31

I always liked Rob Zombie and i think he has good ideas in horror movies, but this time no.. the atmosphere is pure Rob Zombie, a lot of excess, drugs, sex but at the end or was not scary at all.. Just a bunch of rich people (without any kind of real explanation) that pay killer to kill other people in many ways.. there was no suspence nor good acting, except for the main villain. Everything in here has already been seen and already done better in other movies. This could be very fun and full of surprises but at the end it was Just the same thing over and over and over again. Unfortunately, this time is a no for me.

I'm a zombie fan. I held off on 31 from the reviews. I saw 3 from hell and wanted to convince myself the Rob Zombie I know and love still had it in him. This wasn't about character work or plot, this was about giving fans the brutal zombie film they wanted him to make. And it worked. Is it perfect? No. It isnt meant to be. This is a love letter to the fans. The only reason I have it a 7 is because the R version very clearly holds back, and I blame the MPAA for not having the guts to let the masses choose for themselves what they want to see. Hopefully the unrated version surfaces for us fans that just wanted to let go, let our brains turn to mush, and enjoy the mindless imagery and sheer violence on screen. I'm glad I finally saw 31, as it washed the awful taste of 3 from hell out of my mouth. I'm still with you Rob, keep em coming. And if you ever read this? Forget the fireflies now, give us more Doom Head.

I'll start by saying this, I know there are some that will claim "He wasn't going for a traditional scary movie. People that don't like it just don't understand his perspective." I'm sure that in all of the conversations they had with Mr. Zombie these points were covered and clearly they have a much better understanding than anyone else. This review is for those that have been excited about seeing this because Rob Zombie's pieces in the past have had that intense shock factor and were delivered very well. Unfortunately, this one does not. It is kind of sadistic and if you put yourself in the position of one of these actors you can imagine it would probably be terrifying. Then again, you wouldn't use poorly scripted cheesy lines and engage in badly choreographed fights. Personally, I have been looking forward to this film since I first heard about it last year and have kept myself up on the release date so as soon as it was available I could treat myself to it. I couldn't have been more disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed his other films and would watch another if he made it. I realize fanatic Zombie lovers will disagree with me when I say this but for every one that like it there will be several that don't. I can't decide which was worse: the ending or the overall acting. I must give credit where credit is due, the intro is entertaining and you will probably enjoy Doom Head (the guy in the opening scene). Again unfortunately, he is in the movie all of about 10 minutes non-consecutively. Had the movie centered around him and a twisted hunting obsession perhaps I would be writing a very different review. The acting is over-the-top and awful. Not in the same way that some movies are so bad they're good (like Zombeavers or Axe Giant) but more like super low budget projects filmed on an iPhone. For a movie that has reasonably good quality in most scenes I was so let down to see the acting was so unrefined. It probably could have been worse, I'm just not sure how.

31 (2016)

* (out of 4)

A group of carnival workers are on their way to a job when they are kidnapped by psychotic clowns. Once chained up in a building, Father Murder (Malcolm McDowell) informs them that they're going to play a game, which will last twelve hours. They can either survive or face the worst death possible from his killer clowns.

Rob Zombie's 31 is a film that he's highly been promoting and this includes before it was even made. There was a teaser poster released and fans helped get the movie made but the plot of the film was kept secret and it's easy to see why because there's not much of one. Sadly, what we've basically got is SAW but with the redneck/white trash types that we've seen in every Zombie movie up to this point. Sadly this here turns out to be the director's worst film.

31 has all sorts of problems with it and a majority of them are the same issues I've had with his previous movies. For starters, the characters are all just annoying to the point where you don't really care whether they live or die. I'm not sure why it's so hard for their to be a likable character in one of Zombie's films but if you don't have anyone to root for what's the point? Well, I guess it could be one of those movies where you root for the villains but that's impossible here too because the villains are all boring and just not that interesting. Heck, they're not even "clowns" but just the typical rednecks but with face paint.

Another problem that I had with this film is that it's simply not scary. As was the case in THE LORDS OF SALEM, Zombie tries to build up tension and suspense but it just fails. There's just nothing here that draws you into the story and when you're watching a film like this and there's no tension it just leads to pure boredom. Even worse is some of the lighting because there are times where you can't see what's going on and other times when lights are flashing at the camera and whatever effect they were going for just doesn't work.

Zombie promised that this here would be his most violent movie and I don't think that was the case either. A lot of the violence is off screen or just not nearly as brutal as he has delivered in the past. The performances are pretty much what they are with everyone doing a decent enough of a job. The music selection is good and I will say that there was one good sequence inside a cage with a chainsaw. Still, there's just no way around it but Zombie just isn't impressing me as a director. 31 could have been done countless other ways and any of them would have been better than what we got.

Right, another movie from Rob Zombie. And after the last disastrous "Lords of Salem" movie, then I had very little expectations to "31". I did read the synopsis of the movie, and it did seem like it could have potential to be something violent and gruesome, but then again it also could totally flop and just become a parody on itself.

And now having seen "31", then I will say that while it certainly was better than "Lords of Salem", then it is by no means an outstanding movie nor a particularly entertaining movie.

The story in all its simplicity is about a group of people getting trapped in a maniacal game of survival on Hallows Eve.

Yep, the movie is that simple. The storyline is very simple and offers nothing, absolutely nothing, in terms of challenging the intellect of the audience. This is solely a movie about showing off violence, bizarre characters and Rob's obsession with clowns.

Sure, I did enjoy the graphic violence in the movie, and some of the means of maiming, torturing and killing people was interesting. And the characters in the movie were interesting and colorful, both the protagonists and the killer clowns. But the storyline was so shallow and predictable that it served as an anchor around the movie, dragging it down.

As for the cast in "31", well I can't really claim to be a particular fan of Sheri Moon Zombie, so she doesn't really appeal much to me in terms of having lead roles. However, I will say that, in my opinion, it was Jeff Daniel Phillips, Pancho Moler and Richard Brake whom were lifting up the movie with their performances and portrayal of their respective characters.

The effects and make-up in the movie was quite good, and having that advantage in the visual department surely did work in favor of the movie.

"31" is hardly going to be classics like "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects", but it is worth a single viewing if you enjoy the weird results of Rob Zombie's imaginary thinking.

To me, "31" was a very mediocre movie, especially since the killing and mayhem could only do so little to try to make up for a proper storyline.