'31' Review

When it comes to the films of director Rob Zombie, you either love them of you loathe them. While his films aren't generally well received, he retains a cult fanbase regardless who enjoy and appreciate his films despite their flaws. His latest outing 31 will certainly please said fans, however it may not do so well with others. 31 follows a group of carnival workers who are kidnapped on Halloween and are forced to play a brutal game known as, you guessed it, 31. The whole idea of the game is that they must survive for 12 hours against a variety of maniacs dressed as clowns who will stop at nothing to kill their prey. The film sees Zombie returning to his roots after the experimental Lords of Salem and those awful Halloween remakes, back to his gritty world of crazed, white trash freaks. And while it was nice to see Zombie back on familiar territory, it seems that the director still cannot learn from past mistakes.

First of all, the characters. There is very little development in both the protagonists and the antagonists, it's hard to form an attachment to any of the survivors in this film because they lack any sort of character development. Sure Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs is pretty funny as Panda and Sheri Moon Zombie is somewhat likeable as Charly, the closest thing to a lead character in this film, but they lack any sort of real depth so it's hard to really get behind these characters and root for them. Meg Foster once again gives a fantastic performance as one of the survivors, Venus Virgo, and at times I genuinely did want her to make it to the end. She was the only one of the five protagonists who I felt anything for and I think this is because she's the only one of them to really put some emotion into her performance. There are attempts to inject some sentiment into the film, particularly when a protagonist dies, but it never really works out because the character was probably bland to begin with.

With the villains, they all look pretty cool in their bizarre clown attire, but again there's not a lot of development for them either. Most of them get very little screen time and don't leave much of an impact at all which is a real shame because the character design in 31 is wonderful. However, one character who stands out above the rest is Richard Brake's Doom Head, a psychopath with a painted white face who smokes cigars and likes to monologue. Brake gives one hell of a performance here and is incredibly imposing in the role, every scene with him has a really tense atmosphere as we are left in anticipation of what he's going to do next. He's one of the only characters in the film with any real personality, when we meet him in the opening sequence we are left feeling somewhat excited to see him again later on, and although it does take him some time to reappear it is certainly worth the wait when we see him in action. Some of the other clowns or 'heads' as they are called are also fun to watch, particularly Pancho Moler's Sick Head, a dwarf dressed in Nazi attire who speaks Spanish. He is the first head to face off against our 5 protagonists and although he is a pretty silly character I really enjoyed his performance, he's a character I wish I could have seen more of. Other memorable characters are Torsten Voges' Death Head who has a nice sing song in one scene, and Malcolm McDowell's Father Murder, the man who runs 31 and dresses like a member of the French bourgeoisie. However, again, they just don't get enough time to do anything that leaves a lasting impact.

It certainly is a stylish film, from it's twisted set design to its gritty 70's aesthetic, 31 is definitely a treat for the eyes. However, like most of Zombies films it is very heavy on style but lacks any substance to back it up. There's no real character development which gives us no real reason to care about whether or not the protagonists survive, therefore things become a bit tedious after the first hour or so and not even the macabre circus tent or grimy corridors of 31 can stop the monotony. With past Rob Zombie films at least the violence was some sort of saving grace, but here it still feels a bit lackluster at times. Sure there are a lot of deaths in this film, usually by knife or chainsaw, but the gore is nothing we haven't seen before and will do nothing for those who have become accustomed to onscreen violence. However, it may shock a few of those with weaker stomachs. There are some tense moments, John 5 is deservant of praise thanks to his brilliant soundtrack that helps the film gain some suspense, but the tension never usually lasts very long which, again, is unfortunate.

To be honest, it seems like 31 doesn't really know what it wants to be itself. At times it feels as though it's going for a really raw and gritty tone, however some of the performances and parts of the script render the film plain silly at times and makes its edge seem a bit too forced. It has the look of a more serious film but when Sheri Moon Zombie and a Nazi dwarf start shouting at each other in Spanish we begin to question what type of film we really are watching. The serious tone can be misleading as this isn't a film to be taken seriously, it's not even tongue in cheek it's simply uneven. It's important not to take this film seriously in order to enjoy it, if you're the type of person who is able to laugh at some of the films sillier moments then you'll find yourself having a great time. Rob Zombie fans will know this, but for everyone else it's important to bare that in mind.

31 has many flaws, Rob Zombie still fails to inject any real substance into his films despite that being the general criticism of his previous works. The script is clunky, the characters are underdeveloped and it can feel a bit tedious during the second act. It's nothing we haven't seen before to be honest which is a real shame as Zombie's last film suggested a new direction for the director. However, it does have redeeming qualities. Richard Brake is phenomenal as Doom Head and may just be the next great horror icon, along with this the film has a wonderfully tense soundtrack and a gritty aesthetic that really makes it stand out. If anything, Zombie certainly has a great sense of style. 31 is not to be taken seriously no matter what the initial tone may suggest, it's silly, it's bizarre but it's fun. It's not a milestone for the horror genre, it's not a career changing film for Rob Zombie, but it is quite enjoyable even with its flaws. If you go into 31 with an open mind and low expectations, you'll find it to be a film that is both fun and easy to watch.