Every Sheri Moon Zombie Movie Ranked from Worst to Best
Sheri Moon Zombie has proven herself to be a memorable horror actor with several cult classics under her belt. How do all of her movies rank?
Sheri Moon Zombie has a handful of films under her belt, and here’s how they stack up against one another, ranked from worst to best. Sheri Moon Zombie is primarily known as the character Baby in Rob Zombie’s Firefly Trilogy, but all her characters are interesting and memorable enough to help her stand out on her own in the horror genre. While Sheri’s films tend to be hit or miss with audiences, it’s undeniable that they’ve made an impact on the horror genre at large.
Sheri’s film career began with the first film in the Firefly Trilogy, House of 1000 Corpses, and her most recent film, 3 from Hell, comes as the finale to the Firefly Trilogy. In addition to her filmography, Sheri Moon Zombie has been in multiple music videos and TV shows. She has also produced short videos, such as Total Skull Halloween, which was a promotional video for her clothing line.
She has played the slasher villain, the final girl, and the victim of satanic witches. Sheri Moon is known as Rob Zombie’s muse, but she has proven herself as a horror star in her own right. Sheri has shown her ability to play both the hero and the killer in some of the most iconic horror films. Here is every Sheri Moon Zombie film ranked.
9. Grindhouse: Werewolf Women of the S.S.
Werewolf Women of the S.S. is a faux movie trailer written by Rob Zombie and starring Sheri Moon Zombie. It is one of five fake trailers that are played during the Grindhouse double feature. It’s largely inspired by Nazi exploitation films. While Grindhouse: Werewolf Women of the S.S. is contained in a full-length feature, it is a short segment, so it does not fully qualify as a bona fide Sheri Moon movie - hence its placement here on this ranking.
8. Halloween II
Halloween II jumps forward one year from the events of the first Rob Zombie Halloween. Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) has monetized the tragedy of the previous film by releasing a novel, and Laurie is still recovering. Halloween's Michael Myers and Laurie Strode are once again siblings in the franchise, and both of them begin seeing visions and hallucinations throughout the film. Laurie’s hallucinations are meant to reveal her past and relationship with her older brother Michael. Michael’s visions are of his mother, played by Sheri Moon, who appears as a specter.
Zombie’s sequel to his 2007 Halloween remake is the worst real film of Sheri Moon Zombie's filmography. Initially, Rob Zombie was not eager to return for another Halloween movie. Only once he was given permission to essentially do whatever he wanted stylistically did he sign on for the 2009 sequel. This film is more similar to Zombie’s usual style than the first Halloween movie. The hallucinations Michael has of Sheri’s character are in line with Zombie’s signature style. Unfortunately, the attempt to expand on Michael’s backstory using visions of his dead mother in this Rob Zombie Halloween remake end up feeling like a forced way to insert Sheri’s character in a way reminiscent of a Rob Zombie music video. The film has also been critiqued for its gratuitous nudity. Although the films Sheri Moon has acted in tend to include unrestrained nudity, watching Michael continue to kill completely nude women who are clothing-deprived for no reasonable reason is a big turnoff for audiences who are otherwise typically unfazed by Sheri's exceptionally gruesome movies.
7. 31
31 takes place in 1976 and centers around a group of carnival workers who are taken hostage by people dressed as scarecrows. The five hostages are forced to play a deadly game called 31 which lasts 12 straight hours. The victims are forced to fight against the homicidal Heads: Sick-Head, Psycho-Head, Schizo-Head, Death-Head, Sex-Head, and Doom-Head who are each wearing varying types of clown makeup. Sheri Moon Zombie plays Charly (in what some believe is Rob Zombie’s worst movie), the only person to ever survive 31. In the final scene, she fights against Doom-Head, and their fates are left up in the air as the film ends.
With such examples found in American Horror Story, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, IT, and even Sheri Moon’s Firefly Trilogy costar Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), killer clowns have been terrifying audiences for decades. The clowns in 31 are no less memorable, and the claustrophobia created by the abandoned compound also adds to the fear factor in this Sheri Moon Zombie film. While the horror film 31 is both scary and memorable for anyone who watches it, and Sheri’s character gives audiences a worth final girl to root for, it doesn’t quite compare to the films higher on this list.
6. Toolbox Murders
Toolbox Murders begins with Daisy Rain (Sheri Moon), a struggling actress living in Hollywood. In an opening reminiscent of Wes Craven’s smash success Scream, Daisy Rain is immediately killed when she goes into her apartment. Sheri’s character is beaten to death with a hammer, kicking off the supernatural horror. The building Daisy lives in used to be a luxury hotel and is now under construction. A couple of newlyweds move into the building where they discover disturbing secrets about the former hotel as killer Coffin Baby (Christopher Doyle) begins picking off the residents.
Toolbox Murders is the only film Sheri Moon Zombie has acted in that wasn’t directed by her husband, and it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill slasher. The horror flick was Tobe Hooper’s attempt at a remake of the 1978 slasher of the same name. For a remake to succeed, it needs to be able to pay tribute to the original while still offering enough originality to leave viewers feeling like the remake was worthwhile. The script for Toolbox Murders (2004) only loosely borrows from the original, and the rest of the film doesn’t add anything new to the genre. Hooper’s attempt at returning to fame fell flat for most audiences.
5. 3 from Hell
The opening to 3 From Hell pulls viewers back into the Firefly Trilogy by showing the ending of The Devil’s Rejects, which most assumed would never get a follow-up after all the main characters were shot dozens of times. 3 From Hell then picks up with Sheri Moon Zombie’s Baby, Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), and Sid Haig’s Spaulding who gets an unmemorable death in 3 From Hell. They are now in prison for the murders they’ve committed, and Spaulding is executed before Baby and Otis manage to escape. They then go on another villainous spree with Foxy (Richard Brake), which takes them to Mexico.
While viewers were a bit grateful to see less of the overt sexual assault that takes place in The Devil’s Rejects, the film is heavily criticized for making the Firefly gang look like cool characters audiences are meant to root for. It is fun to see Sheri Moon adapt Baby’s character into someone who has spent the last decade in prison, but while 3 From Hell isn’t a bad movie, it is the sequel that shouldn’t have happened. Viewers reasonably assumed that Baby, Otis, and Spaulding were killed at the end of The Devil’s Rejects, and after the high amount of praise of the previous film and the cult classic status of House of 1000 Corpses, 3 from Hell was a major letdown, copying much of the previous film’s plot with less success and retconning the memorable ending.
4. Halloween
Halloween is a remake of the original, which is one of the most well-known horror movies. While the original film only reserves a few minutes for Michael’s backstory before he gets right to killing babysitters, Halloween (2007) spends the first act telling Michael’s story including his relationship with his family, particularly his mother played by Sheri Moon Zombie. Before Halloween leans into the original plot, audiences see a more sympathetic Michael Myers’ struggling home life and watch him dealing with school bullies.
Sheri Moon Zombie’s first appearance as Deborah Myers is more successful than its sequel. Halloween is still very much a Rob Zombie film, but it uses less of his signature style, and some viewers found the omission of the flashy music video style sequences to be a welcome change. However, the dialogue and story are much like other Sheri films. The 1978 original works particularly well due to Myers' mysterious backstory, but the Halloween movie featuring Sheri Moon Zombie is a highly successful remake, despite providing the killer with an origin story. Zombie was able to tell the same story in a new way while also adding something completely unique.
3. The Lords of Salem
Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem stars Sheri Moon Zombie as Heidi Hawthorne, a radio DJ whose life is turned on its head after she receives a mysterious record from an unknown source. The film delves into the occult as Heidi is targeted by a group of witches. In the climax of the film, Heidi gives birth to Satan’s child.
The Lords of Salem is sometimes ranked below Halloween, but Rob Zombie’s most mature film puts the actress who is most well known for playing the giggly, murderous Baby in a position where she is able to show a more sympathetic and realistic character. Lords of Salem is even artsier than Sheri's other films. The movie contains all of the signature cursing and female nudity in a movie featuring Sheri Moon, but it’s more refined and less gratuitous. The Lords of Salem movie also lacks the violence of the other films Sheri has found herself in. If it were up to visuals alone, The Lords of Salem would be at the top of this list.
2. House of 1000 Corpses
House of 1000 Corpses sees Sheri Moon Zombie as Baby in the first entry of the Firefly saga. The film is Rob Zombie’s directorial debut and immediately sets the tone for the rest of his career. After stopping at a gas station reminiscent of that in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, four friends pick up Baby and offer to take her home before they lose a tire and end up trapped at the titular house. They are quickly targeted by House of 1000 Corpses’ Firefly family who set out to torture and murder all of them.
House of 1000 Corpses pays direct tribute to slashers of the past, it manages to do so in a way that is equally comedic and horrifying. Captain Spaulding is one of horror’s favorite clowns, and Sheri does a good job at playing the innocent-sounding Baby who is actually a homicidal woman who tortures and kills people. House of 1000 Corpses can best be summed up as a "hellbilly" genre movie, named such after Rob Zombie’s first album. The film contains plenty of music-video style editing and is shocking and memorable. While the film wasn’t as loved when it was first released, viewers have since rediscovered the cult classic, which is one of the best films starring Sheri Moon Zombie.
1. The Devil’s Rejects
The Devil’s Rejects – House of 1000 Corpses' better movie sequel – is the most highly praised out of every Sheri Moon Zombie film. The movie, which was released two years after the first, follows the Firefly family once again as they go on a killing spree after their famous house is raided by the police. It shows just how deadly the Fireflies are, as they are tracked by law enforcement before getting into a shootout that should’ve been the end to the titular Devil’s Rejects.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has seen this film that it is the best Sheri Moon Zombie movie. Rob Zombie managed to keep everything that made the first film great but in a more refined way. Sheri flexes her acting again as Baby is shown to be extremely resourceful and the Firefly family is scarier than any slasher villain. The film doesn’t make the Firefly family seem sympathetic the way 3 From Hell does, and even with the villain protagonists and no real hero to root for, the movie doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. Other horror villains who serve as the main character throughout their respective franchises are still up against final girl types. Devil’s Rejects, on the other hand, takes a different approach with great success. This in combination with her memorable portrayal of Baby is why The Devil’s Rejects is Sheri Moon Zombie’s best film.
