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Review

Many hardcore film devotees have chosen to write off this truly disturbing and entertaining directing debut by ghoul/rocker Rob Zombie off as trash. Well my question is how many of these individuals have eaten a Slim Jim or a bag of pork rinds and liked it? This cinematic guilty pleasure breathes much needed life into a genre overflooded with fright flicks that more resemble Dawson’s Creek episodes with an occasional jolt. This delightfully creepy homage to classics such as Mother’s Day, Texas Chainsaw Massacre & The Hills Have Eyes features a veritable who’s-who of b-film regulars like Spider Baby star Sid Haig as a demented clown and proprietor of a museum of horrors/gas station/fried chicken shack combo, Karen Black as Mother Firefly, Tom Towles from Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Bill Mosely from Texas Chainsaw Massacre II.

The story is familiar. Two couples find themselves stranded for the night in an old dark house and soon end up as unwilling victims of murder, satanic rituals, sadism & cannibalism as they are set upon by the dangerously evil Firefly Family. Horror buffs will relish in the directorial homage’s to Dario Argento & Brian DePalma and this shockathon also boasts a fine soundtrack featuring new material from Mr. Zombie, The Ramones and the late great Slim Whitman. There's lots of disturbing subliminal images, MTV-esque editing and some surprisingly clever dialogue (including one character’s remarks regarding the inappropriate use of a Dr. Zaius action figure) and an overall look that harkens back to the '70s b-films that populated many grindhouses and drive-ins of the era. While this film clearly isn’t a high brow masterpiece, it can be considered a steak to some viewers and a hot dog to others.

 -- J.R. Blaque