Spooktober: The Devil's Rejects

The Devil's Rejects
Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley
Released: 2005

I remember when I saw the first trailer for this movie and was immediately enticed. I believe I watched this first, then went back and watched Rob Zombie's earlier House of 1000 Corpses, which, like all of his other movies, was terrible. Somehow though, The Devil's Rejects shines through in all of it's absolutely disgusting splendor.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart, I wouldn't consider this gore-porn, but the people are all vile. The main characters are vulgar villains, and the antagonists are horribly corrupt police officers. Literally every character showcases some grotesque side of humanity, which is why I love it so much. It's such a raw, gritty film and makes no attempt to appear as anything else. Rob Zombie caught the worst parts of humanity on film and he did it with his only coherent plot line! Also shout out to both Sid Haig and Bill Moseley for playing some of my favorite villains ever.

The film opens with cops assaulting the Firefly family's home, killing one member, and capturing the mother. Otis, one of the main characters, is shown sleeping amongst multiple dead women already showcasing the depths of depravity the movie is willing to go. Two of them get away and meet up with the father Captain Spaulding, who's introduction is a dream sequence where he winds up dead after calling a woman he's fucking a whore repeatedly to spite her. They team up with a family friend, who of course owns the local whore house. They eventually get caught, and it all leads to an amazingly brutal climax and incredibly satisfying ending.

I skipped over what matters most which is the constant character building scenes. Zombie doesn't mind exploring how incredibly twisted the members of the Firefly family is, torturing a family for the fun of it while hiding out, constantly fighting amongst each other, forcing innocent women to wear their husband's face like a mask. Yeah. It's truly fascinating watching these deplorable characters doing, really, whatever the fuck they feel like, the world is their playground.

I highly recommend this movie for almost every horror fan. Even if you cannot stand these characters the finale makes up for it in spades. However, if you can't stomach seeing the worst of humanity then this is not going to be for you. Anyone who is interested in taking a tour of some of the foulest human beings and their antics is in for a absolute treat. Besides, none of Rob Zombie's other movies are worth a damn.