The third installment in Rob Zombie’s Firefly family story, 3 From Hell, hit theaters this week for three days only: September 16, 17, and 18. For the three-night only showings, there are special treats with each one: Monday’s viewers received a movie poster, Tuesday’s viewers will get to see a making-of documentary, and Wednesday’s viewers can see The Devil’s Rejects before watching 3 From Hell, something that may be useful since the second film in the saga came out in 2005.
As you may or may not remember, the end of The Devil’s Rejects saw Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis (Bill Moseley), and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) driving through a barricade and being shot at by the police. They went out with their guns blazing…or did they?
3 From Hell opens with an explanation of how the trio survived then shows us where they are now: the boys are in jail and Baby is in a mental institution. Of course, the man cannot keep the Fireflys down and there are some amusing and bloody escape scenes. So now the Fireflys are on the run (again) and where else can they go but to Mexico to cause more trouble.
I have come to believe that Rob Zombie movies need to be their own genre. When one thinks of a horror story, they may think of being scared or seeing scary situations. Yes, the Firefly films are gory and bloody and violent, but these last two installments did not quite hit the scary tone like the first, House of 1000 Corpses. Instead, we just see the Fireflys behave in a way only they can: crazy, violent, and funny. Is it common for a horror film to have a scene with people tied up yet the audience is laughing the majority of the time? No. It’s a move only Zombie can pull off.
In an introduction to Monday night’s showing, Rob himself explains that the reason for this third film is because he liked the characters he created and could not get them out of his mind. With an intro like that, you would think there would be more character development. Yes, we see Baby acting crazier than normal, which her brother Otis comments on, but nothing ever comes of it. But maybe that’s the point of the films: to show us this crazy family that we enjoy watching in action. They are set in their ways and aren’t going to change. And we will keep watching them anyway. I say keep watching because the ending of 3 From Hell leaves the door open for more additions to the Firefly films, a door I will gladly walk through again.
Are you unable to attend these limited showings? No worries. The Blu-ray of 3 From Hell is set to be available on October 15th.