Review of The Devil's Rejects (2005) by Andy H — 14 Aug 2011

'The Devil's Rejects' is a film about a depraved family of serial killers on the run from a vengeful officer of the law. Directed by Rob Zombie a weird rock muscian 'The Devil's rejects is surprisingly enjoyable untill it turns a bit to unbelievable.

After the dissapointment of 'The Strangers' I had a relatively large amount of hope this film would do better in entertaining me. I expected something like 'Penance' or 'Grotesque' after reading the blurb(?) for this film, or at least something that didn't really involve much thinking and/or concentration and on the surface that is what this film gives and then the last scene happens and suddenly everything is flipped on it's head and you realise just how clever this film really is.

I'll start with the beginning though, which for me is the second strongest part of the film (after the ending), Rob Zombie does a good job at setting up his characters and really showing just how brutal the family of serial killers is, not only that though, he also begins to show the underlying theme of the movie which is loyalty.

The middle of the film is where it goes downhill though, Sheriff John Quincy Wydell'scharacter is taken to far and is pushed over the edge untill he becomes over the top and silly, his plan for vengence is a bit far fetched, I understand it may be to switch around the morality within the film but it just didn't seem to work for me.

Like I said before though, the film is all about the end, sure it's good enough throughout but it's one of those films that gets you thinking once it's finished and leaves a lasting impression, this is done by (not saying to much) revealing that in the end, the people you like the most, could be considered the worst people in society.

Overall 'The Devil's Rejects' is recommended due to it's great soundtrack and surpirising ending, you may have to just ignore the sherrif though.