Review of The Lords of Salem (2013) by Adam M — 28 Apr 2013

Nightmarish occult horror. Being a fan of Rob Zombie, both his music and movies, I was excited about Lords of Salem. I'd previously heard about this being more of a "vibe" movie and that it's influenced by 70's horror films so I was kinda prepared for it but I didn't expect the Lynch-esque surrealness that occurs occassionaly to! But I like Lynch to so thats fine.

A late night DJ in the town of Salem, Heidi, recieves a record to play on her show. Its by a group calling themselves The Lords and the strange tune immediately has an effect on Heidi who starts having strange, nightmarish visions and her condition, both physically and mentally, gets worse. And things are about to get more fucked up when The Lords announce they are playing a show in Salem.

The most obvious 70's horror elements are probably nods to the likes of Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man and The Shining with a touch of Hammers more occult stuff like The Devil Rides Out with a few of the dream/vision sequences being a bit Black Lodge-ish to an extent(thats a Twin Peaks reference, by the way!). There are some great shots throughout the film to, making the Lords of Salem well worth a return visit but its definately a visit you'll have to be in the mood for.

This film definately isn't for everyone and like Rob Zombies other films, it will be loved by some and hated by others. Its nowhere near as fast moving as House of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects and it doesn't have the exploitative kill scenes of his divisive Halloween films but The Lords of Salem shows that Zombie can tackle other types of horror to, add his trademark brutal feel, add another level of weirdnesss, and do a decent job of of it to.

Approach with caution, then, if you are a general film fan who likes the odd bit of horror. But hardcore fans of all types of horror should give this a go.