"Hello, America. Did you miss me?"
— Otis B. Driftwood
3 from Hell is a horror film directed by Rob Zombie. It's the third film in the film series that started with House of 1000 Corpses and continued with The Devil's Rejects. It is the final film starring Sid Haig to be released during his lifetime, as he passed away a couple of days after the film's limited theatrical release in September 2019.
The film picks up from the climax of Rejects and reveals that the Firefly Family survived the shootout and are taken to prison; there they escape and cause more murder and mayhem.
Has a character sheet.
This movie contains examples of:
- Back from the Dead: The trailer shows that the Firefly Family survived the police shootout despite a million to one odds.
- Big Bad: Aquarius, the leader of the Black Satans.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Mr. Baggy Britches wets himself after Otis points a gun at him.
- Bullying the Dragon:
- Two inmates try to kill Baby. She disembowels them.
- As a non-fatal example, Baby enters a knife-throwing competition, and two contestants taunt her and make aggressive sexual advances. They insist she'll have to sleep with them if she loses... not knowing, of course, that Baby killed a victim in the previous movie by throwing a knife into her heart.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Occurs when Otis encounters Rondo.Otis: I remember you.
Rondo: I don't remember you.
Otis: You will, motherfucker. - The Cameo: Clint Howard appears as Mr. Baggy Britches, a clown.
- Chekhov's Gun: Baby steals a decorative bow and arrow from one of her victims, and later uses it to dispatch the Black Satans.
- Comically Missing the Point: Sebastian tries to warn Otis about the Black Satans with "Satan is coming for him". Otis simply responds perplexedly, "I am fucking Satan!"
- Continuity Nod: Dr. Wolfenstein's Creature Feature Show, the public access Horror Host show featured in House of 1000 Corpses, appears on a television.
- Demoted to Extra: Captain Spaulding is given a briefer role due to Sid Haig's health issues at the time of filming.
- Developing Doomed Characters: Virgil Harper is an obviously doomed character, but the film takes time to establish him as well as his colleague before they're predictably slaughtered by the three.
- Draco in Leather Pants: An In-Universe example. In the news cast segments during the opening of the film, it cuts to random people who believe that the Firefly family are innocent, that they're a product of a flawed and corrupt system and believe that they deserved to be free. This is in-spite of the fact that they have tortured and murdered random people for their own sick, twisted pleasure.
- Driven to Madness: Baby is even more crazy than usual after her stint in prison to the point that even Otis is concerned.
- Drives Like Crazy: Foxy and Otis discuss that the cops would discover them if Baby were allowed to drive for even a few minutes.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Captain Spaulding is executed offscreen.
- Girls Behind Bars: Baby for the first act of the film.
- Evil Versus Evil: The Firefly Family come into conflict with the Black Satans, a gang of criminals/murderers in Luchador masks.
- Facial Horror: This is the third movie in a row where Otis cuts a person's face off. This time, it's a woman.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Despite being touted as the deadliest group of hitmen in Mexico, the Black Satans fail to defeat the three, and can't even really injure them. Two blast into the room where Otis is staying and riddle his two prostitutes with bullets, but there's not a scratch on him.
- It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Día de Los Muertos is apparently being celebrated in Mexico when Otis and Baby arrive. Justified as Baby got the idea from a tourist who was celebrating Halloween by dressing as a stereotypical Mexican, and the holiday is celebrated the day after Halloween.Otis: Now we can have a real Day of the Dead.
- Kick the Dog: Foxy inspects a vase looking for valuables. Judy tells him it's her mother's ashes and begs him to put it back. Foxy responds by sticking his fingers inside and flicking some of the ashes at her.
- Lampshade Hanging: The scene where Otis and Baby remember all of the family members they've lost leads to both of them saying it's "just the two of us", a nod to the fact that Bill Moseley and Sheri Moon Zombie are the only two actors left from the original cast of House of 1000 Corpses. The fact that they completely ignore Foxy for a few seconds while saying this only furthers the point, and Foxy ultimately saying "Come on, man, shit, what am I, fucking invisible or what?" afterwards may as well be a lampshade of its own.
- This entire exchange is a lampshade in the opposite direction.
Foxy: So, what now?
Otis: So, go get us a motel room, motherfucker.
Foxy: Me? I'm the most recognizable of the bunch. I'm the goddamn Midnight Wolfman, motherfucker.
Otis: Seriously? No one knows who you are. - Long-Lost Relative: Foxy is introduced as the half-brother of Otis and Baby.
- Made of Iron: With the number of bullets that Spaulding, Baby, and Otis received it's a miracle they didn't suffer any permanent injuries.
- Machete Mayhem: A weapon of choice of some of the Black Satans. Otis has a machete fight with one of the members.
- Masked Luchador: The Black Satans wear luchador masks.
- Musical Nod: Rob Zombie picked a Slim Whitman song as a callback to a scene where a Whitman song was used in House of 1000 Corpses.
- No, You: This exchange:Otis: Do you remember the first words you ever spoke to me, Virg?
Harper: No.
Otis: No? The big man doesn't remember? You said, "This is my death factory and you are the product." Well, guess what, motherfucker? This is my death factory and you are the product. - Perilous Play: An unfortunate party clown, Mr. Baggy Britches, enters the wrong house and is taken captive by Otis and Foxy. Otis tells him he'll let him go if he can make them laugh. Britches fails to make Otis laugh with his normal routine but succeeds when he wets himself after Otis pulls his gun on him. When Britches asks if this is enough to earn his freedom, Otis tells him he can go... "straight to Clown Heaven" before shooting him in the head.
- Pet the Dog:
- Baby is kind to Sebastian, a dwarf who reminds her of Tiny.
- Surprisingly, Otis of all people gets a few of these moments with Baby. Most notable when he tells Aquarius to let her go during the final showdown, saying she had nothing to do with it. Baby yells defiantly, prompting Otis to tell her to shut up, just as Spaulding did in the previous film when he tried to get her off the hook with Wydell by claiming one of her kills.
- Another instance being their goofing around shortly after arriving in Mexico. Baby sniffs herself, saying she needs a shower. She then jokingly tells Otis to smell her, prompting him to refuse while making a cross sign with his fingers to keep her away as they both laugh.
- Rape Discretion Shot: Otis sexually threatens one of his victims. When we next see her she's naked and bruised, sitting with a blank look on her face as Otis sits with his arm around her.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The character of Foxy was introduced as a result of Rob Zombie not being able to utilize Spaulding for the entire duration of the film.
- Remember the New Guy?: Foxy is introduced as the half-brother of Otis and Baby, but rather than being treated as a Long-Lost Relative, both siblings are familiar with him.
- Run for the Border: Otis, Baby and Foxy flee to Mexico, reasoning that no one will recognize them there... and it'd be a nice place to party. Coincidentally, the first person they run into has a connection to one of Otis's victims.
- Shout-Out: The unnamed Black Satans' uniform of white suits and luchador masks is obviously a nod to one of Rob Zombie's other characters.
- Sibling Rivalry: Otis and Foxy spar over who is the more notorious criminal.
- South of the Border: The second act of the film takes place here.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Both Spaulding and Rondo only appear for one scene each before dying.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After breaking out of prison, Otis later eats a can of beans, calling them the greatest beans on Earth. Otis had been in prison for 10 years and had been eating nothing but unsavory food.Otis: Is it just me or are these the greatest fucking beans on Earth?
Foxy: It's just you. Takes a while to get that prison slop out of your taste buds. - Sixth Ranger: Foxy Coltrane, who joins Otis and Baby on their murderous rampage.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Baby uses a bow and arrow to fight off some of the Black Satans.
- Take Me Instead: Otis attempts to do this to save Baby from the Black Satans.
- Trailers Always Spoil: Among other things, the trailer shows one of the final shots of the film of Otis, Baby and Foxy watching Aquarius burn and walking away.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Otis toward his family, notably having a more soft & protective attitude towards Baby.
- Villain Protagonist: Much like Rejects, the Firefly family are the clear protagonists of the film.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: There is no mention of Rondo's business partner Billy Ray Snapper from the second film; Diamond Dallas Page was interested in returning for this film, but unfortunately Rob Zombie couldn't think of a way to naturally include him. Though following Billy Ray's absence from this film, it can be implied that he either was arrested along with Rondo (until he either was sent to a different prison, or was with another chain gang separate from Rondo and Otis if he were in the same prison as them), got killed by the police during Rondo's arrest, or is still at large.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Aquarius has the three dead to rights, with two of them bound and helpless, but frustratingly enough, elects to allow a drawn-out machete fight rather than just shooting them all and getting his revenge.
- You Killed My Father: Aquarius is the son of Rondo, who Otis killed earlier.
