Mikes Film Talk

The 2012 movie The Lords of Salem can be seen as a more subtle Rob Zombie. His other films, especially his first two, are scream in your face projects.

Heavy metal impresario Rob Zombie exploded on the horror scene with his first feature film House of a 1000 Corpses in 2003. Already a veteran behind the camera from directing his music videos, his first film (and his second) featured a lot of “heavy metal” montage shots and utilised an almost guerrilla style of filmmaking.

Zombie then went on to re-imagine the Halloween verse in 1 and 2. His next film, he told interviewers, would be a sort of Ken Russell directs The Shining. Far be it from me to argue with Mr Zombie’s own definition of what his film is, but I would argue that it is more like Ken Russell meets Rosemary’s Baby.

I will not go any further down that particular road as I don’t want to give anything away.

the story

When the record is played on the air, it affects the female listeners of the audience. They then have visions of the olden days in Salem. Heidi is very affected by the music. Something which, for the record, would never have been featured on American Bandstand. Just after she’s heard the music her landlady invites her to meet two old friends.

Written and directed by Zombie, The Lords of Salem stars Sheri Moon Zombie as Heidi Hawthorne. She is a local radio personality who works as part of a three person team in Salem Massachusetts, home of the infamous Salem witch trials. A wooden box is left for Heidi at the radio station’s reception desk. It contains a record by a group called The Lords.

The film was obviously shot on location in Salem. The statue of television’s Bewitched character  Samantha Stevens (aka Elizabeth Montgomery) is seen no less that three times. It’s as if Zombie wants to remind us that this is really about “fake” witches in Salem.

Colour is important

Besides this reminder running through the film, a lot of black and white films play in the background in a few scenes. Heidi is watching an old “cop” film (featuring that loveable old heavy Jack Elam). Later her boyfriend/radio partner Whitey  (Jeff Daniel Phillips) is also watching a film. He is watching something with Charles Laughton (better known as Captain Bligh and Quasimodo).

There is, in fact, a lot of black and white themed sets in the film. Heidi’s apartment features a lot of black and white pictures and patterns. I’m not clever enough to know what the director is aiming for here. But with this preoccupation on this particular colour scheme, but it’s obviously a clue of what is happening in the film. Perhaps it’s yet another allusion to the “olden days?”

All the old familiar faces

The character of Heidi is a good one for Sheri Moon Zombie and she adds a depth to her acting that hasn’t been seen before. The film has a lot of Zombie’s “stable” in it. Sid Haig, Michael Berryman and Ken Foree are all Zombie “regulars.” The film also boasts the legendary Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson and Meg Foster. Most of his films feature a cadre of genre stars from old horror movies.

It was nice to see Andrew Prine  after he had to step in for the late Richard Lynch due to health issues.

Zombie has hit a level of subtlety that has, till now, been missing in his films. Where he has relied on over-the-top violence, blood and gore with villains that came close to being almost cartoonish; Salem strikes a sly and almost underrated  performance from all the key players.

A quick shout out to Bruce Davison as local Author Francis Matthias. He shines in his short performance and it was a pleasure to watch him in the film.

All the actors delivered exceedingly well and although the film had a bit of an ambiguous ending (to me at least) it kept me glued to the screen until the end credits had finished.

This may not appeal to the “normal” Rob Zombie fan. If you are expecting his usual fare of Heavy Metal Horror, you’ll be disappointed. But if you are ready to see a Rob Zombie who’s learned the art of insinuation and easing his audience gradually into the horror at hand, you’ll enjoy this latest effort.

The Verdict

I give The Lords of Salem a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’ve taken the .5 off only because the ending left me a little baffled. Despite shaving off a half point, I don’t doubt that this will become a cult favourite. This is streaming on AMC + right now.

Bravo, Rob Zombie.