House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects <spoilers>

[MarkAndrew]

Oh my brain!
  I watched these two movies Sunday.  Well, more accurately I watched House of 1000 Corpses and started to watch The Devil's Rejects.  Anyway, they have been haunting my dreams ever since.
  I think Rob Zombie has skill as a director and he certainly understands the horror genre.  Baby, for example is a masterpiece of attraction and repulsion.  Damn hot, and damn psycho.
  But man...the celebration of murder and torture was horrible.  Eventually it was like watching just Mr. Pink's torture scene from Reservoir Dogs over and over again and calling that a movie.
  The nice guy gets killed first.
  The cops show up, and get killed.
  One of the girls father shows up and gets skinned.  The killer then puts on his skin, like ol' Ed Gein, and french kisses the daughter while wearing it.
  None of the family gets killed, injured or has anything other than a gay old time.

The Devils' Rejects was worse in many ways, from a psychological viewpoint.  I ended up skipping to the last chapter.  I had to know that these killers would get put down.  Thank God, they get shot up trying to run a roadblock while Lynrd Skynrd plays.  I felt like freaking cheering.

Monstrous.

Oy, I'm sure there's worse out there...I've avoided the torture porn of Saw, Hostel, etc...
But man. 
I need to analyze why I like Halloween and The Exorcist 1 and 3 but hate this.

Any other thoughts from people who saw this?

[mrbasehart]

Yeah, I thought they were stylistically interesting but ultimately, they're trash.  I think Zombie could produce some good films if he stopped trying to rip-off the Last House on the Left and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[dignan]

When I see Rob Zombie in interviews, he seems like a pretty cool guy.  But I HATED House of 1000 Corpses.  Many people have told me that The Devil's Rejects is much, much better, but I haven't gotten around to checking it out yet. 

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Loved House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects -- awesome flicks.

[MrTorso]

I love both of them. Sure it is Rob Zombie wishing he was one of those pioneering grindhouse directors from the 70's but they were both fun for me. The movies are quite different from each other and I prefer Devil's Rejects over House. Good stuff.

[MarkAndrew]

Torso, Isaac, others, can you  tell me specifically what you thought was awesome?

Not ripping on either of you (yet*) but I really want to know how you can love those films.

Thanks.

*  :-)

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

2nd

[Rude]

...

I waited and waited for House to get a release, and when it finally did... i was just okay with it. The movie seemed to be a valentine from Zombie to every horror film that he idolized. But it didn't seem like his own film, and it seemed to be missing a soul. It also came off as being cartoony. It literally looked like a comic book at times... which is cool stylistically, but otherwise left me kinda' disappointed in Zombie as a director.

He really, really, really redeemed himself with Rejects though. He took these characters that had been jokes, comic book villians, and toys... and made them real people. Real despicable, horrible people. And if anyone wanted to come into the theater cheering for these guys, Zombie made damn sure you felt sick and wrong about it. The film also became gritty... which is another choice in style, but this time it really complimented the story and the characters.

Eventually you want them to pay for what they've done. So you start to cheer for the cop to get his revenge, you want him to "cross the line." You might even start to cheer him on as he begins to torture them. But when he does, you have to ask yourself whether he's any better... if what he's doing is the same as what they've done. Is he justified? Eventually you're just left confused and really have no one to "cheer" for. It's a strange feeling to have while watching a film, and i loved it!

Zombie took a huge leap as a director, and his film found a nice way to marry substance and style. I thought Rejects was one of the best films that i'd seen in a long time~

-Rude

[Steve-O]

I waited and waited for House to get a release, and when it finally did... i was just okay with it. The movie seemed to be a valentine from Zombie to every horror film that he idolized. But it didn't seem like his own film, and it seemed to be missing a soul. It also came off as being cartoony. It literally looked like a comic book at times... which is cool stylistically, but otherwise left me kinda' disappointed in Zombie as a director.

I was going to comment on House, but you've just said everything I was going to mention.  All it really had going for it was style, and that wore out its welcome by the halfway point.  For the last half hour I was pretty bored and just wishing the damned thing would end already.  Because of that, I gave The Devil's Rejects a miss, but your description has me intrigued.  I'll have to check it out.

On the subject of "torture porn", there's an independent film called August Underground that I consider to be the final word on the matter.  It follows the exploits of a depraved serial killer (also the guy who put together the very convincing makeup effects) and his equally depraved buddy who gleefully films the carnage on a cheapo video camera.  The style, the acting, and especially the gore effects, are all too realistic.  It's easily among the most disturbing things I've ever endured, and I recommend the film to nobody.

The thing that's interesting about the movie, though, is its effect on the viewer.  Because it's so realistic, and because the killers truly seem to revel in what they're doing, it's gut-wrenching to watch.  There are no redeeming qualities about these sick bastards at all, and you very quickly grow to positively loathe them.  That stands in stark contrast to the average slasher flick, where there's almost a sense of hero worship towards killers and torturers.  I hesitate to call it entertainment, but if you have an appreciation for horror movies, watching August will make you question it.

[ScottotD]

Loved both Zombie's movies so far and I'm REALLY looking forward to his version of 'Halloween'





...on a side note my friend and I were warned by an usher if we didn't stop laughing during Saw 3 we'd be asked to leave.

[mrbasehart]

...on a side note my friend and I were warned by an usher if we didn't stop laughing during Saw 3 we'd be asked to leave.

I don't know how anyone can not find the Saw films funny.  They're so ridiculously over the top, they make me laugh too.

[PsypherPunk]

...the celebration of murder and torture was horrible.

I remember reading an interview where Rob Zombie was confronted by a reporter with that very question. His answer was simply that it wasn't a celebration: this was horrible people doing horrible things and the viewer doesn't end up rooting for them. But to be honest, I haven't cared to watch The Devil's Rejects for that same reason. There seems to be an odd resurgence in exploitation cinema and I've kinda lumped this in with that lot, accurately or not.

[PsypherPunk]

I don't know how anyone can not find the Saw films funny.  They're so ridiculously over the top, they make me laugh too.

I'm convinced the Kevin from the Home Alone films is in fact, Jigsaw.

Kevin with his vast array of boobie-traps, relentlessly pursued by criminals with little help from law enforcement and no doubt with some serious abandonment issues, eventually turning into a preachy sadist with a penchant for overly-complicated killing machines.

[JonnyFrag]

The Devils Rejects has what could be the most horrible image captured on film...

Sid Haig's purple ballsack.

[Tarantulas]

The Devils Rejects has what could be the most horrible image captured on film...

Sid Haig's purple ballsack.

It was indeed horrible.

I liked both films... "House" had some issues where it just went zany about 15 mins before the end.