The Emperor's New Horror Clothes or Why Aswang Is Better Than The Devil's Rejects

I really wanted to like The Devil's Rejects.  I really did.  By all accounts of past taste, I was their target demographic, a true devotee of horror films.  It was obvious to me, after watching the film's predecessor, House of 1000 Corpses, that director Rob Zombie was also a true genre fan, one who had seen all the right films, and knew how to distill these influences into a raucously trashy good time.  (I should note that I've just recently seen TDR on DVD; due to a babysitter shortage, ever-rising ticket prices and anticipated shortcomings in theatergoer behavior, we don't get out to the movies much.  Rest assured multiple spoilers are included herein.)

The Devil's Rejects fails because it takes itself way too seriously, making nods to all the right classic horror/exploitation films, but approaching none of them in terms of being shocking, providing true thrills, or penetrating the psyche the way a real horror film is supposed to.  Though the cinematography has many merits, B-actor heroes abound (Ken Foree, P.J. Soles, E.G. Daily, Danny Trejo, and the film's stars Sid Haig and Bill Moseley), and ultimately there is great potential here, the whole presentation left me cold and unsatisfied.  ME, a veteran horror fan since age 7.

I was also excited at the casting of the great character actor William Forsythe as the vengeful Sherrif Wydell, then disappointed at the mediocre dialog he was forced to read (some horseshit about "God's vengeance" etc.)

The protagonists of the story are lawless, unrepentant, random killers, but their acts are neither shocking nor impactful, merely desultory.  Why do they kill?  These characters are not embodied with the creepiness or enigmatic power (or cannibalistic purposefulness) of the family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film that the director and myself clearly hold in high regard.  Personally, I ended up feeling bad for the innocent family of country musicians besieged by the killers; why them?—they weren't even having sex for chrissakes!

In horror film terms, sadistic and senseless violence perpetrated on unwitting innocents can be easily portrayed, though most often ineffectively.  In 1972, when Wes Craven released Last House On The Left, the terror was effective.  Enough to make that film a transcendent classic, one that got under your skin and disturbed you, so much so that even when the sadistic killers receive their well-deserved gruesome comeuppance, one feels sickened, maybe even a little ashamed or sad, rather than triumphant.

At the end of The Devil's Rejects, as the perpetrators sail Thelma-and-Louise-like into an impossible sea of policemen, guns blazing, as Ronnie Van Zant triumphantly belts out the climax from "Freebird," we are treated to a flashback montage of the three killer-protagonists laughing and hanging out, just being their "rebel" selves, and one gets the feeling we're supposed to be sad to see them go.  Me, I was just glad the movie was over.  Are we supposed to feel something for them?  Are they legitimate anti-heroes?  Have we gotten to know them as violent rebel spirits, potentially enslaved/engendered by a larger and more evil ruling system (like Alex in a Clockwork Orange)?  I think not.

I shudder to think of what masterpiece the makers of 1994's Aswang could have created with Rob Zombie's budget for The Devil's Rejects.  Here is a film so original, so thoroughly bizarre, and yet also very much a classic horror film in every sense.  There's a likeable heroine in danger (a pregnant girl), who must summon up the very essence of her will to survive; the ideal setting of an isolated country estate; and a family of sinister, upper-crust villain/monsters who are so charming that it is ultimately they who propel the film.

Based on a Filipino legend about shape-shifting vampire-like creatures that feed on the unborn, Aswang (pronounced os-wong) is a film that is novel and unpredictable at every turn, but also loaded with the gory scenes and harrowing chases that horror fans demand.  I hesitate to say too much about it here, as I'd really like all interested parties to make the effort to see it.

Aswang was made in 1994, though only recently released on DVD by the stellar Mondo Macabro label.  The film was clearly a labor of love for the cadre of Wisconsin-based talents involved, and is enormously effective with a minimum of resources (just like the 70s horror classics TDR presumes to emulate.)  Aswang succeeds where The Devil's Rejects fails because it functions in the realm of all great horror films, from the early Universal classics to the contemporary work of small budget directors like Dante Tomaselli: that of our subconscious fears and nightmares.

Item:  Aswang attack!

also see:  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 30 Seconds (and Re-enacted by Bunnies) from www.angryalien.com.

Comments

[J.A.]

Yeah...don't really understand this post. TDR wasn't great, but it was decent for what it was, which was a modern-day B-horror flick. It was fairly well made, had a few flaws, but so what? It got made att least.

Also, not to belabor the point, but this is dude's second film. Judged by that yardstick, it wasn't bad at all (by the way,Wm, what's your movie called again?) It also re-introduced a whole lot of people to Terry Reid's music, which is a pretty good thing, I think.

Take it easy out there. Glad you like those Tomaselli flicks, though!

[bushwick is beautiful]

Coudln't agree more about TDR's. I was very dissapointed. Oh well.

[bushwick is beautiful]

Any new horror flicks coming out in early 2006?

[James]

J.A. -- "it got made at least"? It was bankrolled by a wealthy rock star. It had a much better chance at getting made than the low budget film -Aswang- which Wm prefers (and that's part of the point he's making). Anyway, criticizing Wm's review by asking how many movies he's made instead of responding to the points he's made is pretty childish. Not to mention the fact George Romero and John Carpenter were hitting home runs on their second at-bats. It's doable.

Anyway, I had a similar opinion on -House of 1000 Corpses-. The movie seemed more interested in hitting reference points to 70's genre movies than telling a good (or even coherent) story, or providing any real scares. I did like the visual style near the end of the film, but that's about all I liked.

[Brian Turner]

I dunno, I took TDR at face value, big budget Hollywood horror flick and didn't expect an Argento experience. I think it succeeded well on the level it was working on and was a fun ride. I'll never watch it again. It certainly had all the trademarks of Tarantino-derived postmodernism that kind of drive me batty (70s nostalgic Buck Owens TV clips running while brutality occurs, etc.,) but you know, I also liked Kill Bill while it was on. I'll never watch it again.

[fatty jubbo]

I think I gave House of 1000 corpses about 1 minute of my time and had to turn it off because everything about it was so bad...especially the tongue in cheek post-modernism mentioned above. but above all...it looked like crap, perhaps for irony's sake...like a bad made for TV horror series.

I can't say I'm a huge horror fan...mostly because people don't know how to do it right.

Texas Chainsaw (the original) is a masterpiece...too bad Tobe Hooper only had one idea in him!

[ibeam23]

I didn't see TDR, and your post kinda makes me glad i didn't. I had thought that Zombie would have made a decent film of this genre, but i supposed i'll just rent the DVD and give it a go anyway.

On another note, have you listened to 16 HORSEPOWER or WOVENHAND? My tattoo artist has burned me a few of their CDs, and I'm curious of your take on them, if you know who they are (which you probably do!)

[WmMBerger]

Shout out to Bushwick- I used to live on Arion Pl. (near Myrtle & Broadway) in the mid-to-late 90s.

One promising horror release for next year is the remake of The Hills Have Eyes, from the French team that made Haute Tension/High Tension, with original director Wes Craven producing. See here for more info.

I must add, for the benefit of those who disagree with this post, that I refuse to lower my standards to that of what's available or what "got made." Not that I'm above slumming, or enjoying a good ride, but I expect a moving or cathartic experience from any film, be it horror, drama or screwball comedy. I want something resonant that I can take away with me when the picture's over. The Devil's Rejects functions solely on a surface level, and left me with no feeling whatsoever; disappointing from a horror buff's perspective, based on the great potential therein. Modern "B flicks" don't have to be just okay, they can actually kick ass if everyone just tries a little harder to be original. "Tarantino-derived postmodernism" must die!

[T.]

For the record (for Bushwick)... I totally agree, but for one thing: Romero's second film was "There's Always Vanilla" aka "The Affair". Not even a bunt, let alone a home run on his second at bat.

I think TDR was possibly the worst film I've seen this year. Had it been made in the time period when it was set, it would have been lucky to get the third feature spot at the drive in after the porn double feature.

[hutter]

Y'all can hate, but The Devil's Rejects hit the spot for this good ol' boy. Great F-N soundtrack.