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The Unsung Villain of ‘The Devil’s Rejects’: Mother Firefly

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It goes without saying the fearsome threesome of The Devil’s Rejects; Otis, Baby, and Captain Spaulding, aren’t to be crossed.  Their ruthless and vulgar nature, staggering body count, and passion for grotesque creativity in their torture rightfully deems them as the Devil’s Rejects by the media.  But who do you think taught them their diabolical ways?  Mother, of course, and I mean no one other than Mother Firefly played by the talented Leslie Easterbrook.

While Mother Firefly was originally portrayed by horror legend Karen Black there was a discrepancy between her and Zombie when she requested more money to reprise her roll in The Devil’s Rejects and Zombie had to replace her with Easterbrook.

Early in the film Mother Firefly and her family of misfits come under fire from the local police at their home.  During this ten minute opening scene we quickly establish her motherly compassion with Baby Firefly and her bat shit crazy brains inside her murderous head.  Donning a welder’s mask and taking up arms alongside her twisted family they work together to dispatch the armed forces of the sheriff’s station outside.  However, when one of her family falls and her motherly instincts force her to come to his aid she she is captured alive by Sheriff Wydell and the sheriff’s department who survived their bullets.

When interrogated in the prison cell Mother Firefly’s colors are truly shown, and they range the spectrum of seductive to insane.  However, Easterbrook balances crazy and seductive in a way that makes you believe she can seduce anyone she sets her eyes to  lure them into her clutches, and right when she has them under her power she tips the balance and does what she pleases with them.  You can certainly see in this performance where Baby’s seductive ways and Otis’ irrational insanity and love of murder come from.  This family is tightly knit and it all stems from the matriarch of the Firefly family.

I also have to give props to Leslie Easterbrook not just for picking up a roll that was established by a different actress, but also because she is not afraid to play ugly.  Being a beautiful woman she is transformed by Rob Zombie’s make up and costume department to fit into the white trash family her character is a part of.  However, the actress takes it one step further by her performance.  When crossing the crazy line she certainly not afraid to be ugly with her body language, facial expressions, and delivery of dialogue.  While her screen time may have been short, Mother Firefly is surely an unsung villain of the Devil’s Rejects family who is sometimes forgotten by the overwhelming presence of the other colorful characters.

Want more Devil’s Rejects?  Read Bill Moseley’s reaction to the talk of a sequel here.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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