And with this, I'm finally caught up with films I've seen in theaters this summer and fall.
Rob Zombie's 31:
Traveling in the countryside, a band of carnival employees are ambushed and kidnapped by a mysterious cult-like group of powdered wig-wearing aristocrats. The aristocrats, whoever they are, have selected the unlucky group to play their annual Halloween game they call "31". The sick game of cat-and-mouse pits the group against a string of increasingly dangerous foes, called the "Heads," who are random psycho-killers hired for big money by these aristocrats to dress up like clowns and butcher the people. They have 12 hours to survive, and the odds are not in their favor.
Rob Zombie can either make a great horror film or a not-so-great one. Despite being a personal favorite of mine, I can see why many people don't care for House of 1,000 Corpses, as it is very stylized and weird. The Devil's Rejects is universally heralded as his best film, being a convincing and realistic take on the savage characters from Corpses. His Halloween films are at least unique and don't copy the originals, but I don't really like them too much, they're just too over-the-top for me. However, despite hating it at first, his next film The Lords of Salem is a terrific throwback to the hardcore, acid trippy horror cinema of the 1970s.
So how does 31 stack up? Happily, I can recommend this to any fan of horror. It's full of bloody, over-the-top violence, mean and vulgar characters, and a striking visual style. Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Meg Foster, and Kevin Jackson are great as the trashy carnival crew. They are pretty unlikable sometimes, but you can't help but root for them against the much greater evil of the Heads and their masters.
Speaking of, Malcolm McDowell, Judy Geeson, and Jane Carr are great as the aristocratic murder enthusiasts, with awesomely indulgent names: Sister Serpent, Sister Dragon, and Father Napoleon-Horatio-Silas Murder. They are smaller roles but are endearing and mysterious and it seems like the actors relish the tongue-in-cheek evil of the characters.
Richard Brake, a highly underrated character actor, is fantastic as Doom-Head, the most dangerous of the hired killers and the one with the best lines. He is menacing and demented, with that grungey, country feel that many of Zombie's villains have. Brake's psychotic grin is incredibly frightening, and is evocative of the Joker (he would have made a far better Joker than what Jared Leto delivered).
Ginger Lynn and the great Tracey Walter (Bob the Goon from Batman) have memorable cameos, and E.G. Dailey and Torsten Vorges have small but great scenery-chewing parts.
Lew Temple and David Ury have slightly comedic parts as the excessively depraved and violent brothers Psycho-Head and Schizo-Head, respectively.
Pancho Moler appears as Sick-Head, another hilariously vulgar and iconoclastic character. Moler speaks mostly in Spanish, un-subtitled, a creative choice I respected.
The music in the film was pretty excellent, as Zombie as a great knowledge of rock and folk music that he employs perfectly in his films, and again, the visuals are pretty unforgettable.
While not particularly scary, the film is violent, entertaining, and shocking, all things I expected and was satisfied by with this film.
31 may not be Zombie's best or scariest film (those go to Rejects and Lords, respectively), but it is probably his most consistently entertaining since Corpses. It's crass, bloody, sick, a bit dream-like, and subverts expectations for typical genre conventions, and it's just a great time for the fall season. If it's playing in your area or offered on VOD, go out and see it, support a great indie film that was funded by the fans and is made by a man with true affection for the genre. 7/10 stars.
Fun fact: Saban, the entertainment group that distributed the film, was the group that distributed Power Rangers. Seeing their logo on my screen again triggered major nostalgia.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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