House of 1000 Corpses // The Devil's Rejects

            Rob Zombie, leader of the legendary thrash metal band White Zombie, is an artist. He’s branched out in a variety of ways. This is his first movie directing gig. He’s phenomenal. It’s so natural. We begin the day looking at the work of one Captain Spalding. A strange horror clown who owns a novelty freak show. He is visited by 4 travelers who are traveling across America on the “Backroads”.

            They can’t pass up the opportunity to explore the hall of serial killers and are especially fascinated by the legend of one Dr. Satan. An evil Dr. who kept his victims alive as he tortured them with unnecessary surgeries.

            After the hall of mystery, the inquisitive young motorists find themselves headed towards the home of the notorious firefly gang to find a haunted tree. Soon, their car has broken down, and they are subject to Ma and Baby Firefly’s Antics. It isn’t long before in a torrent of rain they flee for their lives, only to be brutally overtaken, tortured and killed. All except for one that is, but can she escape the sadistic gang?

            Well, this is an absolutely hysterical take on the violent horror genre, and it’s a wonderfully entertaining romp through the psyche of psychosis. I loved it a 2, and the sequel is almost better.

            In the sequel we see the police closing in on the Firefly gang after one of the sherrif’s deputies (as well as brother) was killed in the previous installment. They raid the house in a hail of gunfire, and are able to capture Ma alive. Otis and Baby escape and manage to take some hostages along the way.

            Things go south when Captain Spalding is ID’d and the fugitives must leave their context and seek out the help f farther and more exotic criminals. They wind up falling right into the Sherrif’s trap, and are hustled in by some hired goons.

            That is when the movie becomes it’s most sadistic, and it’s most uproarious. I was so entertained by this piece, it was just crystalline joy in the form of absurdist ultrarealism. It’s a rare jem to see the art that Rob Zombie is bringing to the screen.