3 From Hell (2019) Review
3 From Hell (2019)
Directed By: Rob Zombie
Starring: Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, Richard Brake, Emilio Rivera, Dee Wallace, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Danny Trejo & Sid Haig
Synopsis: After barely surviving a furious shootout with the police, Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) are behind bars. But pure evil cannot be contained. Teaming up with Otis’ half-brother Winslow “Foxy” Coltrane (Richard Brake), the demented Firefly clan are back to unleash a whole new wave of death and depravity. A firestorm of murder, madness and mayhem will be unleashed in this terror ride to hell and back.
Review: 14 years after The Devil’s Rejects Rob Zombie brings back Otis, Baby and Captain Spaulding (slightly). We all thought that the Firefly family went out in a blaze of glory at the end of The Devil’s Rejects, boy were we wrong. It turns out the deadly trio were close to death but survived (The Devil did literally reject them) and have been serving life in prison.
The movies opening was great it featured a brief flashback to how Rejects ended then a flash forward to recent events being broadcast on TV by a news anchor played by none other than original Assault On Precinct 13 star Austin Stoker, which was a delight to see. We are given some back ground on the characters and what they have been through since we last saw them. This is where we get our first look at Captain Spaulding. Sid Haig was sick during filming and you can really see how frail he looked. In his mere moments on screen he brought the character to life and gave it 100%, Spaulding was back with attitude and was still so menacing. It was such a highlight of the movie. Sid has always had a great way of delivering his lines and Spaulding is such an iconic character that no one could ever take on the part and bring what Sid did to the role. . I am glad we got too see him once more on screen playing a horror icon. “I’m just your mother fucking bozo jesus, whose been hung out to dry” is already such a memorable line. RIP Sid Haig.
Bill Moseley never fails in performance, I have been a fan since Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Otis is hands down a scary dude, I love how Bill can play Otis disturbingly well, seeing how Bill is such a nice guy. Even after absense from the character it was like Otis never left Bill. Rob Zombies wife Sheri Moon Zombie is back as Baby Firefly and I think this is the craziest we have seen Baby and she even gets to go pure Rambo with a bow and arrow in the finale. New addition Richard Brake makes a good addition to the cast as Otis’s half brother Foxy. You can see Foxy looks up to Otis and has modelled himself after him. Brake is a good addition to the cast after seeing him in Rob Zombies 31 i did want him to appear in something else directed by Zombie as Brake fits right into Rob Zombies ‘Zombieverse’ as I call it. Scream queen Dee Wallace another notable horror icon makes an appearance as Greta, a female prison warden who is try her hardest in making Baby’s life behind bars unbearable. It’s very different seeing Dee Wallace in a ‘bad guy’ role if you can call it that seeing the circumstances. She plays the part well and I would love to see her take on more roles like this. The most wasted role though was Danny Trejo. I didn’t like the way his character arc played out, especially from the role he played in The Devil’s Rejects. It kind of felt disrespectful to the character.
The movie itself was amazing I enjoyed every minute and was very happy to see these characters on screen again. I love how Zombie works with a low budget and makes a movie that’s twice as good as a big budget movie. Zombies grindhouse style of filming is present and gives it that classic old school feel. Along with a great movie the soundtrack is also electric, something I always expect from one of Zombies movies and something he always delivers on. I loved the way this movie had a western vibe to it, with The Firefly family having to defend themselves against hitmen in a small desert town in Mexico.
The movie lives up to the other two entries with the amount of violence and cuss words but it doesn’t quite reach the peak that The Devil’s Rejects did.The movie is a solid entry in the franchise nevertheless and I do hope we get too see the family return sometime in the future.
