Based on the novel of the same name, Ringu is a highly original and fascinating film. The idea of a video that subsequently kills anyone that watches it within seven days is a very unsettling premise. And that is precisely the reason Ringu was targeted for a big budget U.S. remake. We have Ringu to thank or perhaps blame – for starting the trend of remaking Japanese horror films that was quite prevalent throughout the early 2000s. In addition to spawning a successful remake, Ringu also lent a certain amount of inspiration to films like 2002s Ju-On, The Grudge, Pulse, and Shutter.
The Devils Rejects is infused with some of the characteristic violence and relentlessness of films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but Rejects carves out its own very unique identity. The film picks up sometime after House of 1,000 Corpses and the Firefly family is found under siege and forced to go on the run. The film is Rob Zombies most well-received picture. Even its predecessor, House of 1,000 Corpses failed to make the connection with critics and mainstream audiences that The Devils Rejects did. The film got a lot of things right and it recreated the feel of 1970s horror and grindhouse cinema with amazing precision. The decision to make both this and House of 1,000 Corpses period pieces predated films like Ti Wests The House of the Devil and the ultimately disappointing slasher throwback The Sleeper. Though there arent necessarily a lot of tonal similarities to The Devils Rejects in those films, it is undeniable that Zombie sparked an interest in horror films that harkened back to the glory days of slasher and grindhouse films.
28 Days Later had a major influence on the resurgence of the popularity of zombie films and its influences can be seen in so many of the zombie flicks to come in its wake. This Danny Boyle helmed tale of a UK based zombie outbreak changed the zombie game. The film made a valid case for fast zombies and actually didnt live by the traditional zombie rules in the sense that the zombies didnt rise from the dead and reanimate, more so than react to a viral outbreak. Subtle similarities can be seen in TVs The Walking Dead and other nuances from the film are apparent in most of the zombie films to come since. Some have even speculated that the popularity of films like 28 Days Later had an influence on George A. Romeros decision to revive his Of the Dead franchise.
