About these ads

Category Archives: Rob Zombie Films

THE DEVIL’S REJECTS

Apr 19

Posted by

Rob Zombie attending the 2007 Comic-Con in San...

Rob Zombie

THE DEVIL’S REJECTS-United States-2005

Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding
Bill Moseley as Otis
Sherie Moon Zombie as Baby
William Forsythe as Sheriff Wydell
Leslie Easterbrook as Mother Firefly
Geoffrey Lewis as Roy Sullivan
Priscilla Barnes as Gloria Sullivan
Lew Temple as Adam Banjo
Kate Norby as Wendy Banjo
Danny Trejo as Rondo
Diamond Dallas Page as Billy Ray Snapper
 
Directed by Rob Zombie
Written by and based on characters created by Rob Zombie
 
    Rob Zombie is one seriously twisted individual. That being said, I will go even further and say he is also one hell of a filmmaker. Zombie has a knack for making you feel the grit and the grime of his movies. For instance, in The Devil’s Rejects whenever we first see Otis asleep with the dead girl in his bed you can smell the decay and the body odor. Hell, if you think about it you’ll probably start itching from the crabs that Otis is sure to have. Zombie just has a knack for making you feel like you need a shower after watching this film. That’s not a bad thing; some directors go through their entire careers and never once wring any feeling out of their films.
    The Devil’s Rejects is the continuing story of the Firefly Family. To call this family dysfunctional is an understatement akin to calling Scott Peterson a model husband. We first met the family in Zombie’s directorial debut House of a 1000 Corpses. I believe House was maybe meant to be Zombie’s homage to films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But The Devil’s Rejects is closer in tone to TCM than his first film was. In fact, not only do I think that Zombie is paying homage to TCM, I believe he may be trying to top it. He doesn’t succeed, of course, but he doesn’t really fail, either. He succeeds in making a brutal and nasty mother of a horror film. The Firefly family is as depraved a group of people as you will ever witness in any film. This is not just one individual person who enjoys killing, this is one big happy family of serial killers, mass murderers and rapists. On the flip side of the coin is their nemesis, Sheriff Wydell, played with diabolical glee by William Forsythe. Wydell is seeking revenge against the family for the death of his brother in House of a 1000 Corpses. Forsythe gets so into character in this film that after a while you begin to question the sanity of the actor and not the character. Reprising their roles from House of a 1000 Corpses are Sid Haig, Bill Mosely and Sheri Moon Zombie. Zombie has been in every film her husband has made and while she’s not the greatest of thespians she more than holds  her own against the more talented members of the cast.
    Now for the reason why The Devil’s Rejects fails to top The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: You just can’t top a classic and that’s all I’ve got to say.
 
Trivia
Around one hundred digital effects shots appear in the film, mostly to create gore. The scenes involving objects coming into direct contact with skin (like throat slitting, people getting shot in the head or neck, or stabbings) were created digitally. The violence that didn’t involve direct skin contact (like people getting shot in areas covered by clothing) were achieved practically. Rob Zombie originally intended to create all of the special effects using only techniques available in the 1970s, but time constraints prevented this.
Rosario Dawson originally had a small part as a nurse in the film. Her character was cut out of the theatrical release for Rob Zombie’s decision of not having any Dr. Satan in the film. Her character was killed off within forty seconds of her debut to the film.
Won Most Vile Villain(s) (for The Firefly Family) and Best Horror Movie at The 2006 Scream Awards.
 
1/2
 
 
About these ads

Posted in Films Released in 2005, Rob Zombie Films, Sequels

10 Comments

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Halloween(1978) and Halloween(2007)

Dec 7

Posted by

HALLOWEEN-United States-1978 &HALLOWEEN-United States-2007

Halloween 1978 Directed by John Carpenter

Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode

Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis

Nick Castle as The Shape (Michael Myers)

Nancy Loomis as Annie Brackett

P.J. Soles as Lynda van der Klok

Halloween 2007 directed by Rob Zombie

Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill (1978 screenplay) and Rob Zombie

Starring

Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode

Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Sam Loomis

Tyler Mane as Michael Myers

Danielle Harris as Annie Brackett

Kristina Klebe as Lynda van der Klok

I just watched John Carpenters’ breakthrough film Halloween for probably the fifth or sixth time in my entire life. I have watched Rob Zombie’s re-imagining of the horror classic at least three times if memory serves me well. Having said all this, I can say one thing that will anger a lot of people but I say it with absolute honesty and will not change my opinion. Rob Zombies’ Halloween is better than John Carpenters’ Halloween.

Now before you get out the butcher knife to stab me in the  heart let me further explain myself. There are a lot of things about Carpenter’s Halloween that I like. Carpenter is a master at building and keeping suspense and drawing the viewer into the story. His will always be the definitive Michael Myers. What makes Zombie’s’ Halloween superior to Carpenter’s’ is one simple thing: Zombie created a back story for Michael. In the first film after Michael kills his sister he then walks outside just as his parents drive up to the house. The Myers family looks like a typical comfortable middle class family. I never bought that. I have always felt that Michael’s family life was a chaotic one and it seems that Zombie did as well. Carpenter’s version made one think that Michael just snapped out of the blue. Zombie shows that Michael is a product of his environment.

I also like the fact that Zombie shows the effects of what Michael’s’ actions do to his family, especially his mother. With his stepfather (the creepy William Forsythe) out of the picture, she has no one to lean on and every day that Michael’s own sanity slips further away the further her own lifeline unravels until she chooses to cut the final string herself. In the original, the only thing you were really aware of was that the family moved away from the house to start over. Michael’s mother taking her own life makes his story all the more tragic and his evil all the more intense. Incidentally, I though t that Sheri Moon Zombie did an excellent job as Deborah Myers, Michael’s mother.

Anyway, those are my reasons. I am sure that most people will disagree with me. Such is life. Stay scared, everybody!!

TRIVIA-John Carpenter’s Halloween

As the movie was actually shot in early spring in southern California (as opposed to Illinois in late October), the crew had to buy paper leaves from a decorator and paint them in the desired autumn colors, then scatter them in the filming locations. To save money, after a scene was filmed, the leaves were collected and reused. However, as Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter note on the DVD audio commentary, the trees are quite full and green and even some palm trees can be seen, despite that in Illinois in October, the leaves would probably be mostly gone and there would be no palm trees.
 
Jamie Lee Curtis’ first feature film. She was paid a reported $8,000 for her efforts.
 
Due to its shoestring budget, the prop department had to use the cheapest mask that they could find in the costume store: a Star Trek William Shatner mask. They later spray-painted the face white, teased out the hair, and reshaped the eye holes. Shatner admitted that for years he had no idea his likeness was used for this film. It was only during an interview that someone mentioned his mask was being used. He has since stated that he is honored by this gesture.
 
 
TRIVIA-Rob Zombie’s Halloween
 
Oliver Stone was rumored to be attached to this project before he decided to make World Trade Center.
 
At one point Dimension Studios considered making a crossover film featuring Pinhead from the Hellraiser series, following in the footsteps of Newline Cinema’s horror crossover Freddy vs. Jason. A poll was held on the official site, but response from fans was negative and the studio dropped the concept.
 
This is third Halloween film that Danielle Harris has been in. She first appeared in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5 as Jamie Lloyd, daughter of Laurie Strode. (Her character was re-cast in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, and then killed off.)
 
½
Related articles

Posted in Films Released in 1978, Films Released in 2007, John Carpenter Films, Movies, Remakes, Rob Zombie Films, Slasher Films

Leave a Comment

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,636 other followers

%d bloggers like this: