Review of The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) by Landon H — 02 Oct 2009

Shows how much I pay attention, I didn't even know that Rob Zombie had a comic book series. The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is the straight to video adaptation of this series that features the adventures of a washed up luchador (Mexican wrestler) and his eye-patch wearing vixen of a sister as they battle through a strange world that only the mind of Rob Zombie could create.

To say the least, the world of El Superbeasto is an insanely crazy one. Filled with numerous monsters (some which are references to other classic horror films), characters from other Rob Zombie films, undead nazis and more boobies than I think have been featured in any other film I've seen this year, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto surely is going to be a film that you won't forget anytime soon, even if you don't end up liking the experience.

There were a few aspects of this film that I really liked. The intro of the film is similar to the opening to James Whale's Frankenstein. And there is a robot character, Murray (Brian Posehn), that resembles the one from movie serial The Phantom Creeps. The animation is pretty good, and almost similar looking to some of the cartoons on Cartoon Network (not the boobies, but rather the designs of the characters). And the voice acting is adequate, and some actors (Sheri Moon Zombie as Suzi X and Rosario Dawson as Velvet Von Black) were enjoyable in the film. Plus, I really liked the Velvet Von Black song that is performed when the character is introduced for the first time.

The weakness of the film is in its writing. The screenplay never allows these bizarre characters to shine brighter than the strange situations they get into. Most of the characters boil down to being either racial stereotypes, or are just plain sexiest in the way they are presented. Plus the over usage of vulgar language does get annoying after awhile, and is hit or miss (but mostly miss) when it comes to humor. The movie is short, at 77 minutes, and breezes along rather easily. I just wish I had gotten to know these characters a little more than the film allows.

I enjoyed The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, but see it as one of Zombie's weaker entertaining films. I've read that this one took a few years to actual finish, and that the comic book series that this is inspired by has a substantial fan base. So it's a bit of a letdown that with all that behind this film, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto ends up being mostly a mediocre experience. This one hasn't reaffirmed my hope that Rob Zombie can get his directing career back on track.