2. The Devil's Rejects
Preceded by: House of 1000 Corpses, 2003 (2 years before)
RottenTomatoes Rating: 53% When Rob Zombie decided to venture into the world of filmmaking, he went down the route of low budget, dirty, offensive Grindhouse-style and made House of 1000 Corpses. Naturally, such a film was slated by critics. But, for as many people who hate a film like House of 1000 Corpses, there is also an audience for it. Although a highly flawed and ultimately mediocre film, Corpses had just enough good ideas, vulgarity and flair to build Zombie a loyal film fanbase. Thusly, The Devil's Rejects came along, with Zombie at the helm once again (writing, directing, music, what-have-you) and was a much stronger effort in every respect. Rejects immediately strikes you as a film by a director who learned from his mistakes of his previous work, but also took the good aspects and improved on them. The film trades in the dank sets and dark look of the first film for a much brighter-looking and vibrant universe. And it's a good decision, because although Rejects keeps in line with the violent, offensive and satanic feel of Corpses, it also opens out into a movie that feels much more real. Much more about the characters. And although the Firefly family are utterly detestable in every conceivable way, you almost... well, root for them along the way. The movie is half serial killer horror, and half road trip comedy. It's a blend that shouldn't really work, but it does.