Review of 31 (2016) by Gav - P — 20 Sep 2016

31 is the latest Rob Zombie production and involves a group of would be victims who are abducted by some crazed masked men to be put into a gauntlet of violent psychopaths (think a cross between Running Man, Hunger Games, and Battle Royale) for the pleasure of three wealthy people in the form of a elderly man (Malcolm McDowell) and two elderly women who announce to the group that they have 12 hours to survive being hunted down. The most notable names in the film are of course Zombie's wife Sherrie Moon Zombie, McDowell, and Meg Foster. The film also has an appearance of E.G. Daily who still looks fantastic to this day.

The main villian Doom Head (played by Richard Brake) is the one who steals the show though for me. Brake nailed the character down in every facet to which my mind was totally blown. 31 is by far superior to Zombies last flick Lords of Salem which I thought was going to knock it out of the park but fell way short. While there are certain portions of 31 that isnt new to the horror genre they are well played out by the actors themselves and at least the plot is creative enough to stand on its own. While 31 isnt necessarily scary and not "overly" gory there is quite a bit of tension with the characters.

The soundtrack is of course amazing and loaded with lots of 70's classic rock tunes (to fit the theme of the movie) and shooting style that Zombie used once again pays homage to old school horror films of that time period in the Grindhouse vibe. While I would of liked the ending to have been done a bit differently it leaves the ending open ended for a few different possibilities going forward. When it comes to film making Zombie is kind of hit or miss with me but this is definitely a hit and a worth while viewing for those who like the horror genre.

My rating: 9/10.