The Lords Of Salem is a strange, strange movie. No it’s
stranger than that. Nope, decidedly odder. No even weirder. Look no matter what
is going on in your head right now I can pretty much guarantee that The Lords
Of Salem is stranger than you think it is.
On paper it seems pretty simple, a popular DJ plays a record
that unleashes a curse over 300 years old, while simultaneously falling into
the clutches of a coven of Satanists. But that does nothing to convey the tone
of pervasive, perverse wrongness that drives the film.
It’s also as ambitious as any American horror film as I can
think of. A dreamy tone and style that obviously recalls (and explicitly
references) the surrealistic Euro horror of Mario Bava, Polanksi and Jean
Rollins, but an equally apt point of reference is the late seventies early
eighties American Surrealism seen in films like Let’s Scare Jessica To Death
and Messiah Of Evil. Lords Of Salem has the same feeling of paranoia and dread,
the same sense of immensity of evil, the same daring assaultive imagery, the
same narrative confusion and the same druggy pace. There are some almost implausibly ambitious visuals and
ideas in the film. And though Zombie reach is not always within his grasp I’d
say at least 75% of what he goes for he gets. And that’s a fair number for any
filmmaker. Of Lords Of Salem perhaps there is no better compliment I can pay it
than the fact that it’s the first horror film I’ve seen since The Strangers
that is genuinely hard to watch at times. Part of this is because the film is
without a doubt pushing some of my personal buttons (if you have any sort of
religious beliefs be prepared to be deeply uncomfortable for some sequences),
but so much of the imagery in Salem is genuinely strange and perpendicular to
most American horror that the viewer will either reject it outright with
laugher, or really let it fester within them.
The film more than anything feels like a step forward for
Zombie. A genuine evolution. Simultaneously completely a piece with his films
and unlike anything he’s ever done. I hope the skeptics of Zombie give it a
chance. It contains his usual signatures, the deeply saturated tactile palette,
the strong sense of place, environment and relationships, his love of cinema
history (though unfortunately the Frankenstein Vs. The Witchfinder trailer that
was shot for the film was cut). But gone are the profane dialogue and white
trash patois and though the film has one of Zombie’s typically sprawling casts
the cut I watched was whittled down to a core of about half a dozen characters.
And while one would be lying if one called the film restrained, the violence is
used much more sparingly (and to much greater effect) than in Zombie’s past
films.
Sheri Moon Zombie has evolved tremendously as a performer
and carries the weight of the film effortlessly aided by Ken Forree, Jeff
Daniel Phillips and Bruce Davidson all doing the kind of subtle work that
Zombie’s detractors like to say he can’t do. Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace and
Judy Geeson bring a sense of understated menace to their rolls, while Meg
Foster swings for the bleachers and lands somewhere in the parking lot.
The Lords Of Salem is a film made by a director who is truly
pushing himself. I have been an apologist for Zombie for his entire decade as a
working filmmaker and I can think of no better reward for my faith in him as a
director than that.
...
To read my defense of Rob Zombie's career as a whole be sure to check out my book Son Of Danse Macabre, available on The Kindle and Nook.
And remember if you have read it, giving it a review on Amazon or The Nook really helps. So does, liking it on Goodreads.
And remember if you have read it, giving it a review on Amazon or The Nook really helps. So does, liking it on Goodreads.