Sid Haig is back for more devilish fun as Captain Spaulding in THE DEVIL’S REJECTS
NITEHAWK MIDNITE SCREENINGS: THE DEVIL’S REJECTS (Rob Zombie, 2005)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Friday, January 2, and Saturday, January 3, 12:10 am
718-384-3980
www.nitehawkcinema.com
Although writer-director Rob Zombie refuses to call this a sequel to 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects is a sequel to Zombie’s 2003 horror hit House of 1000 Corpses. Mad clown Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) is back, as are murderous siblings Otis (Bill Moseley) and Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie, Rob’s wife). Mother Firefly, played by the vixenous Karen Black in the first flick, is here portrayed with delicious delight by Leslie Easterbrook (of Police Academy fame). In this gorefest, Otis and Baby are on the lam from Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe), who is determined to avenge his brother’s death; they hole up in a skeevy motel with a quartet of hostages that includes perennial Clint Eastwood bad boy Geoffrey Lewis and Three’s Company escapee Priscilla Barnes. Zombie cleverly plays with genre cliches throughout the film; what you think is going to happen — or not happen — gets turned upside down, so you never quite know where things are heading (although you can always count on a shot of his wife’s butt). Zombie, leader of the heavy metal band White Zombie, injects a wry sense of humor by including such ’70s pop music as Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years,” David Essex’s “Rock On,” and even Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird,” always at extremely appropriate moments. Add a star if you love films that relish gore; delete two and a half if you can’t stand them. The Devil’s Rejects is being shown January 2 and 3 at 12:10 am as part of Nitehawk Cinema’s Nitehawk Nasties and Nitehawk Midnite Screenings series.