Review of 31 (2016) by Thequietgamer — 11 Sep 2019

Like Rob Zombie took Green Room and remade it as a sleazy exploitation flick. He kept the same tense, kill or be killed standoff scenario, but swapped out the punk rockers and Nazis for carnies and clowns. This is meant to be a nod to the era of grindhouse cinema, so expect a lot of sex and profanity on top of all the violence. While this usually serves the intended purpose of delivering sick, twisted moments and cheap thrills, Zombie occasionally goes too immature with the vulgarity. Leading to moments that come off more corny than edgy, especially with the dialog.

The fight for survival premise remains as primally satisfying as ever due in no small part to Zombie's eye for gore. A surprising strength of the movie though is just how likable it's foul-mouthed protagonists end up being. They start off kind of grating at first, but the unique familial bond they share allows some genuine concern for one another to slip through, humanizing them all very quickly. The villains themselves are also very memorable due to their ridiculous, yet disturbing appearances and behaviors. Richard Brake in particular delivers an outstandingly demented performance that's sure to give you nightmares.

When you start looking beyond the core bloodbath at the heart of the movie things begin to feel a little half-baked. This dangerous "game" the characters find themselves trapped in is never explored any further than the whole "probably shouldn't let these guys kill you" motif. A shame because that background stuff looked like it could have been interesting and possibly even an attempt from Zombie to actually say something.

Overall, 31 is a little too juvenile for its own good at times and has a noticeable lack of real substance. But if you're looking for a good slaughterfest it's hard to go wrong here. There's all the guts and grime you can ask for, and thanks to a lack of vile intentions from its director even at its nastiest the film never crosses that fine line between entertaining brutality and unpleasant viewing.