I’m one of the many people in the film community who has had nothing but contempt for the practices Rob Zombie has exorcised since his venturing in to filmmaking. Beside “Devil’s Rejects,” Zombie is a man who is nothing but a studio tool who injects his own brand of trailer trash chic in everything he does, even polluting the origin of Michael Myers with it. Zombie is 100 percent Grade A hack and a complete studio stooge who knows how to be a horror fan but doesn’t know what horror fans want, nor will he ever try to find out.
He’s often too busy sucking up the dignity of a once prosperous film franchise while parading his talentless wife in everything he manages to slaughter with his lack of creativity and originality. Where in Zombie chose to imitate Tobe Hooper in his last projects, this case makes for different results. “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto” is Zombie’s attempts to yet again squeeze in as many movie and pop culture references as he can at the cost of texture and opts to copy the legendary Ralph Bakshi with a movie that makes almost no sense but adamantly makes references to Zombie’s past work inciting a heavy sense of self indulgent humor and storytelling from minute one.
In order to understand about fifty percent of what’s on screen you’d have to had seen all of Zombie’s work from “House of a Thousand Corpses,” in a twist this only makes the movie feel all the more polarizing. In spite of the all star cast, “Superbeasto” feels like a cheap attempt to begin a series and it eventually feels like Zombie is jerking us around for a sequel or series as he leaves plotlines open and never fully develops his characters beyond Superbeasto and Suzie X (played by his wife, no surprise). The rest of the cast is left in the background barely focused on and extrapolated in to unique individuals instead of props used to further Superbeasto’s mission to… uh… you know I never understood what the fuck “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto” was all about.
I just know there’s plenty of swearing, a hell of a lot of tit shots, and a premise that’s almost non-existent. Did I mention the musical numbers? Dear god. Tom Papa and Zombie really write themselves in to a shit hole as the two seem to be fighting for the direction of the movie. Zombie wants to create his own world that links to his past films, while Papa almost looks to want to strive for originality and a world that’s set apart from Zombie’s other works.
Worse more, the two even resort to spoofing the movie while telling the plot progresses which just all out screams desperation. At one point a character ventures the question “Can this get anymore repulsive?” Watch the movie and you’ll find enough room to nod “Yes.” If you’re in to robotic 69ing, lots of phallic symbols galore and a director who feels we’re committed enough to have memorized all of his films then by all means step forward and check out tool supreme Rob Zombie has accomplished. He ain’t Tobe Hooper and this most definitely proves he ain’t Ralph Bakshi. Better luck next time, Rob. It blows. Next!