"The Devil's Rejects" is a sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses," but it's one of those sequels where it doesn't really matter if you didn't see the first one. In fact, "House of 1000 Corpses" is pretty bad while "The Devil's Rejects" is an improvement, so if you haven't seen the first one, don't bother with it. Just go directly to the sequel. Actually, I take it back, because "The Devil's Rejects" isn't that much better than the first film. It is a very different movie, though. The first film was a campy horror film that was like throwback to similar films of the 1970s. This second film is also a throwback to films of the 70s, but the focus here seems to be those f*cked up nihilistic ultra violent B-movies.
"House of 1000 Corpses" was practically a comedy in the first half. The second half was straight up horror, but it didn't work because it suddenly tried to be serious after such a campy first half. All the reviews I read about "The Devil's Rejects" point out that while the first film is campy horror, the second film is a balls-to-the-wall horror movie. I would have to disagree to a certain extent. There are quite a few attempts at comedy, some that work and some that don't. Something that stands out is a scene with a movie critic that's not only comedy, but broad comedy. It sticks out like a sore thumb here, but I gotta admit, it made me chuckle. Also, I don't think this movie is scary at all. It does have some really freaky moments, and there's definitely some disturbing stuff, but there's nothing in the film that I would categorize as horror. I should mention, however, that this movie is extremely violent, so if you'd prefer not seeing, for example, blood and guts splattered on the street, you might wanna skip this one.
The mastermind of these two films is musician Rob Zombie, a guy who loves movies (horror movies in particular) just as much as he loves music. He directs almost all of his music videos, and he's clearly a very talented guy. He wrote and directed both films, but I think he should either get a writing partner or really bust his ass to write stuff that's... I dunno, more challenging, I guess. In his movies, he makes a lotta sly references and I'm sure he's having a blast making movies, but I don't think he'd pushing himself to deliver something bigger and better.
Most of the cast from the first film return for the second, and that's a good thing, 'cause the cast was one of the best things about that first film. Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and Sheri Moon Zombie (Rob Zombie's obscenely hot wife) are back, though Karen Black's character is now being played by Leslie Easterbrook (you may remember her as the chesty cop in the "Police Academy" movies). There are a whole lotta familiar faces in this movie, too many to mention, so I'll just say to keep your eyes open, and you're sure to see a whole bunch.
I dunno, this isn't a bad movie, but it isn't a very good movie either. I wasn't bored watching it, and some of the scenes really are quite good. I think my main problem with the film is that there was no real point to it. It was very scattershot and messy, the story sorta just drifting along. However, it IS an improvement over "House of 1000 Corpses," and I respect what Rob Zombie was trying to do.
Scale of 1-10: 6