On this Christmas Eve we may have told you that Christmas, and not Halloween, is the best time for horror films—but Rob Zombie is the exception. Mr. Halloween himself literally (having directed two Halloween reboots) and figuratively, also directing all things creepy in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects, has a new film titled 31. The film, centered on Halloween, of course, is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next month where it will obviously get picked up by a distributor and then will make its way to theaters. Problem is 31 might not get into many theaters if its NC-17 rating doesn't drop to an R. 31 has been rated NC-17 on two occasions according to Bloody Disgusting.
Zombie complained about his struggles with the MPAA, in charge of designating ratings, in a Facebook post:
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The crowdfunded 31's synopsis, per the film's official website is as follows: "On October 30, 1975, five carnival workers were kidnapped and held hostage until the following night (Halloween), where they are put in a compound. They're told that they are there to take part in a game named "31" where the goal is to survive past the next 12 hours. This is made difficult by the fact that they are not alone; a violent gang of evil clowns are there and stalking their every move."
Bloody Disgustingreports the NC-17 rating was given for 31's "sadistic graphic violence, bizarre sexuality/nudity, pervasive disturbing images and some strong language."
Audiences can expect clowns as nightmarish as Captain Spaulding in this new entry to the Halloween horror cannon, though the real boogeyman here is the MPAA, as Zombie would agree.
