The Devil's Rejects (2005)

"I am the devil, and I am here to do the devil's work."

- Otis

The Devil's Rejects is a 2005 horror film directed by Rob Zombie. It is the sequel to Zombie's first film House of 1000 Corpses and is the last film in the series. The plot revolves around the murderous Firefly family who are now on the run from the law. Sheriff John Quincy Wydell, brother of the late George Wydell, wants to avenge his brother's murder by hunting down and killing the surviving Firefly members. Actors Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon and Matthew McGrory all reprise their roles as Captain Spaulding, Otis, Baby and Tiny (respectively). Karen Black has been replaced with Leslie Easterbrook in the role of Mother Firefly and future Michael Myers actor Tyler Mane plays the role of Rufus Firefly, Jr. (previously played by Robert Mukes). This film has a distinctively different style from House of 1000 Corpses and the portrayal of the main characters are grittier and less-cartoonish than they appeared in the previous film.

Plot
It is early morning, May 18th, 1978. A hooded Tiny Firefly drags the body of a naked woman through the woods. He disposes of the remains and turns back towards the family farmhouse just in time to see dozens of police squad cars pulling up the driveway. Sheriff John Quincy Wydell addresses his men and warns them that the Fireflys are wanted for a string of disappearances. The family members awaken and immediately scramble to arm themselves. They don iron masks to protect their faces and begin exchanging gunfire with the cops. One of the officers, Ray Dobson, hurls a tear gas canister into the house. Rufus Firefly, Jr. puts on a suit of armored plating and stands guard over his family when the cops burst into the house. They unload their weapons upon him, and while the armor protects him from the first salvo of bullets, he eventually goes down in a hail of gunfire. While Otis and Baby Firefly escape into the cellar, Mother Firefly stays behind to look after Rufus. Sheriff Wydell draws his gun on her. Mother produces her own handgun and attempts to shoot herself in the head, but the weapon is out of bullets. Wydell arrests her.

Otis and Baby escape from the basement via a hidden tunnel that leads out into the swamps. From there, they get to the highway and set up a trap in order to procure transportation. Baby lies in the middle of the road and pretends to be unconscious until a motorist stops to check on her. Otis emerges from behind the crouching woman, stabs her to death then steals her car.

At the Firefly farm, the police officers search the premises and recover a pile of Mother Firefly's scrapbooks, which includes extensive evidence of the family's murderous activities over the years. Sheriff Wydell finds a photograph of local celebrity Captain Spaulding and learns that Spaulding is an associate of the family.

Meanwhile, Captain Spaulding is having a dream about having sex with a woman who then tries to kill him. He awakens from the dream next to a larger, less-attractive woman and gets up. He turns on the television to watch his latest local-access Captain Spaulding commercial, but the commercial is interupted by a news bulletin relating to the Firefly raid. He then receives a telephone call from Baby Firefly, his daughter, then gets into his truck and leaves.

Otis and Baby continue driving and they tune in to a radio broadcast discussing the raid. They learn that the police now know about the family's connection to Captain Spaulding and that they need to quickly find a place to lay low. They choose the Tahiki Palms Motel.

Also staying at the Tahiki Palms is a traveling country band called Banjo and Sullivan. The group consists of Roy Sullivan, his wife Gloria, Adam Banjo, Wendy Banjo, and their roadie Jimmy. The group checks in to their room and Roy brags about having once shaken hands with Johnny Cash. Jimmy expresses his displeasure with being a roadie and dreams of one day being a rodeo clown. Roy sends him across the street to get some beef jerky. Roy goes around the corner to get some ice and runs into Baby Firefly. Baby flirts with him and distracts him long enough for Otis to come up behind him with a gun. They force him back into their motel room where they hold the entire group hostage. Wendy Banjo is in the shower and Otis pulls her out and throws her on the bed. Jimmy returns with the beef jerky and Baby Firefly lures him into the room. Otis doesn't want to deal with too many hostages, so he shoots Jimmy in the forehead. Adam Banjo vomits at the violent display.

Meanwhile, Captain Spaulding is driving around trying to find Baby, but his truck runs out of gas. He stops at Buck's Grab 'n Go where he accosts a woman named Susan and her young son. Citing "official clown business", he forces them out of their vehicle and steals their car.

Back at the Tahiki Palms, Baby dances in front of the terrified Roy Sullivan who remains motionless. Otis doesn't understand his behavior and accuses him of being a homosexual. He then forces Gloria Sullivan to remove her clothes and shoves his gun into her underwear. He makes her press herself against him, forcing the others to watch as she gropes at him. Otis then decides that it is time to stock up on supplies. Leaving Baby in charge of Gloria and Wendy, he takes Roy and Adam out of the motel room.

At the police station, Sheriff Wydell interrogates Mother Firefly. He shows her the scrapbooks they recovered and tells her that he might go easy on her if she tells them where Otis and Baby may have gone. Mother proves to be completely uncooperative and makes lewd gestures at Sheriff Wydell. Perusing the scrapbooks, she finds photos of his brother George Wydell, taken after she had murdered him. Although John Quincy Wydell knew that the Fireflys were responsible for multiple murders, it wasn't until now that he learned what really happened to his brother. In a rage, he backhands Mother Firefly.

Back at the motel, Otis walks Roy and Adam some distance behind the building where he has a cache of guns buried in the dirt. He lets them know that this is the "end of the road" for them and that they will soon die. Adam decides to fight back and clubs Otis from behind with a large, heavy tree branch. Otis kicks Adam away from him, grabs the tree branch and uses it to bash Roy Sullivan acros the head. Comparing himself to Willie Wonka, he beats on him several more times declaring, "This is my chocolate factory!" He then brushes the hair out of his face, stares down at Roy and tells him, "I am the Devil. And I am here to do the Devil's work". He finishes him off with one more solid blow to the head. Otis then turns his attention to Adam Banjo. Pinning him to the ground, he withdraws his knife and begins skinning him.

Inside the motel room, Baby grows bored. She entertains herself by making Wendy Banjo repeatedly slap Gloria Sullivan across the face. Wendy tells her that she needs to go to the bathroom and Baby reluctantly allows it. In the bathroom, Wendy tries to find a means of escaping the room. When Baby goes to check on her, Gloria picks up Baby's gun and points it at her. Baby laughs at Gloria's sudden bravery and pulls out a knife. She throws it across the room, striking Gloria in the chest. Baby mocks her as the woman falls over dead. Wendy meanwhile, manages to smash out the bathroom window and escapes. Her freedom is short-lived however as she runs into Captain Spaulding, who is now just arriving at the motel. Baby runs outside the room and screams, "Daddy, get that bitch!", upon which Spaulding head butts Wendy Banjo, knocking her out.

Notes & Trivia

 * The title The Devil's Rejects also refers to the nickname attributed to the Firefly family.


 * Matthew McGrory who plays Tiny Firefly, passed away from natural causes shortly following production on this film. A dedicational to McGrory is provided on the closing credits of the movie.


 * The opening sequence with Tiny was filmed using a stuntman rather than actor Matthew McGrory who injured his ankle during production. McGrory does appear however for the end shot where Tiny removes his hood, exposing his face.


 * The pig's head seen propped up on the lintel above the entrance to the Firefly farm is not a prop, but an actualy pig's head.


 * Sheri Moon Zombie's brother, Jeff, has a cameo appearance as one of the police officers present during the Firefly home raid.


 * Stunt coordinator Kane Hodder has a cameo appearance as one of the police officers present during the Firefly home raid. He is seen wearing a gas mask when Sheriff Wydell arrests Mother Firefly.


 * Otis' iron mask has a white skull painted on it. In House of 1000 Corpses, he painted his face with makeup to resemble a human skull.


 * In the original shooting script, Doctor Satan was intended to make a return appearance in the film, in which he is taken to a hospital and kills a doctor played by Rosario Dawson. Rob Zombie decided that the scene didn't work and it was cut from the film. A lingering element of the scene remains however. When the police officers are sealing up the crime scene, a body can be seen being loaded into an ambulance. This is meant to be Doctor Satan.


 * During Mother Firefly's interrogation scene, her handcuffs mysteriously disappear and then reappear later in a subsequent frame.


 * Diamond Dallas Page, who plays Billy Ray Snapper, is more popularly known as a professional wrestler for WCW and WWE (formerly WWF).

Taglines
"This summer, go to Hell..."

"Death walks behind. Hell waits ahead."

"A Tale Of Murder, Mayhem and Revenge"