"The Most Dangerous Game" meets "The Running Man" in Director Rob Zombie's latest film, which is an improvement over some previous efforts but tends to stay on a rather rocky road. The story involves a traveling carnival act who are kidnapped and subjugated to the worst horrors imaginable in a sadistic game known as '31'. If they can survive 12 hours against their captors, they are free to go however the odds are drastically against them. The story is a simple but well done concept and Zombie seems to be comfortable with the director's chair this time around.
"Halloween" and its sequel had very conflicting reactions and I include myself in that group as I felt that Zombie was not entirely comfortable with these films, which may be due to studio interference and a major franchise basically on his shoulders at that point. His last film "Lords of Salem" was a very positive step in the right direction, with visual finesse being shown off and some real talent shining throughout. "31" continues the right path for sure, but also takes a few steps back towards his earlier efforts, for both good and bad.
The film doesn't feel like a Rob Zombie music video, nor does it feel like that grimy remake brown color scheme. Despite the dirty settings and the gruesome nature on screen, it does feel unique from his previous work. It feels grounded completely in reality rather than an old home movie or a fantasy location and it really makes the scenes stronger. The acting is also much better this time around, particularly from Sheri Moon Zombie who I think did even better than in "Lords of Salem". You also have some great performances from Meg Foster, Jeff Daniel Phillips, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Richard Brake does the best of them all as the sinister Doom Head. Here, Brake is able to really show off what he can do, rather than his previous work with Zombie and is really the showstopper of the film, and its kind of a shame he doesn't appear quite as much as the adverts would have you think.
Where "31" falters is that it feels rather scattered at times, and also many puzzles are left unsolved and while some films really do work with an open ending, I don't believe that this one does. A lot of the imagery throughout gives some clues, but it all ends up becoming a huge tease that left me frustrated. Why does "31" occur? What is with the satanic images and symbols? Is it connected somehow? They never tell you, its apparently deleted from the story entirely or they are just there for visual flair. I never accused Rob Zombie of making the most intellectual films out there, but some kind of explanation or hint would have been nice.
The film is also explained really well by Doom Head himself: "I am not here to brighten your dismal day" and nothing could be more true here. Be forewarned folks, most of you will NOT enjoy this film or even understand why it exists. It is not for everyone, but not everything needs to be. Movies are meant to be diverse, otherwise why bother when you know what you're getting every time? I'll let you judge for yourself, but I think this is one of Zombie's better efforts and hope his revival train into film is not far off.
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