After the success of 31, Rob Zombie was able to bring the Firefly family back to the screen. While fans of the series will likely still enjoy 3 from Hell, it probably won’t be many people’s favorite film in the trilogy.
If you went to a convention and happened to ask Bill Moseley if there would ever be a sequel to The Devil’s Rejects, he would stop whatever he was doing and yell over to Sid Haig at the next table. Their conversation would sound something like this:
“Sid?” Moseley would start.
“What?” Sid would groan.
“Is there gonna be a sequel to The Devil’s Rejects?”
“No.” Deadpan.
“Why?” Moseley would tease.
And in unison they would chorus, “Because we’re f*****g dead!”
It certainly seemed that they were at least. The Devil’s Rejects closed with Captain Spaulding (Haig), Otis B. Driftwood (Moseley), and Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) speeding toward a police barricade. Bullets flew from both sides as “Freebird” played over the scene. How could anyone have survived that? A sequel to The Devil’s Rejects, which was itself a sequel to House of 1000 Corpses, seemed unlikely.
With the success of 31, though, Rob Zombie was able to make that unlikely sequel happen. The Firefly family, after a miraculous survival, rides again. But not all of them will defy death twice . . .
Here’s a look at the official description – “First there was House of 1000 Corpses. Then there was The Devil’s Rejects. Now, from writer-director Rob Zombie, comes the next blood-soaked chapter in the most violent crime saga in movie history – 3 from Hell. After barely surviving a furious shootout with the police, Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) are behind bars. But pure evil cannot be contained, and a firestorm of murder, madness, and mayhem will be released in this terror ride to Hell . . . and back.”
Written and directed by Rob Zombie, 3 from Hell stars Bill Moselely, Sheri Moon Zombie, Sid Haig, Richard Brake, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Emilio Rivera, Dee Wallace, Pancho Moler, Danny Trejo, and Barry Bostwick. The film runs an hour and fifty-one minutes, making it the longest movie in the trilogy.
While fans were ready to see the Fireflys again, 3 from Hell unfortunately suffers from a rehashed plot. The movie offers nothing really new and is, if possible, too tame. Due to the real-life illness of Sid Haig and a rushed shooting schedule, Rob Zombie had to make drastic last-minute changes to the story. We’ll get into all of that and more below the trailer.
If you listen to the audio commentary and watch the documentary in the special features, you will learn that Rob Zombie did not have the support he needed to make a sequel to The Devil’s Rejects until 31 turned out to be surprisingly successful. With that win to his name, Zombie could finally revive the Firefly family. Many of the cast members from 31 take on new rolls and cameos in 3 from Hell.
Zombie already had a story in mind that would see the results of Captain Spaulding, Otis B. Driftwood, and Baby Firefly’s shootout with the police. The trio would escape prison and flee to a new life while maintaining their old ways. But the story doesn’t always work out as planned.
Actor Sid Haig, who passed away just days before the release of 3 from Hell, was not well enough to perform many of the scenes Zombie had scripted. Recognizing his friendship with Haig and the fans’ adoration of Captain Spaulding, Zombie began retooling the script to keep the character involved. Sid Haig’s screen time is reduced, but he still manages to command the screen when he is present. It’s a powerful and memorable final performance from one of the horror genre’s most iconic actors.
Brought in to help alleviate Captain Spaulding’s role is 31’s scene-stealing actor Richard Brake. If you saw 31, you’ll likely remember Brake’s powerful opening monologue spoken directly to the camera and shot in black and white. Here, Brake takes on the role of Winslow Foxworth “Foxy” Coltrane, a heretofore unmentioned half-brother of Otis. Brake has a tough job. Viewers already know the three lead characters, so not a lot of time is spent giving Foxy an introduction. Brake has to jump right in as soon as the story starts and hold his own against Moseley in many scenes. The character (for obvious reasons) feels rather random, but Brake makes the best of it and gives another strong performance.
As for Otis and Baby, prison life has changed them in different ways. Baby is crazier than ever and enjoys tormenting the guards, especially Greta (Dee Wallace). Despite her prison sentence, Baby is up for parole at the start of the story. It’s evident that she is even wackier now than when she hitchhiked with Rainn Wilson’s character and his friends back in House of 1000 Corpses.
Otis, on the other hand, seems sharper and more focused than before. Despite his aggression and penchant for violence, he seems to be the most level-headed member of the family. Otis has had enough of his prison life and is calculating the best way to escape.
After a brief reminder of the ending to The Devil’s Rejects, 3 from Hell opens with a pseudo-documentary detailing the survival and prison sentencing of the Rejects. The unique documentary-style opening is one of the film’s highlights. Shot to mirror interviews with the Manson family and narrated by Barry Bostwick, viewers are quickly given some key details about the Firefly family. And, as with many real-life notorious murderers, the Firefly family has supporters and fans who chant “Free the Three! Free the Three!” Upon their release from the hospital, their prison sentences begin. But Rob Zombie isn’t going to waste an entire movie by having his famous family locked away, and soon enough, Otis sets his escape plan in motion.
3 from Hell rehashes several plotlines from The Devil’s Rejects. Three members of the Firefly family escape from the police and are on the run. Death follows everywhere they go. The relative of a past victim seeks revenge. The family finds sanctuary but are betrayed. This all culminates in a final battle in which not everyone will survive. Sound familiar? This could describe The Devil’s Rejects or 3 from Hell. While having a sequel call back to its predecessor in a few ways is fine, the structure of the story is almost too similar and keeps 3 from Hell from being more memorable as anything other than the sequel to The Devil’s Rejects.
3 from Hell also feels, if possible, more tame than House of 1000 Corpses or The Devil’s Rejects. For a series that totes itself as “the most violent crime saga in movie history,” 3 from Hell really isn’t all that violent or gory. Now, there could be several reasons for this. Zombie explains in the director’s commentary that he had a rushed shooting schedule and had to do some “creative editing” in some scenes. This reduces the on-screen violence, but the end results are still evident. That’s one possibility, but could another be the movie’s place in cinematic history? House of 1000 Corpses was violent and graphic, especially for a low-budget 2003 film. But this is 2019, and viewers have become acclimatized to on-screen violence, gore, and nudity in the horror genre. None of the content in 3 from Hell sets it apart from anything viewers wouldn’t see in a Saw movie for example. Regardless of the cause, the film feels far more tame and reserved than viewers would likely expect.
3 from Hell, a long-awaited sequel that few people ever thought they would actually see, brings the Firefly family back to the screen. The story rehashes the key plotlines from the The Devil’s Rejects, but the movie itself seems more tame in comparison. While fans of the series will likely still enjoy 3 from Hell, it probably won’t be many people’s favorite film in the trilogy.
Is There a Scene After the Credits?
No.
Trivia
Bill Moseley’s real-life wife Lucinda Jenney plays a hiker who comes across Otis and Foxy in the woods. But this is Otis we’re talking about, so you can be fairly confident it won’t end well for her.
Special Features
The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital combo comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Rob Zombie
- To Hell and Back: The Making of 3 from Hell (4-Part Documentary) [1:34:28]
The audio commentary with Rob Zombie provides a lot of insight on his thought processes, connections to his other films, and last-minute changes to the story. It’s evident that the ultimate cut of 3 from Hell is not the movie he originally wanted to make, but he clearly did the best he could under the circumstances. Opening with the reunion of Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Sid Haig, the documentary takes viewers through the making of a sequel that the cast did not expect to ever make. The documentary is broken down into four blocks. It’s a humor-filled feature that fans of the series will love!
Takeaway
3 from Hell, a long-awaited sequel that few people ever thought they would actually see, rehashes key plotlines from The Devil’s Rejects and is more tame in comparison. The special features offer insights into the making of the movie and behind the scenes interactions that fans of the series will appreciate. While fans of the series will likely still enjoy 3 from Hell, it probably won’t be many people’s favorite film in the trilogy.
