The Western Classics That Inspired Rob Zombie During The Devil's Rejects

"The Devil's Rejects" is above all a story of revenge. It follows the Firefly family as they flee from a sheriff trying to avenge their brother's death. “Once Upon a Time in the West” is also a revenge story that follows a loner (Bronson) to kill a dastardly man in black (Fonda) who we discover killed his brother. The main difference between the two movies, plot-wise, is that we see most of "The Devil's Rejects" from the perspective of the killers, but that's where another set of influences from the late 60s and early 70s.

Speaking to the wonderfully named site EatMyBrains.com, Zombie talked about Leone's influence as well as another surprising classic: "Bonnie and Clyde".

"It's funny, but when I was in pre-production with the team, I never referred to a horror movie. Because my biggest fear when I hired the production designer or the costumer is that they watch horror movies and I didn't want that look or that feel. I left that part up to me and I didn't want them to fall into the conventions of the genre. So I would tell them to go watch 'Once Upon a Time in the West', 'Bonnie and Clyde' or 'The Gauntlet.'"

"Bonnie and Clyde" should make a lot of sense, as it also places the murderers as the protagonists of the story. It's also worth noting that the ending of "Rejects" echoes "Bonnie and Clyde" as well as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

So looking outside the genre, Zombie has created a unique type of horror image that stands out from the rest of his work.