Review: Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto

Yeah, I've been absent lately. Been really busy with college, writing my screenplays and spending time with my girlfriend. But I've also been watching a lot of movies lately, so here's a review of one I thought would be worth mentioning: ======
Review: The Haunted World of El Superbeasto











I was never a big fan of Rob Zombie. As a musician, he's one of those artists I can listen to from time to time on the radio, but never really went out of my way to download his music or buy any of his albums. As a director, I see talent but wasn't impressed with many of his films. Wasn't quite into House of 1000 Corpses (but I could appreciate some aspects to it), but I'll say I loved The Devil's Rejects. Halloween wasn't great but it beat most the horror remakes of the time, but Halloween 2...meh. Didn't hate it, but didn't like it either.

I do think he's a talented guy, but none of his stuff really wowed me. A few years ago, however, upon hearing about this animated movie... I was intrigued. I read Mr. Lawrence of Rocko's Modern Life, SpongeBob SquarePants and Hairballs (a short film he did which I can't seem to find on the internet anymore- which I am a fan of) was involved, and was even more interested. So I'd peep the website every once in a while for any updates, and we didn't get much until this year. Upon finally watching it, I can say it's a really mixed bag.

The plot? Dr. Satan (I'm guessing not the same Dr. Satan we've heard about in Corpses- as he has a different background) is looking for a bride with a sacred mark: a Devil's Mark on her backside. He notices stripper Velvet Von Black, whom he kidnaps to make his bride. Who's going to stop him and save the world? Egotistical luchador El Superbeasto, his sister Suzie X and her horny robot sidekick Murray.

Despite the plot, there is a lot of filler. Including gratuitous shock humor, musical numbers, and references to pop culture. Especially horror films.

What I like about it (before I get to what's wrong) is the look of the film. Yeah, it's not extravagant feature film animation of Disney caliber, but it reminds me of Ren & Stimpy. Probably because Carbunkle Cartoons had something to do with it. To me it almost plays like an extended TV pilot. I like the way some of these characters are drawn out with their facial expressions.

Also, the cast is great for the most part. Everyone sounds like they're having a great time doing their voice overs. Most entertaining to listen to are Paul Giamatti (who is good in just about everything) and Tom Papa. I guess Papa hasn't done much animation, but his voice sounds like it's been heard on many cartoons I would've watched growing up. Sheri Moon Zombie sounds like she's having a little too much fun, but I see that in almost every performance in Rob Zombie's movies. Also, we get a lot of actors who worked on cartoons I loved as a kid: Rob Paulson (Animaniacs), Tom Kenny (Rocko, Spongebob), Charles Adler (Cow & Chicken, Ahh Real Monsters!) and Jess Harnell (Animaniacs).

If I had to pick any actor who didn't do quite as well, sadly, it's Rosario Dawson (and Ms. Zombie). I like Dawson in almost everything I've seen her in except this. Her acting in it is very over the top to the point where it's annoying. I know it's kind of the point to the character but there are points where the dialogue could've been delivered better. But still, I got a laugh or two from her.

Now here's where it goes from mixed to bad: the humor. Some of it is funny. Not really funny, like gut-bustingly funny. Just a "ha!" at best. But there's points where Zombie and his team of writers try too hard to be outrageous, which is where John K went wrong with Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon (in my opinion). Some of the musical numbers feel really out of place, which I know was the intention. But there's out of place music that's funny for some scenes, as a great way to be ironic. Some of the numbers here are not ironic. I liked the Suzie X theme and the Schoolhouse Rock parody, but the rest fell flat to me or got tired.

One thing that bothered me were these "references" to Zombie's past films, or "cameos." The Michael Myers joke reminded me of the "jokes" in Jason Friedberg/Aaron Seltzer movies. The Devil's Rejects cameos didn't really help the movie. It could've been cool to see them, but Zombie gives them nothing to do. They're just there to say a few lines and have some cartoonist slapstick violence happen to them. It's like that with most of the cameos by movie characters. They aren't funny or all that ironic.

I think there were some good ideas put into the making of the film and it was an interesting concept: a Rob Zombie animated movie, using his character of Dr. Satan and doing it as a throwback to early 90's cartoons that still carry a cult status. Some of the jokes are funny, but there are a lot of flaws here. Zombie had the right cast, the right animators, but not the right script. Or at least a good enough one.

Would I want to see another animated film from Rob Zombie? Not really. Doubt we'll get one anyway, but it was nice to see one even if it wasn't that great.

***/5

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