A, ummm, "polarizing" selection...
 

Not sure why... guess I was in that "need to see some stuff blowing up" mood that leads me to rent stuff like "The Transporter" (and my SO was out with her girlfriends)... but I rented Rob Zombie's "Devil's Rejects" the other night.

I was very surprised at how much I dug it. I picked away at the freeze-frames, and Zombie's wife CANNOT ACT HER WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG, but damn, I guess I just needed a "guy movie" or something.

Zombie's a confident and ambitious director; the framing, pacing, and overall style really worked. I have to sum this up as "chicken-fried Tarantino". Yeah, call me a sicko for sitting through the motel scene, but was it any worse than Bruce Willis in that pawn-shop basement of "Pulp Fiction"? (And honestly, something about the "rough" scenes in this flick... they're nothing like the dark & nihlistic 70's era stuff he's homaging/ripping; hard to explain, but he's found a balance between homage and parody that's a hard line to walk). And the oft-reviewed use of Skynrd's "Free Bird" really grabbed me (and I hate that damn song!), as did every minute where "Captain Spaulding" chewed up the scenery. The super-16 stock was right up my alley, too... gorgeous color & texture. Made me want to grab a Krasnogorsk from eBay!

But man, surfing the film review sites... this is a love-it-or-hate-it choice.

I never saw Devils Rejects, but i saw House of 1000 corpses and it was pretty bad. Rob has so much love for the villains and such contempt (?) for the victims that it was basically an exersize in watching people say funny things and watching dumb characters die. and the weird montage scenes were pointless. In fact, part of the reason why i disliked to film is that it lacked any kind of suspense or real "scaryness" because i knew everyone was gonna die (except for the characters zombie really liked). i guess if your a zombie fan i can see the appeal but i personally think the guy should stick to music. Maybe DR will change my mind. but like you said man, i think rob is a love him or hate him guy in general.

I never saw "1000 corpses", but the "rejects" reviews all pointed out how it was a huge stylistic shift. I'm unfamiliar with RZ's music (other than his one hit) and have never been a fan of that "sing with the microphone INSIDE your mouth" style of metal he did. My GF is more of a mechant ivory / good documentary fan, but ended up watching "rejects" and agreed on my "tarantino" take.

Michael, I feel the same way you do about Devil Rejects. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would or should. I think Rob Zombie is at a nice place stylistically, so it will be interesting to see what he does next. I haven't seen 1000 Corpses, but the friend who recommended Rejects hated Zombie's first feature...

A very satisfying movie over all. Zombie's wife can't act, but that Captain Spalding guy kicked some ***. I really liked the sherif too. I was pissed when you know what happened to him; there were no good guys in this movie, so I kind of rooted for the least evil.

I am familiar with Zombie's music, at least what he did in the White Zombie period. I haven't listened to his more recent stuff.