3 from Hell

Vampire Owl: I wonder if the citizens of hell can be given asylum in our vampire territory.

Vampire Bat: I don’t think that they are really from hell, as in the inferno where the devil lives with his demons.

Vampire Owl: So, they are not from the place where people are fried for the evil stuff which they do on Earth.

Vampire Bat: They are exactly not from there – these people are human.

Vampire Owl: Humans from hell, and that wouldn’t make the devil happy.

Vampire Bat: These are earthlings who unleash hell on Earth.

Vampire Owl: Well, that does allow some justification for the vampire me.

Vampire Bat: You might know them from two movies full of violence, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects.

Vampire Owl: I don’t remember those two movies at all.

Vampire Bat: Well, you will remember them again after watching this movie, as they are all too similar.

[Gets a vanilla cake and three cups of iced tea].

What is the movie about? :: A long time has passed since two young couples traveling and searching for weird urban legends of murder ended up as prisoners of a sadistic of serial killers, having their worst nightmare coming alive, with no hope for escape. The tale of unlimited terror, torture, and murder had continued on the road later, with the violent serial killers continuing the spree of brutality on their way, while being chased by the police who would do anything to bring the chaotic Firefly family down. Otis B Driftwood (Bill Moseley), Vera-Ellen Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) were trying to escape when they came across a police barricade, speeding toward it keeping on firing, as well as taking back the gunshots. The shootout was brutal, and the three a severely wounded, and taken to the hospital where they spend a number of days without consciousness, and later as part of further treatment.

So, what happens with the events here? :: The three gets better after the big shootout with the police, and are taken to the prison. They are to be tried for their crimes which includes murder, robbery, home invasion and many more, but the three doesn’t care at all. The trial is widely covered in the news channels, which brings them some fans. Some people even come up with the slogan “Free the Three”, depicting their crimes as a different and divergent way of fighting against the system. When the trial is over, two of them are sentenced to life in prison, while Captain Spaulding is executed through a lethal injection, much to the dismay of Otis and Baby, becoming depressed about a death for the first time in their life. Otis’ half-brother, Winslow Foxworth Coltrane (Richard Brake) who is better known as Foxy, tries to help Otis to escape from the prison while he is outside, and is working with the rest of the prisoners.

What follows this actions further in this tale of chaos and brutality? :: While trying to escape, Otis kills Rondo (Danny Trejo), who was also being imprisoned threre. Meanwhile, Baby who seeks parole is not granted the same, with her mental state getting worse, as she goes more psychotic in nature. Foxy, after rescuing Otis from the prison, begin planning to free Baby from prison too. For the same, the two enters the house of the prison’s warden, Virgil Dallas Harper (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and has him, his wife Judy Harper (Tracey Leigh) and her friend Abigail Duck (Christine Weatherup) going through a series of humiliation and torture, almost killing them, as Virgil finally agrees to bring Baby out of the prison in one way or the other. But the question remains if the clearly psychotic Baby will spare their lives as she would join with the two serial killers from the family, as she wants vengeance for Captain Spaulding. There is some chaos and brutality to be unleashed for sure.

The defence of 3 from Hell :: The movie continues what Rob Zombie has been doing in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects, with all the violence with blood and gore found in almost every point. This one is more of slasher horror action thriller in that order regarding how things work around here. It will definitely appeal to the fans of the franchise, and there is one fine action sequence in the end. In between, there are moments which remind us of the psychotic mind of the main characters, and we see them going through a journey built on blood. This one with the other movies of the franchise could actually be called the movie of chaos, considering how they are dealing with the matter in hand. It is how Rob Zombie brings the variety, even though with a violent sadistic world being created, as these are the protagonists like no other, taking us into that escapist fantasy with has only death written on it.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is not for the people who don’t like this much blood and gore. It is not just limited to the same, but also to that sadistic cruelty which can’t be digested by all people. If you haven’t been following the Firefly franchise from the director, this will turn out to be not that interesting to go through. It is also surprising that they decided to go with the same cast, and even though is a good one, and the performances are pretty good as the psychotic family members, it had started to become repetitive with just Sheri Moon Zombie seemingly having more of madness in her to be unleashed. There is a lot of predictability running through this movie, and there is no extension of the activities of evil unlike what was expected, considering the fact that the franchise is now a trilogy. It also seems to repeat the same thing if there is a sequel to come sooner or later.

How it finishes :: 3 from Hell is not so different from House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects as you might have figured out, and the first movie had already evolved into a cult classic on which the next two movies have set their roots, which have been growing as well as evolving. But one would feel that it has been too long after the first and the second movie were released, and there are not many fans left for the franchise due to that long gap in between. This movie coming fourteen years after the second movie doesn’t have many of those hardcore followers left, as they might have changed their interests with such a long time period in between. Becoming fourteen year older can surely mean the change of interests. Yet, you can watch a very violent 3 from Hell after watching the other two similarly violent movies from the Firefly franchise, and see how you are going to stand the blood and gore. After all, what you see here is the basic nature of humanity which will descend into similar madness and love all the chaos in the absence of civilization.

Release date: 16th September 2019
Running time: 115 minutes
Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Richard Brake, Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Christine Weatherup, Flor de Maria Chahua, Daniel Roebuck, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Pancho Moler, Clint Howard, Emilio Rivera, Austin Stoker, David Ury, Richard Edson, Jackie S Garcia, Kevin Jackson, Wade Williams, Sean Whalen