The Lords of Salem (2012)
Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Bruce Davison
Writer and Director: Rob Zombie
Synopsis (From Anchor Bay):
The Lords of Salem tells the tale of Heidi (Sheri Moon
Zombie), a radio station DJ living in Salem, Massachusetts, who receives a
strange wooden box containing a record, a “gift from the Lords.” Heidi listens,
and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of the
town’s violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the “Lords of Salem” returning
for revenge on modern-day Salem?
Up until seeing You’re Next this past weekend, The Lords of
Salem was sitting easy as my favorite horror film of the year. Hey, second
place isn't so bad, though. Lords is Rob Zombie’s most inspired film to date;
lighter on dialog and heavier on style. It
seems like he decided to channel Kubrick, Polanski, Jodorowsky, and Argento,
and the final result is a visually pleasing, slow burning, devil worshiping
nightmare.
The Lords of Salem is pretty far removed from Zombie’s previous
efforts, especially in terms of writing. There’s no copious amounts of
gratuitous redneck slang, and the characters are a much more versatile group
than what you’re used to seeing in his films. The story shifts back and forth
from present time to the late 1600s, intertwining both atmospheres in a dreamlike
manner. It’s slowly prodding up until the final act, but not once did I find it
boring. If I’m being honest, I've been glued to the movie every time I've watched it.
From a visual standpoint, The Lords of Salem absolutely kills.
Rob Zombie brought back Brandon Trost for cinematography, who also worked on
Halloween II. The dude can definitely stage some fantastic shots and make
settings look much bigger than they really are. There’s a ton of lens flare in
Lords, and it’s all absolutely gorgeous. Overall, the camera work as a whole is
awesome. Very controlled, with limited to no hand-held. The dolly work inside
the hallway of Heidi’s apartment building moves at a total snail’s pace. It
really helps elevate the haunting atmosphere. The entire film is actually shot
creepishly slow, which builds a mad intensity. I was constantly waiting for
something extremely frantic to happen, due to all the slow-cam, but the horror
aspect isn't traditional and on cue like that. The visual presentation of the
movie is just straight stunning.
Now, onto the acting/character front. First, we got The Big H team- Heidi Hawthorne, Herman ‘Whitey’ Salvador, and Herman Jackson, played by Sheri
Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, and Ken Foree, respectively. This is
definitely Sheri Moon’s best performance to date. I don’t think she’s as bad as
the masses do, anyway, but even having said that, she really impressed me here.
The show stealer of the Big H radio crew is Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman ‘Whitey’,
though. The dude has a whole lot of charm to his character, and he and Sheri
Moon have some great moments together. Ken Foree as Herman Jackson is good,
though he’s given the least to do out of the 3. To me, they are very
believable as radio show hosts, in the way that they are kind of annoying, but
for some reason you just still want to listen to them. That’s basically the
case with every radio show team I've ever been hooked on.
Then you got Judy Geeson, Patricia Quinn, and Dee Wallace as
Lacy, Megan, and Sonny. These little ladies completely shred their roles, and
work off of one another wonderfully. The performances become abundantly more
impressive after listening to the commentary on the Blu-ray. Patricia Quinn is
the most outstanding early on, then later Dee Wallace and Judy Geeson take the
honors of ripping up the scenery. Bruce
Davison plays Francis Matthias, a local author who's a guest on The Big H Show. An absolutely lovable character, and there’s some good chemistry between him and
Maria Conchita Alonso, who plays his wife, Alice. They give off the vibe of a
hip older couple who've never lost their place in time. Lastly, Meg Foster as
Margaret Morgan. Total creeper fest. Nails her role with ease. For what my
money’s worth, this is the best assembly of characters in a Rob Zombie movie
yet.
Wayne Toth has become somewhat of a Zombie regular for
special effects. Totally understandable, because the guy’s work is amazing. It
was in the early 90s when I became a fan, thanks to Return of the Living Dead
III. He has a trademark type style that I've always been able to spot out. Not
that other FX artists don’t, but Toth’s work I see from miles away. There’s
definitely some ghoulish shit on display in The Lords of Salem. Not a ton of gore,
but the makeup FX are definitely impressive. As far as visual effects, I've
never seen anything quite like the final act of this film, and I’ll leave it at
that.
The film score is provided by Griffin Boice and John 5, and
it’s a prime example that sometimes less is more. The lot of it is very
simplistic 3-chord progression type hymns, but man, it fits the mood of the film
so well. Sometimes it’s not so much music as it is noise masked as melody, or
sound effects that correlate with events going on in the movie. "The Lords" theme
is authentically evil sounding, and it’s not an easy tune to get out of your
head. As for the rock side of the soundtrack, we get some Manfred Mann’s Earth
Band, Rick James, Rush, and The Velvet Underground’s "All Tomorrow’s Parties" (written by Lou Reed) is placed perfectly with the scene it accompanies.
Fabulous score/soundtrack.
The Lords of Salem has proved to be a very polarizing film to
viewers, even more so than Rob Zombie’s past work. As far as I’m concerned,
this was a good time for change. I can see it easily hitting cult classic status sometime down the road. I’d certainly recommend it to fans of slow burn, bizarro horror.
Given that it was shot in the fall and has that Halloween-ish essence all over
it (even if it makes no mention of Halloween), it will definitely become an
annual October watch in this house.
First off, the 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack comes with a 3D
slipcover, and I love gimmicky stuff like that. You get a standard DVD
presentation on Disc 1, and the Blu-Ray presentation on Disc 2, as well as an
Ultraviolet Digital Copy. The Blu-Ray is, of course, in 1080P. The
film is presented in Widescreen 2.40:1, and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (Dolby Digital 5.1 on
the standard disc). The film looks absolutely gorgeous in 1080P, and if you saw
it in theaters and loved it, there is no better way than to watch the Blu-ray
presentation. Brandon Trost’s lush cinematography deserves that much, as do
you. This is a really colorful film, in terms of set design and lighting, and
in Hi-Def it just really jumps out at you. Also, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 will knock
you right off the couch at times, thanks to that John 5 soundtrack.
As far as special features go, the only thing you get is a
solo commentary from Writer/Director/Producer, Rob Zombie. I was kind of bummed
by that, to be honest, because I love me some special features. There’s not
even a theatrical trailer with this release. Downer.
But back to the commentary- I’m not usually a fan of solo
commentary with the exception of a few filmmakers. Rob Zombie just happens to
be one of those said filmmakers. It’s funny, because he starts out the movie
saying he may have a hard time remembering everything, given the lapse from when he made the film to when he actually did the commentary. Next thing
you know, you’re at the end with a plethora of knowledge you
didn't previously have, and there’s hardly a bit of dead air. It’s totally insightful,
but at times brings back some sadness due to the fact that the commentary is the
only feature. After listening to Zombie talk about the film, I really wish
there could have been a deleted scenes feature, at least, because there’s apparently a
good chunk of this movie that never made it off the cutting room floor. There’s
a lot of reasoning behind scenes being removed, but if you want to know, you’re
gonna have to listen to the commentary.
All griping aside, I’m overall pleased with this Anchor
Bay/Starz Blu-Ray release of The Lords of Salem. Hell, I've watched it 4 times now,
5 counting seeing the movie in theaters. 2 times on disc just to absorb the
film, and 2 more times just so Rob Zombie can talk my ear off.
The Lords of Salem will be available on Blu-Ray Combo Pack and
DVD Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013, from Anchor Bay/Starz. Thanks for reading!
- Brobocop Entering Sleep Mode
