Revisiting 'The Lords of Salem'

Three years ago, heavy metal star turned director Rob Zombie presented a film very different to his usual works. While his previous films had been heavy on the gore and exploitation, this one instead took the psychological route which was a big change from Zombies other works. That film, of course, was The Lords of Salem. Upon its release, the film received very mixed reviews, some praising the atmosphere and the fact that Zombie was trying something new, while others called it dull, boring and just plain shit. When I first watched The Lords of Salem, I wasn't quite blown away to be honest. I don't really know what I was expecting, probably something along the lines of The Conjuring with jumpscares a plenty. However, since Zombies new film 31 is almost here, I decided to give The Lords of Salem another watch, these are my thoughts.

First of all, I feel that this film was a big risk for director Rob Zombie. All of his previous works were blood soaked exploitation films that thrived off the obscene and bizarre, however this was a much more experimental, slow-burning film. The plot involves young radio DJ Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie), who begins to experience strange hallucinations and phenomena in her hometown of Salem after listening to a strange record by a band known as 'The Lords of Salem'. It differs greatly from Zombies past films that relied heavily on the blood and the gore to shock the audience, instead this film places greater emphasis on its atmosphere and its imagery. Zombie proves that he can create an extremely chilling atmosphere that would send chills up even Lucio Fulci's spine, the sinister soundtrack and gloomy visuals combine to create this really eerie vibe throughout. As Heidi wanders through the glum streets of Salem, we watch and wait with a subtle sense of dread hanging over us, even when nothing scary really happens. Visually, this is a beautiful film. The cinematography is fantastic and it really gives the town of Salem that Halloween-y vibe. Grey skies, piles of brown leaves, jagged branches, the whole town has this very dark, autumnal look that fits in well in this film. I particularly liked Heidi's apartment building with its dark wallpaper and low lighting, it's got plenty of shadowy corners for things to hide in.

While it is a visually stunning film, it is also quite a disturbing one too. From the numerous flashbacks to old Salem to the menagerie of outlandish creatures found in the film, it can be very hard to watch at times but in the best way possible, it is a horror film after all. Some of my favourite of the films creatures are these demonic beings whose faces look as if they've been eroded over time. They dress as doctors, clergymen and other things and look a lot like Dr. Freudstein from House by the Cemetery, they don't appear often but when they do they certainly leave an impact. The real villain of the piece however, is the witch Margaret Morgan played by Meg Foster. Foster gives a brilliant performance as the unhinged, almost feral sorceress and at times she appears as almost inhuman, her filthy and skeletal appearance are a big change from the witches we're used to but it works and Foster is one of my favourite things about this film. While it does rely heavily on atmosphere, the film does have a few jumpscares here and there, some work and others do not, but I didn't really take notice of these as I was so encapsulated by the surreal imagery and atmosphere. I'd compare it to films like Suspiria and Rosemary's Baby with a hint of David Lynch, there are many things left unexplained or to the imagination, but given the surrealistic elements of the film, these work greatly in its favour.

The cast is made up of a number of Zombie regulars and horror icons, as you'd expect. Zombies wife, Sheri, takes on the lead role and to be honest I think this is her best performance yet. It's more subtle than her performance as Baby in his previous films and gives her a chance to show off her real acting chops, she is very convincing as a woman slowly descending into madness while struggling with addiction. As I said, Meg Foster is superb as the villainous Margaret Morgan and joining her are a trio of sisters played by horror legends Judy Geeson, Patricia Quinn and Dee Wallace herself. Much like the Castevet's from Rosemary's Baby, the trio hide a sinister agenda beneath their otherwise friendly appearance, it was great seeing this darkness emerge from the nice old women every now and then and each one of them gives a memorable performance in their respective roles. Bruce Davison plays author Francis Matthias while Jeff Daniel Phillips plays Heidi's co-host Whitey, each trying to desperately help her in their own ways and each giving strong performances despite being somewhat underused.

And that's where I must begin to criticise. Many of the cast members, talented ones at that, feel extremely underused in their roles. Ken Foree, for example, plays the other co-host Herman, he's charming, witty and shows a certain sense of emotion towards his friends when necessary, but he is too underused. I feel like his character had much more potential but never got the chance to show it. Similarly, horror icons Sid Haig and Michael Berryman have brief, nonspeaking cameos as a pair of witch hunters. For some reason I wanted to know more about them though, they're both high profile actors playing interesting looking characters, yet they don't even get a line of dialogue between them. It looks like a film that has been severely cut, that had a lot more development for certain characters which just didn't make it to the final cut, it's a real shame because many characters do feel underdeveloped. Hell, even scream queen Barbara Crampton shows up for a few seconds, never to return again, this is a film begging for an extended cut. Another problem is the script. While more serious in tone that Zombies previous efforts, Lords of Salem gets very silly at times mainly because of its script. Certain lines of dialogue or the scene where Whitey and Heidi dance in her apartment just feel very unnatural and out of place in this film. At times it feels like the film itself doesn't know what it wants to be. It's constantly stuck in the intersection between cheesy B movie and surreal nightmare, and while the two do sometimes compliment eachother, it often doesn't work. The masturbating demons in the climax are what I mean by this.

While it is a film with many flaws, I am glad I went back and watched The Lords of Salem again as I felt like I can appreciate it much more now as opposed to back when I was 16. It's atmospheric, it's surreal, it's completely out there, this won't appeal to everyone but it appeals very much so to myself. While it does take inspiration from many films such as the works of Argento, Fucli, Polanski and Kubrick, The Lords of Salem is very much its own film and is rich with originality. However, at times Zombie can't help but go back to his old ways which makes the film feel a bit inconsistent, the script also brings the film down and makes it feel downright silly at times. However, it was Zombie's attempt to make something different, something more serious and mature than his previous works, and personally I think he succeeded in doing so.