House of 1000 Corpses
WhileRob Zombie’sFirefly Familymembers , Otis , Baby , and Captain Spaulding , are terrific characters , his sequel made them altogether too kindly . Of the three films Zombie has made pertain the Fireflies , there ’s a clear break in elan and tone between his 2003 debutHouse of 1000 clay , and later sequelsThe Devil ’s Rejectsand3 From Hell . House of 1000 Corpsesis a colorful , nightmare - esque journey into madness that at times feel like a Zombie euphony TV .
By contrast , The Devil ’s Rejectsswitched thing to a gritty , grindhouse - like aesthetic , tamp down down the colors and spry - cut editing in favor of feeling much more down to Earth and realistic . Or at least as realistic as a movie about sadistic consecutive killers can feel to moviegoers not predispose to murder . This look and tone was retained for3 From Hell , another Sunday - soaked , 1970s grindhouse - style sojourn to the world of the Firefly Family . For the most part , this was a good move , asThe Devil ’s Rejectsis often cited asZombie ’s best work .
Related : All of Rob Zombie ’s Firefly Family Movies Ranked , Worst To Best
As good asThe Devil ’s Rejectsis though , something left materialize along the fashion . Zombie select to transubstantiate theFirefly Familyfrom clearly - issue villains to exceedingly brutal antiheroes , positioning them in bothThe Devil ’s Rejectsand3 From Hellas the lesser of two iniquity . That peculiar spectacular choice did n’t entirely succeed .
Why Rob Zombie’s Firefly Family Were Better As Villains
WhileOtis , Baby , and Captain Spaulding commit lots of slimy turn inThe Devil ’s Rejects- and newfangled addition Foxy add to that mix in3 From Hell- it ’s never in doubt who the protagonists of these film are , and who the consultation is have in mind to root for . This is despite Otis raping a woman , and later cutting a piece ’s face off . Placing the audience in the corner of such disgusting people is an queer move , even with how Zombie tries to habituate the almost equally as sadistic Sheriff Wydell as a greater evil . Wydell is an terrible soul , but it ’s ill-defined if he was quite that unhinged before the Fireflies killed his buddy .
3 From Helltakes this even further , making just about everyone the Fireflies maim or kill intensely unlikable . By doing that , Zombie seems to be giving the viewer a free pass to cheer them on as they do indescribably brutal thing . While tonic acculturation is full of antihero , making the fire beetle any type of hero was a very confutable move , and also served to undersell their purely villainous characterizations inHouse of 1000 corpse . The Fireflies playact only too " normal " at time in the sequels , almost seeming like punch - clock villains until its time to flip-flop the switching into murder way . InHouse of 1000 stiff , all three , especially Baby and Otis , feel 100 percentage dedicated to their vicious business . When captured by Wydell , party at a sporting house , or downing beers in Mexico , the Fireflies are reduced to human status far too quickly . These same - or very similar - stories could ’ve been told without making theFirefly Familyfeel sympathetic , and that ’s the route Zombie should ’ve probably taken .
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