31 Review
When Rob Zombie first burst onto the film scene with The House of 1000 Corpses no one thought the musician’s ‘hobby’ would stick. Now thirteen years later Zombie is responsible for seven feature films including two from the Halloween franchise. His latest feature is 31 and has been eagerly anticipated by his devoted fans. Those outside of the die-hard fan group haven’t been as excited however, as Zombie has a reputation for making a certain kind of film.
Criticised throughout his career for creating nothing but overtly gory stories with a heavy reliance on sexual threat and violence, the musician-turned-director has long been written off by many. That might change though with 31. 31 is different to what we’ve encountered from Zombie before. With his latest vision he reveals a more reserved nature than he has showcased previously.
Don’t believe us? Well it’s quite deep into the film, around the forty minute mark that we get our first glimpse of proper Zombie gore. That’s not to say that there isn’t violence, death and carnage up to that point – there is – we just don’t see it. The bloodshed is either implied or cut away from. Once we do get to the on-screen bloodletting it isn’t long before everyone is soaked. To use an analogy, it’s like 31 starts the volume on mute before slowly cranking the dial up to maximum.
31 is also easily Zombie’s most visually striking project. Opening with a stunning sequence in black and white, reminiscent of the style of Sin City, it’s a feast for the eyes. Later on there’s a frenetic and intense fight scene lit entirely through strobe. Taking place just as the film becomes it’s most chaotic, it’s a dazzling (quite literally) standout moment.
Sheri Moon Zombie again gets plenty of time to shine. She clearly trusts her husband deeply as the stuff that Zombie subjects his wife to for the sake of art would have most running for the hills. Her role as Charlie goes from timid mouse to ferocious lioness during the run of events. Just to hammer this home, Zombie dresses her in a top emblazoned with a lions face and turns her loose curly do into a birds-nest mane. Whilst Charlie is a great and resilient fighter, there are other characters vying to steal the film.
31 Review
First up we have Sick-Head (Pancho Moler) who we can only describe as a Mexican Nazi Dwarf. He’s full of thoughts of torture and torment and is easily this film’s Captain Spaulding. As shocking as he might be, this film is really about one character and that’s Doom-Head. Played by Richard Brake, he is of course a psychopath – he wouldn’t be a Zombie character were he sane – but he has an odd sense of calm about him. A rather eloquent speaker, Doom-Head oozes screen presence, his obsession with the movie Nosferatu leading to some interesting costume decisions.
Story-wise there’s not much to it – Malcolm McDowell and his high society friends kidnap a group of people each Halloween for their own entertainment. He throws a lavish party wherein he and his friends take bets on how long each group member will last as they are pitted against a constant slew of death-hungry killers. Once again events are set in the 1970’s, Zombie’s preferred filmic era. The choice of decade does offer us some great tunes. This is a film with a killer soundtrack, but then you’d expect that from someone with music in their blood.
With 31 Zombie offers us a more mature take on his tried and tested formula. A commanding performance from Richard Brake and some impressive visuals combine to make this one of Zombie’s stronger works. It is The Running Man Rob Zombie style.
