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Rob Zombie's 3 From Hell Review 9/19/2019 (Spoiler Free)


Irondog666

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Just got back from 3 From Hell tonight and wanted to write a review on here about my thoughts and opinions on the entire trilogy of films. This is going to be long and I am very sorry for that, but there is no way you can deconstruct and break these films down the way I am doing without it being very long. So please bear with me.   So here is my spoiler free opinion on the movie and it's predecessors as a whole since The Devil's Rejects is my favorite movie of all time (which this specific viewing included a double feature that involved that movie before the new movie).

 

Zombie is a Directorial & Visionary Genius for those who actually get it. He is like Alice Cooper when it comes to genius level with horror, theatrics, and his music (which has inspired many of his films).  The movies he creates (outside of Lords of Salem which was legitimate garbage and you can't count Halloween 1 or 2 since he had almost no creative control or freedom with those, he was literally just a straight up director to sell tickets) are as violent, vile, and disgusting as possible with characters who represent the absolute worst in society. His movies push the MPAA (movie ratings board) to it's literal breaking point of what is allowed to be seen in a theater.


 

However, in some sick sadistic way he makes the Firefly family of sick sadistic psychopathic murderers beloved caricatures that you love to hate, by the end of The Devil's Rejects and 3 From Hell, you are legitimately cheering them on to get away with these disgusting and vile acts.  It is admittedly a guilty pleasure of a joy ride (and you need a good sense of twisted and dark humor or you will not understand or get it).

 

Everything that made The Devil's Rejects (and to a lesser degree House of 1000 Corpses) great movies and made the Firefly Family into this beloved cult counter-culture following is on display in 3 From Hell which is to be expected. It is a movie that is not for the faint of heart, those who get easily offended, who consider themselves a Social Justice Warrior, or who can't stand political incorrectness should stay FAR AWAY from this.  These movies are EXTREMELY (and I can't emphasize that enough) violent, misogynistic, satanic, gory, racist, homophobic, and just purely as vile as you can really get. You will completely miss the point if you try to analyze these films like you would analyze your typical film because this is far from that.

 

Now I have seen some reviews by critics who just don't get it or they have evolved far from being the Zombie fans they once were (the movie has a 25% Rotten Tomatoes score which is to be expected, Zombie's movies are extremely divisive), they believe 3 From Hell has absolutely no place in modern 2019 society. That this is a movie that would have been fine to release in lets say 2006 or 2007, but is just disgusting filth that needs to be banned. What they fail to see that these (nor the other 2) are movies you go to see where you absolutely cannot analyze them based on contemporary times, politics, or even current societal norms.

 

These are movies that take place in the 70s and 80s, that are legitimate throwbacks that channel real life nutso serial killers. Inspiration for these vile characters can be seen from historical murderers (so there is a point to it). It has everything from Jeffrey Dommer, Charles Manson (and his followers), Jack the Ripper, Albert Fish, Ed Gein, and Ted Bundy.  It's like if you took a "worst killers of all time" list and threw it in a blender and sprinkled in some Rob Zombie "Carnie Madness" on top (Rob Zombie actually grew up with Carnie parents for a good chunk of his childhood and so much of his movies contain a psychedelic gritty carnival vibe).

 

What I personally like about these films isn't so much that they are just gratuitously violent because there are hundreds of films out there that do that, and I personally don't enjoy a lot of movies that don't have a point or some message to cling upon. I used to be a huge fan of that stuff when I was a young teenager and suffering through Troma films and Slashers with my dearly departed friend Adam Sentell, who absolutely loved Rob Zombie movies for the same reason I do, because they are thoughtful.

 

However, I like stories, I like characters that are likable, and have personality (even if in this case they are vile and absolutely on the unhinged fringe of society). I like that Rob in his movies is trying to speak on a much more philosophical level. He isn't trying to make us feel sympathetic or to love these characters for no good reason; the only reason most of us can feel sympathetic for the Firefly Family is because the people that surround them are messed up and just as bad as they are (and I have to take House of 1000 Corpses out of this because it is more of a straight up horror film that doesn't have these parallels or dichotomy).

 

Rob makes you think on a deeper level about, "wow, these people who are trying to bring the Firefly Family to justice are just as vile and disgusting as they are, and in some cases might even be worse?" It speaks to this very carnal and primal nature within human beings. How our own political and criminal justice system is broken and completely incapable of rehabilitating anybody. Why do people murder senselessly? Is it really that senseless what they are doing? Is there a reason why they are on the fringe and are they just trying to get back at society or the wickedness within our culture through their violent ways?

 

Furthermore, why does our society idolize people like Charles Manson? Why is there this pure morbid fascination with those like Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dommer, and Albert Fish who were obviously vile monsters that the media made them out to be (and probably rightfully so). However, it goes further. Is it because of the primal and carnal nature of society that made them this way? Were they just born freaking nutso? Is it what I personally believe which is in the theory of Socialization that you are taught to hate or mame.

 

These are questions that are constantly brought up throughout the Firefly trilogy of movies and they are philosophical questions open to one's own interpretation. However, people fail to ask these questions when they go to see a film like this just because of how extremely violent and disgusting it is. Obviously, Rob does a lot of that for pure shock value, but there is more going on below the surface. I personally am judged by many people for loving his films, which I don't care about but it can be difficult to break it down to those who don't get it as to why I like these films (outside of Lords of Salem which was truly terrible, but everyone has a flop or two in their directorial career).

 

People will ask, "how can you sympathize with such monsters?" I have gotten that since 2005 when Rejects came out. Kind of like, "what is wrong with you, are you mentally deranged like they are? How could you ever cheer them on to get away with all of this?" No, it is simply that I totally get what he is trying to say. I see him as a visionary film director and I would love to see him do something outside of the Horror genre like that "Broadstreet Bullies" film about the Philadelphia Flyers team of the 1970s (licensing issues got in the way of him getting it off the ground).

 

Rob's not just creating some monster movie where everyone senselessly dies, nothing is ever explained, there is no social commentary on anything, and it is just blood, chaos, and senseless violence. Now 31 (which was a crowdfunded Rob Zombie film) had more of that just senseless and gratuitous violence to it and it was good, but not great. Although 31 was different in the sense it was paying homage and was a throwback to The Running Man (with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it). It was a Rob Zombie version of it as far as I am concerned that wasn't as cornie lol.

 

His Firefly movies have messages, they have meanings, they have interpretations but it cannot be as simple as, "this is racist!" or, "this is just completely senseless and nothing makes any sense!" No it all makes sense, but you have to think on a much deeper level and not in the same way you would in the typical horror convention. It is too simplistic to flat out state, "3 From Hell is nothing more than complete garbage that is obviously made by someone who loves glorifying misogyny, racism, and the worst aspects of our society." No he is asking the viewer to think about society as a whole.

 

If you pay close attention to Otis, Baby, and Captain Spaulding (and in this new film Richard Brake of The Night King GoT fame, as Foxy), they are outcasts that do not fit within society and hate "the system." They hate the man and they want to stick it to the man, quite literally with a nice sharp blade bludgeoning someone's heart out. Why is that? that is open to people's own interpretations.

 

Sorry, to get so philosophical on everyone but I feel like these movies get too much criticism for the wrong reasons because people view them through such a simple-minded lens. Critics and movie goers alike focus on the wrong things and fail to see what Rob is trying to accomplish. They are not peeling back the layers of each and every character. They are not understanding why anyone would care about such vile people.

 

To some extent it is morbid curiosity. Why do we like films that involve serial killers? A lot of people watched the Ted Bundy film that was released recently, a lot of people love to watch documentaries and films about Charles Manson, and the same goes with all sorts of deviant behavior and acts within society.

 

As someone who has a Bachelor's degree in studying societal behavior and human interaction, deviance is one of the most interesting and philosophical social theories out there and these are movies that involve extremely deviant and vile acts. Everything from Necrophilia to straight up Murder Rape is on full display here. I believe that deviance is such an interesting topic because of my interest and background in Sociology, that is why I am able to explain and to largely defend what he is doing with these films and characters.

 

So that is my opinion on this trilogy of films. Once again, I am not recommending anyone who is not a fan of horror, who is easily offended, or even has a weak stomach or tolerance for this kind of movie to buy it when it comes out on video in the middle of October. Just that after 14 years of trying to explain why I like these movies, this is my answer. I think most of the Rob Zombie fans and people who like the Firefly Trilogy of movies will completely understand this.

 

As far as 3 From Hell goes, is it a good movie? Yeah it was a really good movie. Did it need to be made? Everyone will have their own opinion on that but I would say my opinion is no, it did not need to be made, but I am glad it was anyways. The way The Devil's Rejects ended was PERFECT in the same manner as Terminator 2 had the perfect ending, but it is still fun to hang with Arnie isn't it? That is the way I see it, plus you get deeper into societal norms, the criminal justice system, the cronyism of the system itself, and I feel you get deeper into the psyche of these people.

 

Maybe it did not need to be made but that doesn't mean I am not happy it was. It was a fun and funny movie. It was extremely violent and everything I said before, and if you liked the other Rob Zombie films, you should definitely like this movie unless you are going into it expecting it to be "better" than Rejects. If your own views have evolved since 05 to make these movies sort of "obsolete" to you, I wouldn't see it, nobody is forcing anyone to see it. If you didn't get a chance to see it and you are interested and can stomach the experience, It gets released on October 15th on Blu Ray and I will definitely be getting it. As far as Rob's other movies. This is his 2nd best movie with only Rejects beating it out.
 

Edited by Irondog666
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