The Devil’s Rejects is a low-budget horror movie produced by rock musician Rob Zombie. I feel that this low-budget feel is translated through the move poster by the overtone of brown adding a dirty, poor theme to it, although this could also be linked with the film being set in the wild old west, so the brown therefore indicates age, dirt (the main characters are generally dirty) and also brown/tan is a common colour in that setting.
The poster is in the same tone as the ‘Wanted’ posters used in that era, which connects with the film as the main charactors, whose point of view the film is set from, are now wanted criminals for their actions.
The story is a followup to the previous film House of 1000 Corpses, that chronicles an unstable texas Sheriff hunting a family of psychotic killers who previously murdered his brother and numerous other innocents in a western themed thriller.
The producer, Rob Zombie, could be said to be influenced by German-Expressionlist films, as his previous music video, ‘Living Dead Girl’ was highly influenced by ‘The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari’, so this could have spread into his other works as an artist.
The producer, Rob Zombie, could be said to be influenced by German-Expressionlist films, as his previous music video, ‘Living Dead Girl’ was highly influenced by ‘The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari’, so this could have spread into his other works as an artist.
The poster itself shows a famous scene/positioning of the biblical scene ‘The Last Supper’. However, instead of the 12 disciples being positioned at the table, characters from the film are sat in the places instead, and instead of food spread out upon the table, torture tools, body parts and blood stains take the place instead. This connects with the name of the film ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ as this takes a Christian scene and turns it darker, giving almost a satanic feeling to it. This is also seen in the film, with the killers taking pleasure and deriving fun from the torturing and murdering of their victims, and also including several satanic symbols in the background of shots.
A cloth is draped over only a section of the banquet table, placed sloppily and without care, which also is echoed in the dirty clothing of the characters featured in the poster. This connotes their uncaring nature towards their actions, and their impulsive nature, carrying out acts of torture without thinking about possible consequences. It also emphasises their hilly-billy nature and makes the viewer bias towards not liking the charactors. The poster also sets a negative image of the charactors by giving them guns, making them seem agressive.
However, this contrasts with the angle at which this shot is taken at. It has been taken at roughly the same eye-level as the subjects, which puts the audience on their level, making them seem more approachable, and aims to put the viewer in their ‘gang’. Overall, their body positions are generally open and confident, which could be taken as either welcoming or dominating confronting. With the males in the image, it comes out as the latter. However, the female gives an air of ‘come get it’, with her laid back positioning and open body language, There is also a strong sense of the characters giving off a challenging vibe, daring them to come closer by clutching their weapons and holding eye contact.
The overall texture of the background is as if it has been coffee/tea stained, which I feel links in with the idea of age and how the criminals have been on the run for some time, and also the fact that in police scenes, they are always shown drinking coffee and so this could symbolize the amount of cups gone through in that time. Looking closer, the tone is darker around the charactors, as if they are radiating off a negative glow, which further links the idea into a pre-set negative idea of them. It says to the audience ‘we’re trouble’.
Overall, I think that this poster reflects the movie well. The poster has a sense of calm to it, appearing as a static shot, as opposed to the standard horror movie poster, which usually has a theme of action or threat or suspense. This poster is more like a portraiture of the murderers, and I also feel that the movie has a sense of calm to it, with the family taking pleasure and taking time in the killings.
