A DYSFUNCTIONAL film and a highly dysfunctional family, this is not a film to be taken seriously - and definitely not one for anyone who does not enjoy the odd bit of violence and unnecessary bad language.

The sequel to director Rob Zombie's House of a Thousand Corpses, the film begins in the Firefly family's decaying home when the Texas state police carry out a surprise raid.

Otis (Bill Mosely) and Baby (Sheri Moon Zombi) manage to escape, beginning their rampage) across the strangest parts of America with their clown father Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), and leaving mother Firefly in the hands of Sheriff (and Elvis fan) John Wydell (William Forsyth).

The Devil's Rejects borrows heavily from films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and From Dusk Till Dawn but despite a shallow storyline leaving you wondering how we arrived at so much blood and gore, Zombie's cinematography skills cannot really be challenged. Everyone in the film does seem as if they need a damn good wash and dental check-up, not to mention a bit of anger management and lessons in language skills.

Nonetheless, I found myself laughing rather than looking away at some of the scenes, and it was strangely watchable, if not to see how this blood-fest ends and where the hell the story takes us next.

CF