The Lords of Salem (2012) directed by Rob Zombie, provides a departure from the visceral horror that Zombie is know for. This film delves into the world of the surreal and in doing so, successfully adds a modern veneer to the atmospheric horror formula. While the film divides critics, it has aged extremely well and works perfectly in a darkened room late at night. It is perfect fodder for an annual spin during the Halloween season.
The Lords of Salem – Plot
The film begins with a short montage of witch-hunter Jonathan Hawthorne writing in his journal as a coven of witches lead by Margaret Morgan (Meg Foster) revel in blasphemy and black magic.
Heidi LaRoc, a recovering drug addict, is played by Sheri Moon-Zombie. Heidi works as DJ with her cohorts Whitey (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Munster (Ken Foree). As Heidi leaves the station one night, she is given a wooden box that contains an album by the band The Lords. She throws it on the turntable to find a repeating dirge of doom-laden music. During the listen, Heidi starts descends into dark and disturbing hallucinations.
The next day, the crew brings the author of “Satan’s Last Stand”, Francis Matthias, on the show. His book details the dark history of witches in Salem. During the broadcast, Heidi plays the album again. As the repeating dirge echoes across the airwaves of Salem, the women in towm go catatonic.
From this point, Zombie deftly unfolds an abstract story of witches, witch-finders and the unholy consequences of those worlds colliding. Unwittingly, Heidi is directly involved in this war between good and evil.
The film ultimately ends up in an easily predictable place, but the journey proves well worth it.
Comfortable cast with some really nice cameos
The sun rises in East, sets in the West and Rob Zombie is going to have Sheri Moon Zombie and Jeff Daniel Phillips in his films. There’s also performances by regulars like Sid Haig. For fans of Zombies work, it makes for a comfortable space. What is more impressive is the supporting case of horror royalty.
- Dee Wallace – Cujo (1983), The Howling (1981), Popcorn (1991) and countless other horror favorites
- Meg Foster – Angle Heart (1987), Leviathan (1989)
- Barbara Crampton – Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986)
- Michael Berryman – The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
The following were cut from the final film due to an overly long runtime
- Udo Kier – Blood for Dracula (1974), Suspiria (1977)
- Camille Keaton – I Spit on Your Grave (1978), What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)
- Clint Howard – Ice Cream Man (1995), Terrifier 3 (2024)
It should really serve as no surprise. Rob Zombie is a student of horror and he respects its history. His casting decisions prove it.
Another casting decision that really works in this film is the casting of Bruce Davidson as Francis Matthias. His character is affable, and shows only good and pure intentions. As far as character arcs go, you’ll never find a guy that does so little to become so endearing. His quest for knowledge gets him entwined into Heidi’s unraveling circumstances. Unfortunately, when you mess with the witches of Salem, bad things happen.
Francis Matthias isn’t some armageddon crusader bellowing about the Dagger of Meggido. He isn’t some occult investigator trying to unravel a Satanic mystery surrounding ritual sacrifice. He’s just a married guy that wrote a book and he clumsily walks into a chipper shredder while following his own research. Francis is a well written character and it feels like a kick in the gut when he gets it.
Sheri Moon Zombie at her absolute best
Sheri Moon Zombie gets a lot of flak for always being at the top of the list (a list of one) for the female lead of any Rob Zombie movie. I’ve grown to appreciate this about him. It’s true that the depth and breadth of her acting abilities certainly have limitations. Still, given the right role, she shines.
The role of Deborah Myers in Zombie’s Halloween (2007) and Halloween 2 (2009) worked extremely well for her. The role was grounded in a certain reality that allowed her authentic self shine through the performance. Because of this, she was able to portray a deep love for her son in the face of being completely beaten down from her circumstances.
Likewise, the role of Heidi LaRoc seems to orbit Sheri Moon Zombie’s reality close enough for her to evoke another top performance. She certainly radiates a radio DJ vibe, but moreso, as she descends into madness she drifts farther and farther into total desolation. Her unsettling melancholy provides a landing zone for the final events of the film. This is her best performance.
Radio in Horror
Has the horror industry ever really acknowledge how creepy a late night radio show is for a horror setting. When the final song of the night ends, the strange sensation of staring into the abyss starts to take over. This has been used to great affect in films like John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). Just outside the realm of horror is Talk Radio (1988) that too leads to a terrifying conclusion.
There is something about the disconnectedness of a radio DJ speaking into a lifeless microphone to a world of people embroiled in their own joys and tragedies. On one side of the microphone is the myopic focus of a DJ. On the other side, the whole of humanity.
In The Lords of Salem the radio station provides the perfect backdrop for flushing out minute details through interviews with black metal artists and Francis Matthias. It ultimately becomes a demonic beacon that invokes Satan’s plan.
Fantastic visuals… with a couple of stinkers thrown in
Rob Zombie is well know for having an outstanding visual flair with his films. Over time, this has become more and focused and well executed. The Lords of Salem is the pinnacle of his catalog. The entire film provides a vehicle for exquisitely designed shots that cover the gambit of dark and menacing to bright and stunning splashes of color. Even some of the more mundane scenes are shot carefully to evoke Italian giallo subtleties.
The orange glow of bonfires backlighting the debauchery of witches provide a backdrop as beautiful as it is terrifying. The glow of a neon cross shrouded in darkness illustrates the futility of good in the face of all encompassing evil.
While most of the films visuals are utterly fantastic, there are a couple of inexplicable scenes that are so bad that they either display major misses on the part of Zombie, or reveal that the casual observer is unable to understand the depth of Rob Zombie’s art. Fortunately, the ratio of fantastic to middling is far in favor of the former.
Exhibit A: The electro-demon-baby with super-charged gastro-intestinal conductors.
A serious throwback to classics with a serious step to the future
Rob Zombie put his love for horror on full display with this film. The overlaps and similarities with historic horror film is undeniable. While it is true, The Lords of Salem is not wholly original, it so loving calls back to horror past in a way that feels like a love letter penned in blood.
The film opens with Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne penning his trials with the withes of Salem as they write in the woods. It all holds an eerie similarity to a scene in Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) where artist and warlock Schweick toils on a painting in Room 36 of the Seven Doors Hotel by candlelight. While Schweick works, men hell bent on destroying him descend on the hotel with torches.
The fact that this film holds much in common with Rosemary’s Baby (1968) will not be lost by even casual horror fans. Heidi lives in an apartment complex that provides the focal point for the films events, and unbeknownst to Heidi, the biggest threat is in the building.
More subtly, the visuals really lean on Dario Argento’s style from his masterpiece Suspiria (1977). Everything from the repeating patterns of the Victorian wall paper of the apartment to the massive architecture of gilded cathedrals calls back to Argento’s design sensibilities. Yet, Zombie’s juxtaposition of modern neon light and Victorian styles offer enough of a departure from Argento to be unique.
It’s also interesting to see the similarities in the portrayal of witches influencing Robert Egger’s film The Witch. He uses the much of the filthy and visceral imagery that Rob Zombie does. Both directors lean heavily on the depravity and nudity of their forest rituals.
Evil Soundscapes
As one would expect, Rob Zombie nails the soundtrack. The radio DJ trope allows for a lot of great 70’s tunes including Rush, James Brown and Lou Reed. It’s awesome that Zombie forcibly inserts Norwegian Black Metal into the mix as it’s very polarizing genre for a very polarizing film. Of course, Black Metal come with its own sordid history.
Most important to soundtrack is the repeating dirge from the The Lords album that drives the narrative. The drone of this music permeates the entire film and drives a sense of dread with every second. This makes the film wonderful for late night viewing in a dark room.
Conclusion
The Lords of Salem seems to get overlooked. Many critical reviews indicate that this is NOT a good film. Even Rob Zombie fans are divided. The film violates most expectations from a Rob Zombie film. Fueling the fire, it does have some glaring moments that offer openings for criticism. Zombie fans looking for another slasher derivative will be disappointed, but fans of atmospheric horror will certainly find something like here.
The Lords of Salem deserves careful consideration and possibly multiple viewing to fully appreciate. As they say with psychedelics, set and setting are critically important to experience. This is a film that with time will become part of many Halloween playlists, but will likely fail to please everyone.
The Lords of Salem (2012) - Zombie at His Surrealistic Best - Malevolentdark
Director: Rob Zombie
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:33
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