Coventry
Joined Nov 2002
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There's globally unanimous consent regarding the climax of Rob Zombie's 2005 "The Devil's Rejects" being perfect and absolutely brilliant! At the end of their murderous rampage, fatigued and heavily wounded, the Firefly psychos run into the police's roadblock and have the choice to either surrender or go down in a blaze of infamous glory. The final minutes of the film, guided by the fantastic and apt tunes of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird, are undoubtedly the best cult minutes of the new Millenium.
The ending of "Devil's Rejects" could not be better, and nobody - including cast and crew at the time - ever doubted that Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby died in the spitfire of bullets. Because of the sublime closure, of course, many people found it unacceptable when the news of another sequel got out. I wasn't very enthusiast about the idea, neither (hence why it took me five years to see it), but I also understand why Rob Zomie tried this. Let's face it, Zombie hasn't had a real success since "House of a 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects". Personally, I still liked his version of "Halloween", but the rest of the world didn't. "Halloween II" and "The Lords of Salem", however, were unendurable disasters. "31" was a step back in the right direction, and actually quite reminiscent of "House of a 1,000 Corpses", but it somehow still wasn't successful. That's why Zombie revived the only formula/franchise that ever worked for him. At least, that is my theory, I obviously don't know the guy well enough to actually ask...
Either way, once you get over the fact this sequel shouldn't really exist, it's fun and chock-full of revolting & uncompromising violence. You basically have to see the protagonists in "3 From Hell" as indestructible über-killers like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. How else could they have survived the bullet rain? During the intro of "3 From Hell", a narrator's voice they are each hit by more than 20 bullets and that their chances for survival are next to none. And yet, they all survive! Even without scars, permanent damage or whatever. Captain Spaulding is medically brought back only to be executed shortly after - Sid Haig's deteriorating health didn't allow for an extended role - but he's replaced by Rob Zombie's new favorite actor Richard Brake as Otis and Baby's psychotic half-brother Winslow. He helps Otis escaping from prison, together they break out Baby, and they pursue their bloody rampage to Mexico.
Zombie's script is quite poor and vastly implausible. Baby's escape from prison goes really easy, and the supposedly invincible band of Mexican gangsters/cartel killers are a bunch of dumb & easily distracted amateurs. And why, on earth, was there clown coming to house of the head warden? However, the movie excels in sickness and brutality. The home-jacking/hostage taking is vintage Rob Zombie. Also vintage Rob Zombie, but unfortunately of the most annoying kind, is the insufferably over-the-top chaotic performance of his wife Sheri Moon. She literally ruins every sequence she's in, ... and she's in a lot of sequences. Moseley and Brake are good, though, and so are many Rob Zombie regulars in the supportive cast (Dee Wallace, Sean Whalen, Sylvia Jefferies, Clint Howard, ...).
The ending of "Devil's Rejects" could not be better, and nobody - including cast and crew at the time - ever doubted that Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby died in the spitfire of bullets. Because of the sublime closure, of course, many people found it unacceptable when the news of another sequel got out. I wasn't very enthusiast about the idea, neither (hence why it took me five years to see it), but I also understand why Rob Zomie tried this. Let's face it, Zombie hasn't had a real success since "House of a 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects". Personally, I still liked his version of "Halloween", but the rest of the world didn't. "Halloween II" and "The Lords of Salem", however, were unendurable disasters. "31" was a step back in the right direction, and actually quite reminiscent of "House of a 1,000 Corpses", but it somehow still wasn't successful. That's why Zombie revived the only formula/franchise that ever worked for him. At least, that is my theory, I obviously don't know the guy well enough to actually ask...
Either way, once you get over the fact this sequel shouldn't really exist, it's fun and chock-full of revolting & uncompromising violence. You basically have to see the protagonists in "3 From Hell" as indestructible über-killers like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. How else could they have survived the bullet rain? During the intro of "3 From Hell", a narrator's voice they are each hit by more than 20 bullets and that their chances for survival are next to none. And yet, they all survive! Even without scars, permanent damage or whatever. Captain Spaulding is medically brought back only to be executed shortly after - Sid Haig's deteriorating health didn't allow for an extended role - but he's replaced by Rob Zombie's new favorite actor Richard Brake as Otis and Baby's psychotic half-brother Winslow. He helps Otis escaping from prison, together they break out Baby, and they pursue their bloody rampage to Mexico.
Zombie's script is quite poor and vastly implausible. Baby's escape from prison goes really easy, and the supposedly invincible band of Mexican gangsters/cartel killers are a bunch of dumb & easily distracted amateurs. And why, on earth, was there clown coming to house of the head warden? However, the movie excels in sickness and brutality. The home-jacking/hostage taking is vintage Rob Zombie. Also vintage Rob Zombie, but unfortunately of the most annoying kind, is the insufferably over-the-top chaotic performance of his wife Sheri Moon. She literally ruins every sequence she's in, ... and she's in a lot of sequences. Moseley and Brake are good, though, and so are many Rob Zombie regulars in the supportive cast (Dee Wallace, Sean Whalen, Sylvia Jefferies, Clint Howard, ...).
Users of Netflix, or similar streaming platform services, are probably familiar with this phenomenon. When going through the horror section, you come across a truckload of unknown movies that have deliciously sounding titles and even more appealing poster images, but when you look them up here on this fabulous website, they have frighteningly low scores and a bunch of reviews unanimously stating they are horrible. Of course, you end up watching them with a "how bad can it be" attitude, only to conclude all the other reviewers were right. The current 2.6/10 rating is justified.
"The Utah Cabin Murders" is based on a real-life tragedy that took place in 1990, when two derailed youngsters by the names of Von Taylor and Edward Deli killed two women, shot a man, and kidnapped two girls during a home invasion. Normally, I have fascination of true crime stories, but they have to be "worth" depicting. With all due respect to the victims, either deceased or living on with traumas, this event is simply too straightforward to turn into a film. So straightforward, even, that it becomes exploitative and disrespectful for the survivors. Since there isn't an actual plot, the film is an endless and boring series of cops whining about their most shocking crime scenes and banal family arguments over nothing. We don't learn anything about the culprits, except that Von Taylor is a complete psycho.
It certainly also doesn't help that none of the cast members have any acting talents or even skills whatsoever. Notably the conversations between the two local police officers are painful to endure. Andrew Jones is (or was, sadly, because I found out he passed away at 39) one of those overactive but untalented writers/directors who still don't know who to build up suspense or apply a decent narrative structure despite having made already 30 films. It's just assembly line work.
"The Utah Cabin Murders" is based on a real-life tragedy that took place in 1990, when two derailed youngsters by the names of Von Taylor and Edward Deli killed two women, shot a man, and kidnapped two girls during a home invasion. Normally, I have fascination of true crime stories, but they have to be "worth" depicting. With all due respect to the victims, either deceased or living on with traumas, this event is simply too straightforward to turn into a film. So straightforward, even, that it becomes exploitative and disrespectful for the survivors. Since there isn't an actual plot, the film is an endless and boring series of cops whining about their most shocking crime scenes and banal family arguments over nothing. We don't learn anything about the culprits, except that Von Taylor is a complete psycho.
It certainly also doesn't help that none of the cast members have any acting talents or even skills whatsoever. Notably the conversations between the two local police officers are painful to endure. Andrew Jones is (or was, sadly, because I found out he passed away at 39) one of those overactive but untalented writers/directors who still don't know who to build up suspense or apply a decent narrative structure despite having made already 30 films. It's just assembly line work.
Never heard of writer/director Jim Cummings before, but he apparently obtained quite a lot of recognition (as well as awards) for both the short and long-feature film versions of his "Thunder Road". In those, Cummings depicts a grieving police officer with serious mental and personality issues. He must for sure love this theme, because also in "The Wolf of Snow Hollow" he plays the lead role of ... a deputy Sheriff struggling with alcoholism, anger issues and parenting challenges.
Throughout most of the film, we witness how John Marshall argues with himself or with his adolescent daughter, how he tries to resist drinking but ends up drinking anyways, and how he's pitied by his much more competent female colleague Julia and his terminally ill father Hadley. Oh right, the idyllic mountain town where they live is also terrified by a series of grisly murders of young women that may or may not be committed by an unnaturally bloodthirsty (were-)wolf.
Obviously, "The Wolf of Snow Hollow" is not a pure-blooded horror movie. It's more of a dark comedy/tragedy that reminded me a lot of "Fargo". There's the beautiful but remote and semi-depressing snowy town setting, of course, but also the moody character studies and police procedural elements made me think of the Coen brothers' classic. Horror fans, and werewolf lovers in particular, might find the film disappointing, but there is nevertheless a lot of good gore and brutal slaughter to admire, and every self-respecting cult freak should watch it if only because it was the last film of Robert Forster (that he didn't even finish)
Throughout most of the film, we witness how John Marshall argues with himself or with his adolescent daughter, how he tries to resist drinking but ends up drinking anyways, and how he's pitied by his much more competent female colleague Julia and his terminally ill father Hadley. Oh right, the idyllic mountain town where they live is also terrified by a series of grisly murders of young women that may or may not be committed by an unnaturally bloodthirsty (were-)wolf.
Obviously, "The Wolf of Snow Hollow" is not a pure-blooded horror movie. It's more of a dark comedy/tragedy that reminded me a lot of "Fargo". There's the beautiful but remote and semi-depressing snowy town setting, of course, but also the moody character studies and police procedural elements made me think of the Coen brothers' classic. Horror fans, and werewolf lovers in particular, might find the film disappointing, but there is nevertheless a lot of good gore and brutal slaughter to admire, and every self-respecting cult freak should watch it if only because it was the last film of Robert Forster (that he didn't even finish)