DEVIL'S REJECTS Rarely can it be said that a film has defined a genre, but never is that more true than in the case of Rob Zombie’s ‘The Devils Rejects’. Two things are readily apparent about ‘The Devils Rejects’. First, unlike its predecessor, this is a complete movie. It stands on its own. It is possible to see and enjoy ‘Rejects’ in a way that was not true of ‘House of 1,000 Corpses’ viewed in retrospect, the first installment now seems like an easily discarded prologue. The real meat is in ‘Rejects’. The movie picks up where ‘House’ ended, with the Firefly clan, it’s business as usual. Murder 101, but there’s much more to the film than that. About 25% of the movie is used to provide backstory. We get a lengthy history on the Firefly clan, how they relate to each other... MORE CHAOS Two teenage girls Angelica (Chantal Degroat) and Emily (Maya Barovich) looking for drugs are kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered by sadistic fugitive rejects while two cops ineptly bumble their way into what passes for comic relief and one set of the girl's parents remorsefully pines away for their lost daughter. While the sociopath and lead baddie ‘Chaos’ (Kevin Gage) manages to inspire intense dislike, he sleazes it up on screen as the leader of the band of miscreants, as very similar to ‘Krug Stillo’ leader from Last House on the Left. His depraved son, Swan (Sage Stallone), scumbag partner Frankie (Stephen Wozniak) and the clearly vision and taste impaired consort Daisy (K.C. Kelly) play little more than lackeys to Gage’s disciplined acting. Fortunately none of these characters really over do the over-the-top caricatures they are, and their actions amount to a lot more terror than horror. MORE HELLBENT It’s "Queer Eye for the Dead Guy" in the first gay-themed slasher film Hellbent, written and directed by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts and executive produced by Joseph Wolf of Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street fame. It’s clear from the get go that Etheredge-Ouzts set out to direct a fun and scary slasher film in the vein of Halloween and Friday The 13th that boldy dares to set itself apart from all the other teeny bopper horror films by making all the leads homosexual. Name the last horror film that dared to go there. In Hellbent, a serial killer in West Hollywood develops a taste for gay men and sets his focus on a group of gay men attending a Halloween festival. The film starts off with an excellent, tense opening scene that will please any gorehound. MORE THE DESCENT I am not going to beat around the bush here. As far as I am concerned this is one of the best horror movies of the last ten years. A bold statement I know, but this movie blew me away… a powerhouse flick, which is strong in so many respects. The plot is this. A group of young women go on a caving expedition. The story is predominantly centred around Shauna MacDonald’s character, 'Sarah'. Who has recently lost her husband and daughter in a terrible car accident. The trip was planned to reunite the friends with a view to help Sarah bring some enjoyment back into her life after all that she had been through. Suffice to say, the expedition goes horribly wrong. MORE PREVIOUS FEATURES - CURRENT FEATURES