Rob Zombie's films tend to really divide horror fans. I briefly mentioned this in my reviews of his Halloween and Halloween 2 movies, but in general people tend to either love almost every film he's done or hate it and consider him a talentless hack. I, of course, like to be different and so try to take each of his films on their own merits - although I do have to admit that his films have a lot of redneck, grindhouse and exploitation themes. And 31 is a film which has these themes in spades.
Set on Halloween 1976, a group of carnival workers are travelling to their next gig when they are diverted and captured by a group of psychos dressed as clowns. They have been captured to take part in a sadistic game for the amusement of several rich people who like to dress as 18th century French aristocrats - the five of them are trapped in an abandoned industrial complex of some sort and have 12 hours to try to survive and escape while being hunted by a selection of murderous psychotic clowns. The five of them must find all their courage and strength to survive and fight back against their assailants, all of whom are better-equipped and far more experienced in the arts of murder than they are...
So, I guess we now know what Rob Zombie's version of The Running Man looks like. If you look at the brief plot synopsis above, I'm sure you can see the similarities between the two movies (and maybe also movies like Turkey Shoot, The Hunger Games and Battle Royale among others), but I think the Running Man comparisons are particularly apt because of the introduction and use of the killers throughout the movie. They're sent after our five protagonists one at a time, with a new one (or sometimes pair) sent out only after the previous one is... removed from the competition. Eventually they even bring out their final killer, Doom-Head (and more on him in a bit), almost the same way the bring Captain Freedom out in The Running Man as the final hunter of the survivors. Each of the killers has a distinct personality and killing style as well, which also leads to this film being possibly the first and only film with a Latino Nazi Dwarf Clown (and really, that just tells you nearly all you need to know about 31).
You can tell from films like The Devil's Rejects and Halloween that Rob Zombie has a strange fascination with rednecks and exploitation films, and 31 continues this trend. The film is set in 1976, for one, in the middle of nowhere (much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and most of the characters - protagonists and killers alike - could generously be described as "rednecks", straggly beards and all. The protagonists are all carnival workers too; transients working in a business many would consider sleazy (especially considering their main attraction is a girly show headlined by Charley, played by Zombie's wife Sheri Moon Zombie), but they're at least a family willing to fight and die for each other. The "aristocrats" and killers don't care for anyone but themselves, betting on the outcome of their "game", and as such are almost interchangable, with only their "characters" to distinguish them from one another. The violence throughout the film is also typical Zombie movie fare - splattery and extreme and peppered with occasional uncomfortable references to sexual assault.
The exception to this is the final killer, Doom-Head. Played by Richard Brake, whose previous roles have included The Night King in two seasons of Game of Thrones and Joe Chill in Batman Begins, he is first introduced to us at the very beginning of the film in an almost Fourth Wall-breaking scene but then doesn't appear again for over half the film. At first I thought he wasn't going to be a particularly interesting character, especially after the excesses of the previous killers (Latino Nazi Dwarf Clown, remember?) but he really was spectacular. From his preparation ritual, where he turns from just another typical redneck psycho into a greasepainted gentleman clown (reminding me of Ceasar Romero's Joker or even Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs), before punching himself repeatedly in the face to finish the effect, to his calm demeanor as he stalks the survivors and treats the whole thing as a performance, I think he really did steal the show - moreso than some of the big-name actors like Meg Foster and Malcolm McDowell (although Foster was pretty damn good as well).
In the end, 31 is still very much a Rob Zombie film, which is going to be the make-or-break point for many people. It's grimy and sleazy and not all that different from some of his other movies, so if you didn't like his previous films you're probably not going to like this. It's quite predictable in places as well and the ending wasn't all that satisfying, but it still has some good moments like Brake and Foster's performances, and the troop of psycho clowns are certainly original in their personalities, to say the least.