In the early to mid 90s horror wasn't exactly dead, but it was a time when our beloved genre wasn't as big a thing as it was in times such as the 40s and 60s-80s. Then came 'Scream,' a horror film that both payed tribute to and poked fun at the slasher film. Now I for one love the film, as well as it's two sequels, but like with 'Halloween,' this movie was followed by a series of clones, a lot of which were not met with a lot of praise from hardcore horror fans, myself included. Horror was hot again, but it looked like history was about to repeat itself. Then the 21st century came and a new era of horror was about to begin. Is this film from first time director Rob Zombie a contributor? <br /><br />Pros: There are quite a few good things to be found, but I feel the film's greatest asset is the impressive set design. First time director Zombie makes the film a nice piece of eye candy with plenty colorful lights, filters, black and white photography, striking imagery, split screens, etc. Some very funny dialogue. Great cast of veterans and fresh faces who each give a good performance. Moves at a good clip. Not much gore, but there's plenty of the red stuff. The villains are all memorable and very mean and nasty instead of lovable like say Freddy Krueger became. Good make-up effects. A pretty good score and some great rock tunes from the likes of the Ramones and even Rob Zombie himself. Some neat homages to 70s exploitation films and old monster movies.<br /><br />Cons: If it's originality you're looking for, you won't find much of that here. None of the good guys really stand out, so it's hard to pick someone to root for. The plot does wear kind of thin.<br /><br />Final thoughts: After so many Scream-like flicks, this nasty little gem came along to blow them away. I don't know if I can say this film is the one responsible for the way horror is now, but at least it helped a lot. It took a while for this movie to get released, but it was well worth the wait.<br /><br />My rating: 4/5