"In Hell, everybody loves popcorn."
— Doom-Head
31 is a 2016 horror film directed by Rob Zombie and starring Sherri Moon Zombie, Richard Brake, Meg Foster, Jeff Daniel Philips, and Malcolm McDowell.
On Halloween, five carnies are kidnapped and brought to a place called Murder World. There they are forced to stay alive for twelve hours while playing a deadly game called 31. Their opponents are a group of murderous clowns known as 'The Heads' with each one nastier than the last.
The film was partially crowdfunded by fans.
31 contain examples of the following tropes:
- Abandoned Warehouse: Where the game of "31" takes place...
- And I Must Scream: This is heavily implied to be the case with with Georgina Victor; Doom-Head tells her husband that two clowns took a liking to her and that she will be sticking around for a while. We see her a year later as a "human sex doll".
- Big Bad Triumvirate: Murder World is run by Sister Dragon, Sister Serpent and Father Murder.
- Black Dude Dies First: The two black guys in the group of five are not the first characters in the film to die, but are the first two of the main group to die.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Charly escapes the warehouse, but she is alone as Roscoe, Panda, Venus, and Levon are all dead and she's left bloody, limping, and trapped in the middle of nowhere. Doom-head later catches up to her in a van, gets out, draws twin knives and smiles. Charly can barely stand, but still balls up her fist in anger and faces him, implying that at the very least, she won't go quietly. Roll credits.
- Book Ends: The film opens with Doom-Head threatening to kill a man and closes with him threatening to kill a woman.
- Casting Gag: Ginger Lynn is seeing 'entertaining' another clown after Captain Spaulding.
- Deadly Game: 31 is a game in which you have to kill your opponents to win.
- Dirty Old Man: Leo, the elderly gas station owner that Charly playfully flirts with.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Death-Head and Sex-Head both beg for the other to be spared when the tables are turned on them.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The film takes place during Halloween 1976.
- Fanservice Extra: The owners of Murder-World have beautiful, naked women in masks serving them.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Doom-Head's opening monologue is delivered directly into the camera before it cuts to show that he's actually talking to a guy strapped to a chair.
- The Ghost: The implication is that there are many other 'Heads' available for "31" that we don't see; the names that are dropped include "Rage-Head" and "Bash-Head".
- Gorn: Now, who's directing this movie again?
- Groin Attack: Georgina Victor gets chainsawed through her private parts.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: Hey, uh, Doom-Head, would you mind backing up from the camera a bit?
- Heroic Sacrifice: Roscoe makes Charly escape without him and tries to distract Doom-Head long enough to give them a head start.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Schizo-Head and Psycho-Head are both killed by their own chainsaws.
- Also, Doom-head fails to secure the final kill because he stops to monologue with Charly like he did with his other victims.
- Sick-Head is stabbed to death with his own sword.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The pairing of Death-Head and Sex-Head is this — the actors are 6'9" and 5'1" respectively.
- I Ate WHAT?!: The meal for the carnies left by the game hosts turns out to be made out of their fallen friend, Levon.
- Karma Houdini: The owners of Murder World face no consequences.
- Depending on the end of the movie, Doom-Head could be this also.
- Large Ham: Father Murder and the Sisters speak broadly and chew scenery.
- The Oner: The opening scene of the movie consists of Doom-Head giving a long, psychopathic monologue directly into the camera. It lasts for nearly three minutes before we cut to a shot of the guy he's talking to.
- Prisoner's Last Meal: Father Murder presents the banquet as something that will likely be the players' "last supper." And lets them discover for themselves that the much-needed protein is really coming from one of their own friends.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: Sick-Head frequently speaks in Spanish, and during his fight with Charly, she speaks Spanish back. Sex-Head and Death-Head later sing in German. None of it is subtitled.
- The Secret of Long Pork Pies: The remaining carnies find a dinner waiting for them. After eating some of it, it turns out to be the remains of a slain friend.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Roscoe decides to go down fighting Doom-Head so that Charly has more time to escape, only to die immediately and barely slowing Doom-Head down.
- Shout-Out: When Levon's body is revealed as the carnies' supper, he's under a coffin-shaped glass tabletop just like Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Averted. Doom-Head's tendency to monologue is exactly what lets Charly win.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: From Roscoe after he realizes he ate Levon.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Roscoe and Levon's girlfriends are killed before the game even starts, with little characterization beyond not being very bright.
- Worf Had the Flu: Roscoe, the largest and most powerfully-built of all of the carnies, gets injured early on by Psycho and Schizo-Head, making it necessary for the others to take care of him and see that he doesn't bleed out.
- Worthy Opponent: Doom-Head views the final survivors as this.
