***May Contain Spoilers*** I, like many other fans of the horror genre, had extremely high hopes for this one. Looking back on it, maybe too high. Devil's Rejects is a horror/exploitation film done in the 70's maverick mode. Though it works for the most part, it takes away from the horror. This was a movie that could have been a lot better had there been more focus on the actual hunting, chasing and physical destruction of victims and less on how much the killer family loves each other.
The movie starts out with a raid on the compound from House of a 1000 Corpses. There is a shootout and Madame Firefly is arrested by police, while Otis and Baby escape. They later rendezvous with Captain Spaulding at an obscure motel. Otis and Baby arrive and take a group of hostages, a traveling cover band. The scenes involving the hostages and some of their deaths are cool. I think the use of guns, though, hurts the horror aspect. I think knives or blunt objects should have been incorporated much more than it did. In other words, too many shootouts and too many easy deaths. The fact they were hostages at gunpoint is not scary. This is a cliché of action films not horror. I think the focus was on the vile nature of the event with comedic twist. There were some funny interactions between and among the characters.
There were long drawn out parts that really were kind of a waste. I go straight to the ice cream scene in the van. This part really annoyed me. I'm still puzzled to the question why. After witnessing their disgusting acts, why would I feel anything at all for these people? Am I supposed to go "Awe, that's nice. Look they're having a family moment together"? This exemplifies my whole state in the movie. I was waiting for the movie to pickup. It never did. So that was my feeling after the movie...Unfulfilled, Disappointed.
William Forsythe made the movie for me. Since he was the most gifted actor on the set, he really came through as the psycho cop. He was seemingly more brutal and more insane than the family he was hunting down. The focus of the movie was his hunt for the family as they were constantly on the run. He was dark and sadistic as well as humorous. Loved his character.
Also I enjoyed Ken Foree. It seems like this horror movie vet has gotten some more phone calls and a subsequent career resurgence. His role was perhaps his most prominent since Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. He plays a 70's pimp and looks like he could have been right out of "Dolemite".
Overall it wasn't an awful film. It was more original than the first one. It had better acting and it looked more focused on where Rob wanted to take the story. I felt despite the shortcomings of the first one; I felt the first one was a better "horror" movie of the two.
6.5-7.0 out of 10
The movie starts out with a raid on the compound from House of a 1000 Corpses. There is a shootout and Madame Firefly is arrested by police, while Otis and Baby escape. They later rendezvous with Captain Spaulding at an obscure motel. Otis and Baby arrive and take a group of hostages, a traveling cover band. The scenes involving the hostages and some of their deaths are cool. I think the use of guns, though, hurts the horror aspect. I think knives or blunt objects should have been incorporated much more than it did. In other words, too many shootouts and too many easy deaths. The fact they were hostages at gunpoint is not scary. This is a cliché of action films not horror. I think the focus was on the vile nature of the event with comedic twist. There were some funny interactions between and among the characters.
There were long drawn out parts that really were kind of a waste. I go straight to the ice cream scene in the van. This part really annoyed me. I'm still puzzled to the question why. After witnessing their disgusting acts, why would I feel anything at all for these people? Am I supposed to go "Awe, that's nice. Look they're having a family moment together"? This exemplifies my whole state in the movie. I was waiting for the movie to pickup. It never did. So that was my feeling after the movie...Unfulfilled, Disappointed.
William Forsythe made the movie for me. Since he was the most gifted actor on the set, he really came through as the psycho cop. He was seemingly more brutal and more insane than the family he was hunting down. The focus of the movie was his hunt for the family as they were constantly on the run. He was dark and sadistic as well as humorous. Loved his character.
Also I enjoyed Ken Foree. It seems like this horror movie vet has gotten some more phone calls and a subsequent career resurgence. His role was perhaps his most prominent since Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. He plays a 70's pimp and looks like he could have been right out of "Dolemite".
Overall it wasn't an awful film. It was more original than the first one. It had better acting and it looked more focused on where Rob wanted to take the story. I felt despite the shortcomings of the first one; I felt the first one was a better "horror" movie of the two.
6.5-7.0 out of 10