Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 2, 2019

Note: This film is also available as part of Two From Hell.

Rob Zombie has had the good fortune to succeed as both a musician and a filmmaker, though in the case of both media in which he has excelled, his efforts might be best thought of as “cult” items. That cult is arguably more numerous in terms of Zombie’s music career, one that has brought him both Grammy nominations and pretty outstanding sales at times. Zombie’s efforts as a would be auteur haven’t exactly been met with huge critical acclaim, and at times have not generated a ton of business at the box office, and in fact in the case of House of 1000 Corpses, encountered some difficulties at the studio level along the way. Both House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects received releases in the United States several years ago courtesy of Lionsgate, and Umbrella Entertainment has gathered both films together for this release aimed at the Australian market.

As stated above, The Devil's Rejects had a domestic United States release several years ago courtesy of Lionsgate. Those wanting a plot summary are encouraged to read my colleague Martin Liebman's The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray review of that Lionsgate version. Marty's review is also a good resource for screenshot comparison. In just the latest example of what I call "different reviewers, different opinions", my score for the overall film reflects my somewhat less positive reaction compared to Marty's.

The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Devil's Rejects is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment with an MPEG-2 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The video codec and audio codec offered on this release makes a strong case that this is the same master Lionsgate utilized for their long ago American release. I'm somewhat less satisfied with the look of this than Marty was. As Marty mentioned, this is a "gritty" looking transfer, but in my estimation the older compression algorithm or other deficits do not properly support a convincingly resolved grain field all of the time, and in fact at least some of this transfer looked positively noisy to me. Detail levels are still rather engaging throughout, especially in the many close-ups. The palette is quite well suffused throughout the presentation as well. As with House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie plays with a whole gamut of video bells and whistles in this film, some of which deliberately skew the palette or mask detail levels.

The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Devil's Rejects features a DTS-HD HR 6.1 track, and while arguably not quite as boisterous as the 7.1 track on House of 1000 Corpses, still delivers good surround activity and some occasionally pretty boisterous low end. Dialogue and a glut of goofy sound effects are all rendered without any problems.

The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bloody Stand-Up (480i; 2:17)


• Matthew McGrory Tribute (480i; 2:09)


• Buck Owens: Satan's Got to Get Along Without Me (480i; 1:53)


• "Mary the Monkey Girl" Commercial (480i; 1:10)


• Captain Spaulding's Xmas Commercial (480i; 00:57)


• Otis' Home Movies (480i; 00:56)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; various) offers 11 scenes, some lasting just a few seconds.


• Blooper Reel (480i; 5:22)


• Make Up Test (480i; 13:09)


• The Morris Green Show (480i; 13:20)

Marty mentions not one but two commentary tracks in his review of the domestic U.S. release of this film, but I sure couldn't find any sign of them on this disc.

The Devil's Rejects Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Devil's Rejects may suffer at least a little from the law of diminishing returns, but fans of House of 1000 Corpses will probably still enjoy its manic energy and off kilter humor. Video is intermittently problematic in my estimation, though audio is fine (though delivered via an outdated codec), and the supplements kind of goofily enjoyable, for those considering a purchase.