The focus in this film shifts from the tragedy of the victims to the personal lives of the killers. The audience follows the Rejects the whole way through the film and witness all of the bullshit they both perform and endure. It's like you're just reporting the whole thing unscathed and up close; you kill with them, you party with them, and you watch them fall. This aspect is greatly evidenced at the the film's climactic scene where the Sheriff in his self-righteous, vendetta rage starts to torture the Rejects in the way they would do to anyone else. It's as if he learned from them and became worse in his search for revenge. All at once, HE becomes the enemy and THEY become the victims crying for mercy. The film plays with this concept very well and I respect it.
Another thing this film has over its previous installment is that if you read into it, there are many visual ques of symbolism setting off several macabre concepts. For example, in the final scene when the trio is tied up, the one in the middle is nailed through the hands as if he's crucified, the one on one side is badly injured and perishing as well, and the one on the other side gets a chance at mercy and runs free. This is clearly a twisted Biblical reference establishing a concept of the Rejects being anti-christ figures. This can be expanded upon by comparing their friend Charlie (Ken Foree) to a parallel Judas, as he turned the Rejects into the cops for a pay-off (granted the pay-off was his life). Another simple example would be that when the audience finds out the family uses alias' based off of Groucho Marx characters it could slightly hint that the Rejects do it all for a joke. Several other deep moments of symbolism in this film could be picked apart and analyzed for hours; one just has to look for it. I'm not saying House of 1000 Corpses didn't have any, but the symbolism in here feels more clever and refined.
A good way to tell a good film sometimes is by the soundtrack - and this one lives up to that. The soundtrack contains several classic artists and songs used in several different, quirky ways to improve the movie greatly, which it indeed does. The soundtrack includes songs from the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, Elvin Bishop, Three Dog Night, Otis Rush, David Essex, Joe Walsh, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the great Terry Reid whom I was introduced to by this film. Three of Reid's songs are used in this film to set the atmosphere and I see it as very sly way to introduce people to the music of this underrated artist. It's not a huge part of the film, of course, but it definitely enhances the experience.
The best part about this film, like its predecessor, is the performance by the Fireflys themselves. However, unlike the first one, the influence of good acting doesn't stop there; in addition to the performances by the Rejects, the performances by William Forsythe as Sheriff Wydell and Ken Foree as Charlie are also worthy of praise. Forsythe played the part of a vengeful cop excellently and really drove himself home as the villain by the end; he had to be the best next to the main three. The main three did an even better job before - making every serious moment ominous, every twisted moment mind-blowing, and every dull moment a gag. You feel more terrified and less safe but you also feel like you want to go along for the ride. It is such a horrific cinematic experience.
The Devil's Rejects may not go down as a well-revered classic in fifty years like several other horror films have, but it is definitely a well-done, twisted, disturbing, and smart horror experience. Everything from the performances down to even the specific timing of the soundtrack are very solid and entertaining. Zombie not only mastered the reigns of the director's chair and conquered writer's block, but this time, he played with our emotions and our psyche. As Wydell states in the final clash, (not exact) the lines are blurred and don't exist anymore. Right and wrong have no say but only instinct, and instinct says this is well worth the time.
Comments
Post a Comment