Sutton Watches Movies

I saw The Devil's Rejects last night, and if you're a fan of 70's exploitation movies, you should see it right now. Despite being a sequel to House of 1000 Corpses (well, more of a spinoff, really), you only really need to see the previous movie if you want a better understanding of the movie's main plot point. The Devil's Rejects is its own monster, a monster that can be very disturbing at times. Its violence is like The Passion of the Christ only without Jesus, and the majority of the film's nudity isn't the happy kind. It's downright uncomfortable.

The acting is engaging from start to finish, the effects are both disgusting and wonderful, and the music is superb. On the topic of music, the songs in the movie are each used to excellent effect, especially Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in the movie's finale (which also works as my favorite scene in the movie too). The Devil's Rejects also benefits from some very sound direction by Rob Zombie, who makes his second venture to the director's chair here.

The movie has some very slick scene transitions and fun off-kilter editing choices, along with both humor and horrific moments in its script. The Devil's Rejects is visceral, unforgiving, and raw, and I couldn't love it more. They don't make movies like this anymore, but they should. Four stars, and a hearty seal of recommendation.

My biggest complaint about the movie was the group of jackass teenagers sitting in front of me who spent more time talking and giggling and playing with their cell phones, as opposed to watching the movie they just paid $6.25 to see. Two ushers actually came down and told them to shut up or get out, and they actually left five minutes before the credits rolled. Next time I go to the movies on a Friday night, I'm taking a two-by-four and cracking some skulls if that happens again.

I was at a family reunion at my grandma's house earlier, but with a combination of the heat and my feet killing me, I had to leave early. I feel really bad about leaving, since I very rarely ever get to see any of my extended family, but me and heat don't get along very well. Now if the reunion had been held in, say, spring or fall, I'd have been there all day, no questions asked. C'est la vie, I guess.

Back on the topic of movies for a second, I saw rented The Crow: Wicked Prayer via Netflix and watched it Thursday night. It actually isn't too bad. It pales in comparison to the first one (as do the other sequels), but it's enjoyable. Three stars for the fourth Crow movie.

And that's all I have. Sutton out.