With The Devil's Rejects musician-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie proves without a doubt he has a good knack of emulating some of his favourite 70's horror movies, that he can write some witty dialogue, that he knows how to stage action sequences, and that he's good at mixing a music soundtrack with what's on screen (as witnessed in the final scene of the movie). However, this sequel to House Of 1000 Corpses still could've been a Hell of a lot better than it turned out.

As is this is still a competent and watchable time, but it's hard to relate to a movie that makes the villains more human than any of the other characters in it, has a plot that's admittedly paper-thin, and manages to even be less disturbing than the guy in the theatre behind me who spent the movie stomping his feet, clapping, and making little crazy comments to himself.

The opening of the movie kicks things off right as the murderous clan from the first film, that includes Otis (Bill Moseley), Baby (Sheri Moon), and Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook filling in for Karen Black), find themselves under siege from state troopers. What follows is a decent gun battle as the officers storm the house while the homemade armour-plated baddies try to hold them off. Eventually they break through and capture the mother as Otis and Baby escape through the back and find themselves on the run.

Into the picture comes Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) who joins up with them in order to avoid being caught. But before that happens out two psycho siblings have taken a traveling country music band hostage and proceeded to torture and kill them. This gives us many scenes of humiliation, black humour, and brutality - but for some reason it never quite catches a nerve.

Eventually they end-up at "Charlie's Frontier Fun Town" which is run by pimp/businessman Ken Foree (who you might know from a little movie called Dawn Of The Dead) while local sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe) tries to track them down in order to kill them, not only because it's "God's work" but also because they murdered his brother.

Zombie does bring style to his film and there's plenty of strikingly shot moments, lots of homages (and in one case a complete rip-off of a moment from Texas Chain Saw Massacre), and a good vibe to the whole proceedings; it's just that he seems to have forgotten about what makes a truly awesome horror flick work, and that's tension. There's no real tension on hand here and we never feel any sort of emotion towards the victims of the psychopath villains - it's really too bad Zombie decided to try and make his audience "root" for the baddies rather than just show a portrait of messed-up characters doing what they do best.

Did I have a decent time watching The Devil's Rejects? Yes, but it's by no means the newest horror masterpiece. However watching this amalgamation of redneck horror and a western film does make you want to see more from writer-director Zombie because at least you can tell he wants to try and keep "true" horror films alive, plus he has crafted a great looking movie and managed to get top notch performances out of his cast of mostly character actors (Leslie Easterbrook, best known for the Police Academy movies, makes a great "Mother Firefly" in replacing Karen Black). For that I respect The Devil's Rejects a lot more than most horror flicks of 2005.

Review based on unrated director's cut. (Chris Hartley, 7/24/05 - DVD, 11/8/05)

Directed By: Rob Zombie.
Written By: Rob Zombie.

Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Lions Gate's transfer captures Zombie's intended look quite well with top notch clarity, a solid picture, and only a few brief moments of edge enhancement.

Extras: If you're going to buy a horror DVD this year, make sure Devil's Rejects is at the top of the list. While the extras on the first disc are pretty standard, it's the second disc containing the 145 minute documentary 30 Days In Hell that makes this shine. Following the production from its early stages to completion it's a fascinating look at filmmaking studios rarely share with their audience.

On the first disc we get a promo for the movies (admittedly awesome) soundtrack, trailers and TV spots, a still gallery, a tribute to recently passed on Matthew McGrory (who played "Tiny" in the film), make-up tests, 11 deleted scenes including an additional death scene, a Buck Owens music video, "Cheerleader Missing" (a home video of the Otis character), two Captain Spaulding commercials ("Mary The Monkey Girl" and "Spaulding's Christmas Commercial"), a "Morris Green Show" skit, a blooper reel, and two highly listenable commentary tracks one only with writer-director Zombie and the other with co-stars Haig, Moseley, and Moon Zombie (they're having a fun time watching the movie and it rubs off on you).