It was a fun ride while it lasted, but writer/director Rob Zombie shouldn’t make a sequel to 3 From Hell, and instead let the Fireflies retire. The road from House of 1000 Corpses to 3 From Hell was a long one. Zombie’s 2003 directorial debut, House of 1000 Corpses almost didn’t get released, until Lionsgate swooped in to save the day. When Zombie returned to the Firefly well for 2005’s The Devil’s Rejects, he crafted what was less of a sequel to House of 1000 Corpses and more a 1970s grindhouse exploitation movie that happened to star Otis, Baby, and Captain Spaulding.
That’s not to say the changes Zombie made were bad, as many still regard The Devil’s Rejects as his best film to date. Zombie accomplished the difficult feat of making the Firefly Family somewhat sympathetic, despite the fact that they commit some absolutely heinous acts over the course of the story. Otis, Baby, and Captain Spaulding ended The Devil’s Rejects apparently getting shot to death by police, but 14 years later, Zombie decided to bring them back.
While 3 From Hell’s method of retconning the death of the Fireflies wasn’t exactly great - all the explanation we get is that they were in critical condition, but survived - the film still ultimately proved satisfying for most fans of Rob Zombie’s particular brand of filmmaking. 3 From Hell’s ending left the door open for further Firefly adventures, but that’s really not something Zombie needs to do, and here’s why.
A 3 From Hell Sequel Wouldn’t Be the Same Without Captain Spaulding
Shortly after 3 From Hell’s brief theatrical release back in September, Captain Spaulding actor and horror icon Sid Haig passed away at the age of 80. Of course, anyone who saw 3 From Hell probably wasn’t that surprised, as Haig looks in bad shape during Spaulding’s short appearance in the film. Still, for as little as he’s onscreen, and as ill as he clearly was, Haig did his damnedest to muster up some of that old Spaulding bravado and menace, leading to a final performance worth remembering. Zombie was cognizant of how important it was for Spaulding to not be completely absent from 3 From Hell, and made a point to include him, despite Haig’s failing health. A Firefly film without him just wouldn’t seem right, even if Richard Brake’s Foxy ended up being a fairly decent substitute.
The Firefly Family Story Really Doesn’t Have Anywhere Else to Go
House of 1000 Corpses presented the Fireflies in their natural environment, that being surrounded by death and mayhem. The Devil’s Rejects saw the Fireflies get caught, and flee from law enforcement, going on what seemed like one last killing spree and mounting one last stand against the sadistic sheriff on their tail. 3 From Hell already seemed like a bit of an epilogue, reversing Otis, Baby, and Spaulding’s seeming death, definitively killing off the latter, and sending the former two on a quest to escape the law.
They seemingly did that - at least for the time being - by fleeing to Mexico, but there doesn’t really appear to be any real story left to tell. The Fireflies got a semi-heroic ending, literally walking off into the sunset after defeating a Mexican druglord. There’s only two real ways their story realistically ends: either they cross the wrong people again and die or get captured by the cops and return to prison. They couldn’t possibly get a cooler death than the end of The Devil’s Rejects, and nobody wants the Fireflies back in cages. Thus, Rob Zombie should know when to fold ’em, and not make a 3 From Hell sequel.
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