Michael A. Appel 
Rob zombieThe filmmaking career is short but has been very confrontational, and here is how his films rank from worst to best. While some praise his style and vision for telling stories full of blood and with disturbed characters, others believe he relies too much on the value of shock and doesn’t offer much beyond the violent scenes. The truth is, both sides are partially right: Zombie adds a lot of shocking scenes because that’s his style, and his characters are psychopaths who love to torture others. Associated with his music, his films are a unique audiovisual experience.
Zombie made his directorial debut in 2003 with House of 1000 corpses, and has since made a total of seven films, including that of 2019 3 from hell. Between two projects, Zombie made a fake trailer (Women werewolves of the SS for Mill), an animated film directly on DVD (The Haunted World of El Superbeasto), an episode of CSI: Miami, a special stand-up (Tom Papa: Living in New York), and a film-concert (The Zombie Horror Picture Show).
Zombie’s filmography ranges from remakes and storytelling to original content, with some of them building their own mythology. Here’s how his films stack up against each other (not counting the aforementioned mid-size projects).
7. Halloween 2
The Zombie remake Halloween 2 was more of a narrative, exploring both the stories of Laurie and Michael Myers as well as those of Dr. Loomis. The story takes place just after the events of Halloween before a one-year time jump. Laurie still grapples with the aftermath of that Halloween night as Dr. Loomis takes advantage of the tragedy and releases a new book. Elsewhere, Michael Myers has visions of his mother, with Laurie also having hallucinations related to Michael’s past and hers.
Zombie has retained some details from the original film, like Laurie and Michael being siblings, and took a lot of liberties with the rest of the story. Which makes Halloween 2 sitting in the last place is that there is too much going on in a single movie, and the addition of Deborah Myers (Sheri Moon Zombie) through Visions with a White Horse was an unsuccessful attempt to expanding Michael’s story and his connection with Laurie, and ended up being completely unnecessary. Zombie’s intentions were good, but Halloween 2 ended up destroying this Halloween built.
6.31
31 was made possible by fan support, as Zombie used crowdfunding to cover part of the production costs. Originally considered a continuation of House of 1000 corpses and The devil’s rejections, 31 was actually an original story completely independent from the others, but with some of Zombie’s frequent collaborators. Set during Halloween 1976, the story follows five carnival workers who are kidnapped by a gang of clowns and forced to play a survival game called “31”. The game lasts 12 hours, and the group is placed in a maze with different rooms where they must defend themselves from the “Heads”, who are murderous clowns whose goal is to torture and kill.
Granted, the idea isn’t something that has never been seen before, but there is the typical Zombie Blood Festival and the maze scenes are sometimes claustrophobic which can really trigger fear in some people. . It’s got the style of exploitation films but with murderous clowns (who are always scary no matter the setting), and the character of Doom-Head is particularly creepy and memorable. 31 doesn’t add anything new to the genre or Zombie filmography, but it’s entertaining and has that fear factor that goes beyond graphic death scenes, so it’s worth the time.
5. 3 From Hell
The end of The devil’s rejections made Rob Zombie fans think that the main trio of Otis, Baby and Captain Spaulding were killed by police gunfire to the tune of the rock classic “Freebird”. 14 years later, 3 from hell would reveal that the fireflies were only mostly dead, each having in one way or another been brought back to health, then tried and sentenced for their many crimes. 3 from hell sees Otis and Baby escape from prison with the help of Otis’ half-brother, Foxy (played by 31by Richard Brake). Sadly, Spaulding is executed before he can be freed, due to the failing health of the late Sid Haig at the time.
Otis, Baby, and Foxy embark on yet another massacre across the United States, before fleeing to Mexico, to run into a local crime lord seeking revenge for his past misdeeds. 3 from hell delivers all the violence, gore, foul language, torture scenes, and 1970s music fans expect from Zombie, and it’s by no means a terrible effort, but 3 from hellthe biggest failure is how well he sticks to it The devil’s rejections‘ model. Apart from a few key changes, it’s almost the same movie, and given that Refusal‘a great ending had to be reconnected to make 3 from hell happen, it looks like a missed opportunity. Hardcore Zombie fans will find a fair amount to enjoy here, but the trio ends up being quite unremarkable.
4. The Lords of Salem
The Lords of Salem is vastly different from the rest of the Zombie movies, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any better. The story is entirely devoted to witchcraft and Satanism, and follows a DJ named Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) who receives a wooden box containing an album from a band called “The Lords”. As soon as she plays the record, she begins to have strange visions and finds herself embroiled in a clan of ancient witches and Satan worshipers.
Of all the Zombie movies, The Lords of Salem has the fewest bloody / violent scenes, and while this is visually his best work (and the score is pretty good, too), this is yet another case of Zombie wanting to tell a bunch of stories and add a lot of backstory background in one film. The Lords of Salem has assembled their own cult that defends the film because it is different from the usual Zombie slasher, violent, bloody – which is understandable, and the film has its strengths, but the flaws get bigger and bigger, and an example of his storytelling problems.
3. Halloween
In 2007, Rob Zombie did what many wanted but didn’t dare to do – take the classic John Carpenter horror film. Halloween and make it their own, while paying homage to the original. Halloween is both a remake and a reimagining, and gave Michael Myers a story following him during his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium after killing a school bully, her sister, her boyfriend and the abusive boyfriend of his mother. He is also developing his family life and the relationship with his mother, Deborah. And because it’s also a remake, it travels 15 years after the murders with Michael now stalking Laurie and her friends on Halloween night.
HalloweenThe strength of ‘s is in the narrative part, which covers the first half of the film. This provides a better understanding of Michael’s personality, his family background, and his relationship with Dr. Loomis. Most viewers expected a full remake of the original film, and that’s what hurt Zombie, but in the end he built his own. Halloween while paying tribute to Carpenter’s work.
2. House of 1000 corpses
Zombie’s directorial debut was strong and laid the foundation for the rest of his work. House of 1000 corpses is an exploitation film with strong influences from classic horror films like Chainsaw Massacre and The hills Have Eyes. Set around Halloween 1977, House of 1000 corpses introduced the Firefly family and their love for torture and blood. The story follows a group of teenagers traveling across the country who find themselves having a real nightmare when they encounter the fireflies.
House of 1000 corpses was the start of a trilogy that follows the crimes of the Firefly family, and although it initially received a lot of bad reviews, it has garnered a cult following, with many critics and viewers changing their minds about it after the ‘have revisited. The film has a lot of gore and torture, and manages to shock audiences through it – exactly what exploitation films do. It also featured the most memorable characters from Zombie filmography: Baby, Otis, and Captain Spaulding, some of the most dangerous people you could ever meet.
1. The devil’s rejections
Two years later House of 1000 Corpses, a suite titled The devil’s rejections arrival. The story is set in 1978 and reunites viewers with the Firefly family, who continue their reign of horror, albeit with a few obstacles. After a raid on their home, only two members manage to escape while one is taken into custody and the others are killed. Meanwhile, Captain Spaulding is elsewhere, but reunites with the surviving family members to continue their murderous madness.
The devil’s rejections is by far the best of Zombie in so many ways: it’s better written than the rest, the characters have personalities and these are explored beyond all murder and torture, and acting is much better. The story is cohesive and takes its time without being slow, and it doesn’t try to cover too much like some others. It’s interesting that The devil’s rejections, Zombie’s second film, is his best in storytelling and most of those that followed have had major issues in this area. At the end, The devil’s rejections is here to prove that Zombie can truly tell exciting and terrifying stories both visually and narratively, contrary to what many critics and viewers believe.
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