The Lords of Salem (2012)

Heidi, a radio DJ, is sent a box containing a record -- a "gift from the Lords." The sounds within the grooves trigger flashbacks of her town's violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords back to take revenge on Salem, Massachusetts?

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writer:

Rob Zombie

Stars:

Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Bruce Davison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Heidi Hawthorne
Bruce Davison	...	Francis Matthias
Jeff Daniel Phillips	...	Herman 'Whitey' Salvador (as Jeffrey Daniel Phillips)
Judy Geeson	...	Lacy Doyle
Meg Foster	...	Margaret Morgan
Patricia Quinn	...	Megan
Ken Foree	...	Herman Jackson
Dee Wallace	...	Sonny
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Alice Matthias
Richard Fancy	...	AJ Kennedy
Andrew Prine	...	Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne
Michael Berryman	...	Virgil Magnus
Sid Haig	...	Dean Magnus
Bonita Friedericy	...	Abigail Hennessey
Nancy Linehan Charles	...	Clovis Hales

Storyline

Heidi, a blond rock chick, DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the "Big H Radio Team." A mysterious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, a gift of the Lords. She assumes it's a rock band on a mission to spread their word. As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords' record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma. Later, Whitey plays the Lords' record, dubbing them the Lords of Salem, and to his surprise, the record plays normally and is a massive hit with his listeners. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon, Heidi and her cohorts are far from the rock spectacle they're expecting. The original Lords of Salem are returning and they're out for blood.

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Plot Keywords:

Salem Massachusetts | City Name In Title | Place Name In Title

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Taglines:

We've been waiting ... we've always been waiting.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gospodari Salema

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Films, Automatik Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film of Richard Lynch.

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Goofs

Zombie released a still of Wayne Toth working on a charred corpse special effect. The corpse had clearly been burned at the stake, yet had long flowing hair. In reality, the hair would have been one of the first things to burn.

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Quotes

Megan: On a rare occation, a special child appears.

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Connections

Referenced in Fangoria's Blood and Guts with Scott Ian: Scott Ian Sets Sh*t on Fire with Ron Trost (2013)
The cinematography on this movie is credited to Ron's son, Brandon Trost.

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Soundtracks

"Venus in Furs"
Written by Lou Reed
Performed by The Velvet Underground
Produced by Andy Warhol
Courtesy of Verve

User Reviews

A throwback to Classic 70s Horror

Rob Zombie has really outdone himself with The Lords of Salem. The film plays like a throwback to the psychedelic satanic Horror Movies of the early 70s. The movie starts out with a slow build getting to know the lead character, Heidi. Heidi, played by Sherri Moon Zombie, is a recovering addict that works for the local radio station as a DJ for a popular late night radio show. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts, which is famous for its witch trials during the 1600s.

When Heidi arrives at the radio station for her show she receives a demo record from a band called The Lords. Thinking the album must be from a new and upcoming band, the DJs play it on the show. When the sound goes out over the radio, many local women go into a trance, very much like when the tape is played in Evil Dead! Heidi has severe headaches when the album is played and from that point on starts having hallucinations. There are many flashbacks to the 1600s, when a coven of witches were having their Sabbath or Black Mass, dancing around a fire nude, praying to Satan, and playing music. The local Salem Authorities catch all the witches and put them on trial. Found guilty of witchcraft, they are burned alive at the stake. While dying, the leader of the coven curses her accuser, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and all of his ancestors.

Heidi lives in a historic building with an older lady that lives in the apartment below her. She invites Heidi for tea with her friends, but right away you can tell the older ladies have something to hide. Heidi starts a slow decent into madness after hearing the Lords of Salem album again. And that's when we get the flashbacks to the ancient evil witches and their strange satanic rituals.

Sherri Moon Zombie does her best acting to date, but she is still no match for the older scream queens that play the witches…Dee Wallace, Patricia Quinn, Judy Geeson, and Meg Foster steal all the scenes. Meg Foster and Dee Wallace especially shine in their roles. One of things I like about Rob Zombie is that he casts a lot of familiar faces from the horror genre and Lords of Salem was no exception.

Lords of Salem has a real art-house artistic feel to it, which Zombie's previous films did not have. There are several shots that remind me of classic Argento films like Suspiria. The use of colourful architecture and background scenery is almost like another character in the film. The movie was visually stunning and it owes a lot of its influences to classic Horror films like The Devils, The Sentinel, Eraserhead and The Shining. The only part of the film I was not all that keen on was the psychedelic ending. It just seemed out of context, but maybe I will like it better on a second viewing. It also had way too many gratuitous shots of Sherri Moon's backside which was a little distracting from the storyline in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think Lords of Salem will appeal to the general public and will probably not get a wide release the way his previous films did.

In the end, I think this movie will get very split reviews from horror fans. If you can appreciate an art-house independent horror film you will enjoy it. If you prefer a grindhouse style gory action movie, you will hate it. I am sure this movie will surprise and divide Rob Zombie fans. Up until now, Zombie has earned a very well-deserved reputation for films that push the limits of good taste. For the most part I have enjoyed most of his films (yes, even Halloween 2!) For me, Lords of Salem showed that he is not a one trick pony when it comes to his writing and I really appreciate that. I highly recommend you go and see it when it comes out and form your own opinion about it.