Sundance 2016 Review: Rob Zombie’s 31 is a Viciously Fun Game of Survival

31 was undoubtedly made for those of us who have enjoyed Zombie’s work over the years. It may not be as ambitious as The Lords of Salem or as epic as The Devil’s Rejects but, by and large, it’s a ton of blood-soaked fun that gives us real characters to connect with, introduces us to some incredibly twisted assassins and goes for broke at every possible turn.

The story feels like Zombie’s own horror-fied version of The Running Man (with a bit of a Kubrickian flavor to it) and features breakout performances from Richard Brake and Jeff Daniel Phillips. Folks who aren’t into Zombie’s work probably won’t enjoy 31, but any film that gives the amazing Meg Foster the opportunity to wield a chainsaw like a total badass is aces in my book.

31’s story is pretty straightforward; a group of carnies (Sheri Moon Zombie, Phillips, Foster, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Kevin Jackson) heading to their next destination are taken hostage in a rather violent fashion on Halloween night. Once the group is brought to the “Murderworld” compound, they’re introduced to Father Murder (Malcolm McDowell) who informs the group that they have been chosen to participate in the deadly game known as “31” and they have 12 hours to try and survive an onslaught of vicious attacks by the hands of various henchmen who are looking for a few more victims to add to their collections. As the game progresses, the five friends work together to try and kill their assailants ultimately leading to the introduction of Doom-Head (Brake) who is undoubtedly the most merciless foe they will face that fateful Halloween night.

31 may not necessarily be as ambitious as Zombie’s last film, The Lords of Salem, but that doesn’t mean it’s a step backwards by any means. In fact, I think this latest film really showcases Zombie’s strengths as a director and proves that as a storyteller, he’s truly in a class all his own. While it's something I’ve recognized before, the opening of 31  made me realize just how much of an actor’s director Zombie has always been, allowing his cast members to find moments of gold in their dialogue and performances. It’s Doom-Head who introduces into the world of 31 at the start, with his blisteringly horrifying speech about his own proclivities towards violence and it’s such an unusual choice for Zombie to start off a film with basically a monologue (in black & white) that I couldn’t help but appreciate that kind of unconventionality, making sure audiences knew just what kind of evil was awaiting this poor group of carnies.

While a lot of what we’d see following the unusual opening would definitely be considered firmly in his wheelhouse, 31 was a film that was looking to take a few chances of its own and I think for the most part Zombie really succeeds. The movie features a ton of homages throughout, including the aforementioned Running Man, as well as Eyes Wide Shut, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and even some of Zombie’s own films. While those touches might be distracting to some, it demonstrated to me just how much Zombie respects and loves this genre, and can still find clever ways to twist those tributes and make them his own.

31 is Zombie’s first horror/action hybrid project and focusing his energies on keeping the action intense and the constant threat of death literally lurking around each corner adds another level of intensity to the film. What’s interesting to me is that, on paper, the group of killers featured in 31 seem rather uninspired (especially in comparison to the Firefly Family from House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects), but once you see how they’re revealed and how their names function within the context of “Murderworld,” it all clicked so much better for me.

There are a lot of elements that I really dug about the various killers we’re introduced to in 31 but, honestly, for those of you fans out there who are anxious about seeing the film for yourselves first, I’ll let you discover those degenerates for yourselves. All I will say is that Zombie mentioned at the premiere that the brutish task force of “Murderworld” was inspired by A Christmas Story so clearly he was thinking a bit outside the box with his inspirations..

As mentioned earlier, the cast of 31 is pretty fantastic all-around. Sheri gives a strong performance as Charly, the resident ‘final girl’ who goes head-to-head with most of the film’s baddies almost as relentlessly as those she’s trying to survive against. While I think she had more material to work with in Lords, it’s nice to see her once again challenge herself as an actress here. Brake’s work in 31 as Doom-Head feels akin to if The Joker suddenly decided to become a Baptist preacher and I hope this film puts him on the map the way Zombie’s first two films reminded the world just how great of an actor Bill Moseley is. Phillips, who was also fantastic in Lords, nearly steals the show in 31 with his own enigmatic charm and much like Brake, I do hope the world wakes up and realizes just how damned talented this guy truly is and puts him in more films.

One remarkable thing that Zombie has always done- and why I have always been a fan- is that he uses actors for the right reasons. So often, especially in horror, when you see that one of our genre’s legends or scream queens are cast in a film, usually it’s because a project needed a ‘name’ to basically sell the film, but Zombie utilizes these folks because of their talent- not their marketability. There’s no way if a studio was making this movie that they’d put someone like Meg Foster front and center as someone fighting against the villains of “Murderworld,” but Zombie does, and I can only respect the hell out of that.

The one thing that I wished 31 did a bit differently was how Zombie dealt with Father Murder and his two cohorts, Sister Serpent (Jane Carr) and Sister Dragon (Judy Geeson); when we’re introduced to the trio, it’s almost like we’ve been transported into an entirely different world, complete with powdered wigs, naked servants, and lavish costumes. Their involvement with the games of “Murderworld” is intriguing to say the very least and yet, we never get any real answers as to why they’d set up these games every year or hire savage killers to do their bidding.  I feel like that was a missed opportunity here that left me wanting a bit more from the finale and perhaps could have been a way for the story to have a bit of a social commentary to it as well.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- Zombie is at his best as a director when he’s got his own material to work from. I'd put 31 right up there with both Devil’s and Lords in terms of energy and execution, and I can’t wait to revisit it again this summer once it gets a full release.

[Update 9/3 - Writer's Note: This review was written after seeing the original version of 31, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. After attending the recent Fathom Events screening of 31, I noticed that several scenes had been cut, several more had been shortened, and fans will be seeing what I feel is a lesser version of Rob Zombie's original vision. In my opinion, if you are hoping to see a more cohesively told story than the one that's presented in this new version of 31, I'd recommend holding out for the film's eventual Blu-ray and DVD release, as I'd would expect we'll see the full version there. And as a longtime fan of Zombie's work, that's the version of 31 I prefer.]

Movie Score: 4/5