Aisle 34 and 1/4

Aisle 34 & 1/4: The Bargin Movie Shelf


Rob Zombie is quickly becoming one of my favorite modern directors. I look over that sentance and I can't help but laugh a bit. Who would have thought that Rob Zombie films would have such a strong hold over me. Ok actually if you did meet me and got me talking about films then it would be pretty apparent that I go in for horrible B-movies, however, The Devil's Rejects is by no means a B-movie. House of 1000 Corpses could be seen as a B-movie and when people complained about that film to me I simply said to them, "Well, what did you expect from a Rob Zombie movie?" House of 1K Coropses was a pure splatter punk movie in the vein of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre {TCM} (almost to the point of ripping it off, I mean look at the families in both films, pretty similar, though Zombie's seemed a bit more colorful, oh and Bill Moseley - Otis - played Chop Top in TCM 2 so kind of makes sense).

Now why is Devil's Rejects not a B-movie? Because it is deadly serious in its tone. You see stuff on screen that is legitamately horrible, yet not just on a viceral level. Your psychie goes through as much horror as your gut. The viewer's sympathy goes from the victims to the villians in a fluid motion, it's an unstoppable force. Also alot of thought went into the story and the making of the film. There are references to older movies (every time I saw a cow I was taken back to TCM), interesting visual work, and one of the most gruesomely hillarious deaths imaginable.

Now is the film a horror film, a comedy, a thriller, a tragedy, or just a fucked up piece of art? I, personally, would place it in comedy, not in the same vein as a Will Ferrel movie, or even in the same class as Army of Darkness. This is more of a comedy of the human condition. You need only look at the music to see this. Listen to the songs when you watch the film. It's amazing. The film starts off with Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground," which is a bluesy rendition of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. You start a serial killer film off with a song about Jesus. What does the film end on? "Free Bird" and a violent and bloody shoot out with the cops. The music runs counter to what's going on yet at the same time if fits perfectly with the feel of the film. Just like in the first instalment with the reveal of the girls in the shed and the execution scene while the country song "I Remember You" by Slim Whitman played over the action.

The Devil's Rejects has to have one of the most thought out and interesting soundtrakcs I have ever heard. It also simultaneously repulsed, frightened, entertained and saddened me. To be able to bring out that many emotions in one film is truely something that only a select few directors and writers can do. Hell, I've been in relationships that had less emotions invested in them. So rock on Rob Zombie. I hope you make more movies soon and hopefully they will stand up to the level you set for yourself. Fuck Saw and those types of exploitative nouveau splatter punk movies that have been coming out. Devil's Rejects should not be placed in the same genre at all. Neither should House of 1000 Corpses as that film had a good sense of humor.

EDIT: Somthing I forgot to add in. I sort of picked this up when I was watching House of 1000 Corpses but thought it was just a coincidence until Devil's Rejects actually made mention of it as well. All of the Cutter family's aliases are taken from Marx Brothers films. Now that is pretty damn interesting isn't it?