#2 – The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
Realistically, this one is effectively a tied for first place. Since I don’t believe in cheating like that when it comes to list-making, someone had to occupy the #2 slot here. That honor goes to The Devil’s Rejects. Whereas House of 1000 Corpses was a funhouse packed full of almost all of Rob Zombie’s interests and influences, its sequel is a mean, super-focused piece of exploitation cinema. It’s supremely violent and disturbing on both an emotional and psychological level, with a handful of stellar performances backing it all up.
The Devil’s Rejects has a lot on its mind, chief of which is the subject of vengeance. The classic saying is that “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” In regards to this movie, at least, I’d amend that to say that revenge is a dish best served cold-hearted. At the center of the picture is Sheriff John Wydell. Tasked with taking down the Firefly clan, which also conveniently allows him to avenge his murdered brother George, Wydell is a hard-ass who fully believes in the power of the law. At least at first, anyway. In dealing with the insane acts of insane people, Wydell himself is driven to madness. With that madness comes his own repressed bloodlust and once Wydell unleashes it, he turns into something nearly as awful as the quarry he is hunting.
That’s the beauty of this film. You begin it ready to see Wydell bring down the wrath of God upon this murderous lot. Throughout the course of the narrative, things strangely begin to shift. The Fireflys are clearly horrendous human beings undeserving of forgiveness, but you still begin to see them as people and no longer view them as two-dimensional villains. They become human to the viewer as the story progresses, whereas Wydell becomes a monster. By the finale, no one is redeemable. All deserve the fates they receive. This, in addition to great direction and some powerhouse turns by Bill Moseley and William Forsythe (among others), is why The Devil’s Rejects is a masterwork.
