★ 5 / 10
_31_ was made very quickly on a shoestring
Gimly
_31_ was made very quickly on a shoestring budget, and it shows in Rob Zombie's worst film to date. Bizarrely though, it also features what might just be the…
_31_ was made very quickly on a shoestring budget, and it shows in Rob Zombie's worst film to date.
Bizarrely though, it also features what might just be the best performance of Richard Brake's career. And that is no small feat, the man is a proven talent.
Still probably skippable for the moviegoing community at large, but worth the time of a hardcore devotee.
_Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._
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★ 7 / 10
By this point in his career, there's not
Tiffany Lynn
By this point in his career, there's not much mystery left to Zombie. From his days of White Zombie to his latest musical outpourings and films, he's made his…
By this point in his career, there's not much mystery left to Zombie. From his days of White Zombie to his latest musical outpourings and films, he's made his desire to have fun and his love for the grittier horror of the past well known. Zombie fans know this. We go into each new project knowing there's little chance of being surprised but hoping that it's going to be a hell of a ride of full of homages.
31 is no exception. The film opens with a scratchy, shaky cam and proceeds to introduce us to a lot of the same cast we've seen before playing the same trashy and foul-mouthed character types we've seen before. The acting is intentionally full of cheese and the setting is once again his favourite decade. If you didn't enjoy House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, or The Lords of Salem, there's little chance that 31 will be your cup of tea.
On one hand, I'm not disappointed. 31 is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. On the other hand, it's clear that Zombie is capable of doing something more unique and at this point it really feels like it's time for him to -- for at least one film -- take his horror a different direction. Sure, I'm tired of the boring cleancut CGI films of the mainstream, but if anyone can make one of these that is truly gorey and scary, Zombie's the guy. I'm not saying he should stop doing what's fun for him, but some variety would be nice.
Quick notes:
- Richard Brake (Doom-Head) was perfection.
- Malcolm McDowell was underused.
- Sherri Moon Zombie wasn't the best casting choice for Charly, though I'd love to have her kicking ass here in a different capacity.
- Zombie really should make a full release of Werewolf Women of the SS.
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★ 5 / 10
It's Nothing New.
BatesMT
Let me just say I like RZ. House of 1k Corpses is great, and The Devil's Rejects is one of my all time favorite films, hands down.What we have in "31" is an…
Let me just say I like RZ. House of 1k Corpses is great, and The Devil's Rejects is one of my all time favorite films, hands down.What we have in "31" is an attempt to mash together aspects of TDR and his Halloween remake and the result is a confusing, lackluster ride you've already been on.The problem is you don't feel for any of the characters. There is not one likable character, sans Doom-Head, who is nearly the only bright spot in this movie. Sherry, was better in this film than in past RZ movies, but that isn't saying much.Another issue I had was how this was hyped up as maniacs dressed up as clowns, which is great, clowns are creepy right? The concept art for the characters especially Sick-Head and Death-Head were amazing. What we got on screen were absolute jokes compared to what we should have gotten. The all but did away with the clown gimmick especially if you look at the concept art.The opening scene is by far the best in the movie, and honestly one of the best scenes RZ has ever directed. But don't let it fool you, the rest of the movie goes downhill from there.As you can expect from a RZ movie, it's got that dirty 70's feel, every other line of dialogue is profanity, more so than usual actually, the setting is run of the mill for RZ, and while I could go on, if you have seen a RZ film, than you have already seen a better version of this film.The score and soundtrack however are delightful in an otherwise grim movie. RZ needs to get back to basics and let someone help him write his scripts. He's got talent and a good eye, but his dialogue is way too over the top and downright cliché at this point. It takes you out of the movie.
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48%
TOMATOMETER
· 46 reviews
36%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
5.1/10
25.1K
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The reason he always puts his wife in his movies is because no one else will hire her. She sucks as an actress.