Movie: The Devil's Rejects

It is a momentous occasion! The weblog got its first reader comment yesterday! Which means that someone actually read it, which is... well, its amazing. But wholeheartedly welcome!

At any rate, enough gushing about my newfound Internet celebrity. Let's talk about a movie that I hoped that I would like, and was shocked to end up loving: The Devil's Rejects. This thing is... geez, where to start. Well, first of all, I'm going to assume this isn't the first review you've read, and so let me clear something up: it isn't as gory and disgusting as every reviewer seems to claim. Yes, the characters are depraved psychos. Yes, being cast in this movie and having a vagina means that you will be required to show ample amounts of flesh before your screen time is over. But the violence is as heavily contained in words and vocal reactions as it is in on-screen imagery.

And that makes the movie a lot better. I, for one, need more than a bloody frame of celluloid to get my heart pumping. What really terrifies me in films are seemingly real-life characters that act in ways so contrary to what I consider normalcy that it is almost impossible to predict their next move. This is why Lucky McKee's May is still the creepiest and best horror movie I have ever seen. And the Firefly family in Rejects fall into the same category. Is it conceivable that Captain Spaulding would tap me on my shoulder at a gas station and ask me for my car? Absolutely. If Baby asked me to fuck her in a motel room, would I have enough presence of mind to anticipate danger approaching from behind me? No way in hell. Not only are the killers believable, the victims are understandably unprepared to deal with this level of psychosis, and it keeps you slightly on edge for the whole film.

But the true winning feature of this movie is.... it is absolutely HYSTERICAL. No kidding. So fucking funny, I can hardly stand it. Campy, intentional humor, but every scene is littered with the kind of laughs that will get you the worst kind of stares from your date, who is too horrified to contemplate giggling. And I think this is where the bad reviews start rolling in. If you are too disgusted by the violence to remember to have fun, then I'm sure the movie seems like a complete tonal misstep. However, for those of us that can watch almost any horror imagery imaginable and retain our ability to laugh and have fun... well, you'd be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable film in theaters right now.

Categories: Movies