31 is worth seeing if you are a fan of Rob Zombie's other movies. It's extremely campy and definitely has the potential to be a cult-favorite. However, people looking for a good scare or something they haven't seen before may want to try a different movie.
“In Hell, everybody loves popcorn.”
That is a direct quote from Rob Zombie’s latest film, 31, and how that quote makes you feel is probably how the entire movie will make you feel. So, if you laughed – great, enjoy the film! But if you shook your head and groaned . . . well . . . you’ve been warned.
Written and directed by Rob Zombie, the film reunites many of his regular cast members. Playing the film’s protagonists are Sheri Moon Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Westworld, The Lords of Salem), and Meg Foster (They Live, Masters of the Universe). Leading a large team of antagonists are Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Rob Zombie’s Halloween) and Richard Brake (Batman Begins, Hannibal Rising).
Rob Zombie got the inspiration for this film after learning that Halloween is one of the most common nights for people to go missing. The plot of 31 explores this idea. A group of five carnival workers, including the characters played by Sheri Moon Zombie (above) and Meg Foster, are kidnapped on Halloween of 1976 and taken to an isolated building. While there, they are forced to play “31” – a game in which they are assigned a number and have 12 hours to escape while fighting for their lives against a series of killer clowns (including one who screams in Spanish and always wears a Swastika). These killers are hired assassins referred to as “The Heads.” The carnival workers must face Sick-, Psycho-, Schizo-, Sex-, Death-, and ultimately Doom-Head if they want to survive. As they play, a group of people dressed in aristocratic clothes and heavy white powder places bets on the captives and recalculates their individual odds of surviving. As the carnival workers fight for their lives, their kidnappers partake in what is clearly an annual gambling match.
Though Rob Zombie considers this to possibly be his darkest and goriest film yet, the movie doesn’t feel much different from his other films. There is blood and gore, sex and nudity, drug use, violence, and swearing and more swearing. The plot is easy enough to follow, but the twists meant to shock the audience are often predictable and feel re-used from other horror films. One of the film’s biggest weaknesses is the dialogue. Many of the lines feel forced and disconnected, and the gratuitous swearing often distracts from the fear, anxiety, and stress it is meant to convey in many scenes. Also, without giving too much away, the ending has certainly caused some controversy among early viewers.
On the other hand, one of the film’s biggest draws is actor Richard Brake. New to the Rob Zombie family of cast members, Brake (left) portrays the lethal Doom-Head. In a film with a few well-known horror names, Brake steals the show in each of his scenes. The movie opens with a single-take, black-and-white, two-minute shot in which Brake slowly walks up to and speaks directly to the camera about how good he is at his job. The shot and dialogue are simple, allowing Brake’s delivery and mannerisms to set the tone for the film’s opening. Unfortunately, the rest of the film never succeeds in meeting the tone set by Doom-Head’s introduction; however, the film may still be worth seeing if only to watch Brake’s performance.
The soundtrack reflects the film’s 70’s setting. One of the most prominent songs featured is “California Dreamin’.” An interesting choice – the song “Dream On” plays over the movie’s final scene.
The film is being released by Lionsgate on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD. In addition to the movie itself, the Blu-ray and DVD versions will include an audio commentary from Rob Zombie and over two hours of behind-the-scenes features. This content is arranged to follow the 20-day shooting of the movie, allowing viewers to hear from the cast and crew and to see what all was needed to make each scene and effect happen. Buyers of the Digital version will find two additional hours of bonus content and the documentary “In Hell Everybody Loves Popcorn: The Making of 31,” not released with the Blu-ray and DVD editions.
Overall, 31 is worth seeing if you are a fan of Rob Zombie’s other movies. It’s extremely campy and definitely has the potential to be a cult-favorite. However, people looking for a good scare or something they haven’t seen before may want to try a different movie.
