Written And Directed by Rob Zombie
Margaret: "We've been waiting, Heidi. We've always been waiting."
After his foray into the Halloween franchise, I guess you couldn't begrudge Rob Zombie for wanting to do a movie where he would complete creative control over. Also a fascination with the topic at hand certainly helps.
The topic being of course witchcraft and the Salem Witch Trials. I can see why it's a topic that interested Zombie as a writer and director and the results here might be the best thing he's actually helmed in his career.
As a director, I do find Zombie to be divisive and often find his aesthetic can be a bit too crass for its own good. Aside from maybe one or two moments, this might be one of his more tasteful films to date where once again, a certain someone's the leading lady.
Yup, going from playing psychotic serial killers to the mother of the most iconic fictional serial killer, Sheri Moon Zombie has a more different role in this one. In this movie, she's a radio DJ named Heidi LaRoc, co-hosting a show with Whitey (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Munster (Ken Foree). It's implied that Heidi and Whitey have an out of work relationship too but that's far from the main point of this movie.
The main point being a record left at the station, specifically for Heidi by a band named The Lords. The record's awful but the results on the other hand trigger Heidi throughout the movie with visions of Satanic rituals, sexual assault and a creepy leader named Margaret Morgan (Meg Foster). Needless it's more than enough to drive Heidi crazy and relapse.
On top of the creepy ass visions, there's a local author named Francis Matthias (Bruce Davison) who realised that Heidi was really Adelaide Hawthorne - a descendant of the pious reverend who executed Morgan's coven. Not only that but Heidi might be destined to carry in the next big evil. Yeah, I mean the antichrist.
While Heidi's a decent enough protagonist, the most entertaining characters are actually her landlady Lacy (Judy Geeson) and the latter's nutty sisters, Megan (Patricia Quinn) and Sonny (Dee Wallace). Yes, they're a fun coven of baddies and their corruption of Heidi/Adelaide does end this movie on an interesting enough note.
- There was a subplot called Frankenstein And The Witchhunter, which was scrapped from the final cut.
- The novelisation of the movie which Zombie co-wrote with Brian Evenson has significantly different stuff from the script itself.
- Standout music: Velvet Underground's Venus In Furs was nicely used here.
- Chronology: Present day Salem for the majority of the movie with flashbacks from the Witch Trials.
I got to admit, I really enjoyed The Lords Of Salem a lot more than I had anticipated I would. A largely engaging script, solid performances, better taste and a rather cryptic left me satisfied with this one.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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