Rob Zombie dips back into his same old over-stylized bag of tricks to bring us his newest production. While Rob has certainly honed his skill behind the camera, once again his amateur writing ability and failure to explore original ideas leave '31' tasting like a bottle of soda someone left the cap off of overnight. The plot is best described as 'Hostel'/'Saw' meets 'The Running Man' wrapped in Zombie's own special brand of disgustingly low brow levity. The dialogue is so much the same as Rob's usual fodder that you'll often forget Bill Moseley and Sid Haig sat this one out. Every underdeveloped character takes their turn at spouting out pathetic attempts at pretentious thought soaked in hillbilly mop water. It's supposed to remind of us the restroom in a 5 star restaurant ..but sadly, it often comes off more like a port-a-potty outside a Taco Bell. That being said, it's fun, shot well and probably better than 75% of everything else that horror can claim on it's 2016 charter. My predictions, Zombie fans will hail it as a new instant classic, old school horror hounds will trash it, and most of us will just accept it for what it is.. Another almost good film from an aging rock star director with a horrible actress for a wife. 6 out of 10 for me.
Review of 31
