Director: Rob Zombie
Year: 2003
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Exploitation
Plot:
Traveling through the countryside, a group of friends looking to do a book on roadside attractions finds a reported lead on a legendary serial killer that lived nearby and wants to seek him out, only to stumble upon a psychotic family that holds them captive and begins torturing the travelers.
Review:
This is one of the hardest movies to review since it’s either a real love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie. As an homage to the films of the 70s, this one actually delivers and becomes something that could almost be made from the 70s. The different short films that are included every so often with a grainy look, soft-focus flashbacks, and the general hostile tone taken throughout the film have a much more deranged feel to them than any other film made recently that says it attempts a 70s feel to it. The fact that it takes place during daylight hours for most of the time is its main claim, as that allows for some brilliant daylight shots and sequences. This style of film is a direct retaliation to the self-referencing style of films that had come out around the time, and to repeatedly hit them over the head with the iconography of fear with repeated instances of blood and gore, skeletons, devils, monsters, madmen, killers, and creatures appearing liberally throughout the movie.
The other really nice part of this one is that this grindhouse aesthetic lends itself quite well to the action and torture going on. Every now and then, there was a cool scene thrown in that didn’t seem like it was homaging something from the 70s. The first fifteen minutes are some of the best and most creative parts in horror movies recently and are a real highlight, while the exploits of the family carving them or their other guests up make the film seem even more desolate. The supposed gore that should’ve been in here includes repeated amputations, dismemberments, and slashing marks, but there isn’t any enjoyment to be had when looking for a nice, gory romp. It still looks hopeless and hacked up, but enough got through, and it’s still nice if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s far more comfortable with all the underground sequences, as those provided some of the greatest moments in the film. As our last remaining teen stumbles through a corpse-lined corridor is easily the greatest example, which really got the hair standing up and delivered some real suspense, making for the film’s best attributes.
There are some big problems here. The biggest problem is that this falls into the big trend of following others who think homaging grindhouse films is paying homage to one film in particular, and it just seems overplayed. It’s quite obvious this is the case here, with this being a virtual remake of that movie, even down to several characters, scenes, and ideas. Having a small group of teens wander upon a demented backwoods family that relishes killing the wanderers, showing the clan enjoying acts of necrophilia, wearing a dead person’s skin, and keeping artifacts around the house as well as the family and their positions within are major influences right there, and that amounts to a good portion of the film’s running time.
The other big problem with this one is how badly this one misses the mark on grindhouse aesthetics outside of paying homage to everything. Oh sure, moments of gore and vivisection that try to develop some sense of fear are present in most stages, but the uneven editing and obvious exclusions for the sake of a rating undermine the effort. This is far too gimmicky at times, using the modern media shortcuts of jump cuts, shaking cameras, and obtuse lens and camera angles that are surprisingly evident in here, and just make more head-scratching scenes than normal. Yet, for all these problems, the main one is that the film is not an exercise in non-stop thrills and blood spills since the movie never builds up enough of a head of steam to succeed on that level. It kind of peters out around the half-hour mark and doesn’t pick back up until well into the third act. These are what hold this one back.
Overview: ****/5
Not at all the classic it was said to be, but it’s still a refreshing horror film in the sense of actually being a throwback to the films of inspiration rather than just claiming to be. It’s still worthy of a watch and it has enough to entertain for fans of his musical ventures interested in his film work, or fans of the throwback style attempted here, but don’t expect the return of the '70s horror films it claims to be.
Comments
Post a Comment