The villains are a colorful lot, and are led by Richard Brake, who gives a a really dynamic performance as the deadliest killer of the bunch. Vets Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Kevin Jackson also lend the film a unique presence, while Sheri Moon Zombie fits her part to a tee but makes her more than the sex bomb she’s initially presented as. Neither of them seems like a traditional horror lead and both look like real people, making them interesting to watch in a film like this. Of the heroes, genre icon Meg Foster is the most interesting as the carny’s matriarch, followed by Jeff Daniel Phillips as the gang’s handyman. Instead, Zombie’s cast real veteran actors, which allows them to distinguish their characters and build enough of a sense of camaraderie that once they start getting picked off you’re sorry as they’re fun to watch. If this had been made by a studio, the leads would have likely been a group of fresh-faced, sexy teens. It’s probably his most straightforward film, but it’s also far-from watered down. In that respect, he gave the fans exactly what they paid for. In an era of PG-13 horror films, movies like this often get ignored by the mainstream and sure enough, Zombie had to crowdfund it.
In a festival full of ambitious, art-house fare, 31 feels like a kind of respite, in that it’s unapologetically a piece of ultra-violent, grindhouse horror, with so much gore it’s amazing this has somehow squeaked by with an R-rating. The premise is nothing new, with this feeling like a kind of THE RUNNING MAN/SAW/TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE mash-up, but Zombie’s balls-to-the-while style and sense of character distinguishes it. While 31 is definitely a step back into the horror mainstream compared to the experimental LORDS OF SALEM, it delivers exactly what hardcore horror fans probably want. Much of this comes from his love of seventies grindhouse cinema.
More than a lot of other genre directors out there, he has a sensibility and style that’s immediately recognizable. PLOT: A group of carnies are abducted and forced to play a deadly game where, to gain their freedom, they have to survive twelve hours in a labyrinth while being hunted by psycho-clowns.