The most visually palatable and polished movie of Rob Zombie's directorial career thus far, "The Devil's Rejects" sees the primary members of the Firefly clan -- Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley) -- hit the road following a raid conducted by vengeful Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe), a man on a mission to get payback for his brother's death in 2003's "House of 1000 Corpses." Needless to say, the Fireflys are still all about committing murders and stoking mayhem, and as much as the production values here are an upgrade to Zombie's prior work, his thematic sensibilities remain just as scuzzy and reminiscent of grindhouse horrors past. Naturally, this delighted me, as do the fantastic performances from an array of character actors, the highlight of which is Bill Moseley's turn as Otis, who features in pretty much all of the movie's most iconic moments. Personally, the low-rent funhouse tone of "House of 1000 Corpses" is still enough to keep that movie at the top of my personal Rob Zombie ranking, but it's hard to deny that "The Devil's Rejects" is his most well-made movie, especially after a climactic shootout scored to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" that would have been the perfect conclusion to the Firefly saga had Zombie not returned to the well with 2019's underrated "3 from Hell." Brilliant movie.
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