The Lords of Salem
Tags: gothic, grindhouse film, murder, violence, horror, haunting, flashback, psychedelic, sadist

Plot synopsis:
In the year 1696, a man, Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne (Andrew Prine), writes with his quill pen about the witches of Salem and ridding it of Satan and his army. We cut to a ritual of the witches committing themselves to the devil. They strip their clothes off for the ritual and are dirty and surrounding a fire as they scream and chant.MondayPresent Day. A young woman, Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie), wakes up in her room naked after a night of drinking by her alarm clock. She takes her dog into the kitchen to feed him. She walks outside to get the paper and says 'hi' to her new neighbor, about to introduce herself but is ignored by her the door is then slammed shut. We see Apartment 5. She goes downstairs to walk her dog and the landlord Lacy (Judy Geeson) says there is no tenant in apartment 5 and no one has lived there since Heidi has lived in the building. Lacy say she'll check it out. She walks outside and suddenly we see a colorful spiral which reveals that Heidi is is a DJ in Boston and its the commercial. The station is hard/screaming rock.As Heidi and the other two DJ's, Whitey (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Herman (Ken Foree) leave, she receives a package from a group listed as The Lords of Salem. It's a wooden box with a vinyl record inside. She goes home with Whitey. He puts on the record, and it sounds horrible. As it plays, she starts to get weird. The record starts to play the same chanting done by the witches earlier. She has a vision of this and of one of the witches giving birth. Once he turns it off shes fine and tells him he can crash on the couch if he doesn't want to drive all the way home. She gets ready for bed and walks by her bathroom there is a ghost witch woman standing there.TuesdayHeidi goes to a group meeting before going to work (she is a recovering drug addict) at WIQZ radio. At the station, they are interviewing a man named Francis Matthias (Bruce Davison) who wrote a book about the Salem Witch Trials. They play the record she got in the mail, thinking its from a band called The Lords of Salem, over the airwaves and everywhere people are listing to it. Various women start dropping things and entering trances. The name of the song is The Lords of Salem. The guy, Francis, goes home and talks to his wife Alice (María Conchita Alonso), a local artist painter. The name of the song is bothering him.Heidi goes home and meets Lacy's sisters, Sonny (Dee Wallace) and Megan (Patricia Quinn) who have come to visit. Once she finally gets upstairs and turns the light on to feed her dog you can see a dead ghost witch hanging in the corner. She goes back downstairs to drink with the ladies. Megan, reads her palm, but it makes Heidi uncomfortable and she goes upstairs. We see a ghost walk by the hallway. Heidi is in bed watching an old movie. Her dog, Troy, gets outside and starts clawing and barking at the vacant room. Heidi gets him back inside but then the door starts to open by itself. Heidi's curiosity gets the better of her, and she walks towards the door.Inside the room, there is a neon red cross glowing. Heidi is drawn to it and puts her hands up to it, similar to how the witches were acting in the ritual. A demon appears behind her. Suddenly, we see Hell. She leaves the room and enters the hallway, only to see one of the old, naked, witches named Margaret Morgan (Meg Foster) telling her she is a daughter of Salem. She says for her to "Lead us again" and Heidi puts her arms out. We see an image of the scene from long ago and Heidi wakes up from her nightmare, however something in her room starts to shake.WednesdayHeidi walks to and enters a church. The priest tells her that God is always open and ready to listen. She seems upset. He tells her that he can tell she's a very sad girl. He starts to comfort her and when she tries to leave he kind of grabs her. He gives her a speech about angels sending people to Hell. He says she is a filthy whore and Christ cant save her, only he can. He starts screaming and goes crazy, when suddenly Heidi snaps awake. It was only a vision. The priest tells her he thinks she fell asleep and she runs out. While sitting outside with her dog, a ghost figure walking a dog starts towards her saying "We've been waiting for you." He vanishes, but then reappears.Meanwhile, Francis is at his own library reading a book about the witch trials. We cut to a vision of the ceremony from earlier in the movie. They took a woman and locked in a chamber by the fire where she burned,and the witches around her screamed. The woman had a mask on her face. Francis, back in reality, calls to his wife and asks her to do something for her play the last few notes printed in a book about the Lords of Salem. He wants to see if it is the same as the music Heidi got. Alice plays it on the piano, and he plays the tape of it. It's the same.Heidi goes to work, and the DJ's are announcing that The Lords are coming to Salem. They have sent them another package filled with concert tickets (though this concert never eventuates on-screen). They play the record. As it plays, Heidi starts to have visions and hear voices, freaking out and leaving the room to cry in the bathroom. At home, she sits alone, and we see rats in the hallway.ThursdayFrancis walks to the author of the book he was looking at. He tells him about the group The Lords of Salem that sent the record to Heidi. He wants to know if there's anything else about The Lords of Salem that he knows. The man that was writing his diary, Hawthorne, in the beginning of the movie thought the group of six were making music for the witches and his group eventually killed them. In the final sections of his diary, he talks about Margaret Morgan, one of the women, and how she put a curse on the women of Salem and put a curse on the man who wrote the diary's descendants (Heidi is one of them).Heidi is staying at her Whiteys house. She tells him she just had to get out of her apartment. She thinks that record is fucking with her. She suddenly starts to cough up blood. He calls 911. As he calls 911 she sees visions of ghost men surround him and knock him to the ground. They are wearing doctors outfits and are holding her down, cutting her open, pulling out her intestines and some type of alien baby figure. She snaps out of it.Heidi seems to be back at home, pops some pills, and goes to her bathroom freaking out. The picture on her wall starts bleeding (the figures in the painting resemble the ghost figures) and whispering Heidi over and over again. She leaves and goes to buy drugs.FridayHeidi is at home, listening to a tape on speaking French, while taking the drugs. There's a knock at her door. Its Lacy and her sisters.Meanwhile, Francis looks up Heidi's family tree online and finds out she's related to the reverend from the 1600s. He calls Heidi but shes asleep. The women are there taking care of her and tell him not to call back, he has the wrong number. They locked the dog in the bathroom and take Heidi, now drugged, into the hallway. They walk towards Room 5, talking to their master. They open the door, and as Heidi enters its a huge ballroom type place. She walks up the stairs, now with creepy face paint on. The Lord is at the top of the stairs and starts making a screaming noise. Heidi leaves the room and goes back into the hallway. She's back in bed.SaturdayWhitey calls Heidi to make sure she's OK. Hes trying to ask her out, but she tells him shes fine. He offers to pick her up to take her to the gig, but she tells him shes fine to get there herself. He tells her hes there whenever she needs him.Francis walks to Heidi's place to see if she's all right. He tells Lacy hes there to see Heidi. She lets him in, saying that they can wait in her apartment until Heidi comes home (she's lying, as Heidi is upstairs sitting in her bathroom). The ladies talk to him, and he reveals hes there to give Heidi information. Lacy starts to yell at him, accusing him of wanting to "fuck her brain". He gets up to leave, and one of the sisters knocks him out with a frying pan. Heidi overhears them killing him with it as she crawls on her floor upstairs.Whitey shows up to get Heidi. The women try not to let him pass, but he gets upstairs. He knocks on her door but she is passed out on Heroin on her couch but after knocking repeatedly Heidi finally answers it, very doped up, falling into his arms crying. When Lacy appears Whitey get suspicious and worried that Heidi is so frightened, he asks her what is going on but Lacy tells Heidi to tell Whitey to wait outside. She does what she says begging Whitey to wait outside then she shuts the door to get ready and Lacy takes Whitey with her.Whitey takes Heidi to the concert hall, where Herman is wondering what on Earth is going on. When they arrive Heidi is higher than before and pale with bruises on her face. Herman is seriously worried but Whitey says they can deal with this tomorrow. Heidi then walks away from them and looks at them with tears in her eyes and sadly says "bye" and suddenly closes the door on them... locking them out of the Palladium to protect them.Mozart's Requiem plays as the dark Salem Palladium is lit up with a bright light when the curtain lifts up. We see Lacy, Sonny and Megan on the stage wearing 17th century rags. They kneel on the stage and chant to the audience members, saying "Satan come to us, we are ready." The ghost of Margaret Morgan and The Lords of Salem witches appear behind them on stage saying "Welcome, Whores of Satan. I can taste the foul stench of your ancestors rotting in the folds of filth between your legs, Heidi The One We have been waiting for you Heidi. We have always been waiting." the witches play The Lords theme with their hand made instruments sending Heidi and the other female descendants into a trance. Heidi stands on the balcony and removes her glasses and clothes as all the audience members strip their clothes off and the music plays.Heidi sits on the special spot they have made for her. Heidi suddenly appears in a different reality. The witches chant a little, and she starts to put her hands on her head, going crazy. All the audience members, now naked women with masks on, walk towards her. The ghost men, in priest outfits, sit on thrones, all of them stroking dildos as Heidi sits between two of them facing three others. They chant about riding a goat warning her that means excepting The Devil and other strange things. Heidi does strange things, and we see MANY strange visions. Heidi's wild side takes over and she chooses to ride the goat unaware of the serious consequences. There is a cross that says Jesus Saves on top of fire. We are now in what appears to be Hell. The witches surround Heidi talking about their Lord Satan. They keep touching her and just like in her vision she gives birth to a creature.Back on stage, the three women have their heads bowed in prayer when a bright light begins to shine on them so they open their eyes and look up ecstatic happy and staring up at Heidi whose tattoos have gone and her eyes rolled back making them completely white now in a crown and white robe, surrounded by a white light, standing on top of all the now dead naked women. Heidi, having given birth to the Antichrist, is now the Satanic Virgin Mary for the coven.The next day on the radio there is news report on the 32 deaths of the Salem Lifer Society found in the Palladium, and it appears to have been a mass suicide. There is no news on the missing Heidi.

Review: Before I begin my review, I should probably start by saying that I'm actually quite a big fan of Rob Zombie the musician (including White Zombie), and I also liked his first two movies (House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects) very much - and I hated the first Halloween-remake so much, that I didn't even want to see the second one he directed, which allegedly should be even worse.
So, with that in mind, here's my review: The film is about a young, trendy rock-radio DJ, Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), who suddenly finds herself in the middle of an occult Satan-worshiping witchcraft scheme, because her ancestors did something bad 400 years ago or something..
I felt bad watching this, but strangely attracted to it at the same time.The cast is pretty good actually, with Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ken Foree as the other two radio-hosts, and Bruce Davison as the historian who tries to get to the bottom of this whole witch-thing going on.
I'm not exactly a Rob Zombie fan, but the three films I've seen from him (Halloween remake, House of 1000 Corpses, and Devil's Rejects) still have something in them that makes them memorable and not totally unworthy.
I had no idea what Lords of Salem would be about but I expected the usual "Rob Zombie overload".Much to my surprise, the film starts off pretty effectively.
There's a really great version of this story to be told somewhere, but Zombie, as usual, over-indulges and just keeps on assaulting our senses starting in the second half that by the time the third act starts, I was honestly bored out of my mind and just rolling my eyes at all of the "visuals".
The movie was mostly an odd mixture of bits and pieces of incoherent imagery that had the usual Rob Zombie trademark touch to it, yes, but in overall the story got lost along the way in the imagery.
The story is about Heidi Hawthorne (played by Sheri Moon Zombie) who receives a strange record at the radio station where she works together with Herman 'Whitey' Salvador (played by Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Herman Jackson (played by Ken Foree).
The haunting tune on the record opens up to the dark and sinister past of the witching era of Salem, unleashing power that were better left in the past.Out of the entire cast, then I think it was actually Bruce Davison (playing Francis Matthias) who did the best job, and made the most memorable impact with his acting.
If "Lords of Salem" was made in the 1970's (perhaps even as late as 1981) then it would have been hailed as an iconic horror film, much in the same way as such other greats of the genre of that time, as Dario Argento's "Suspiria", "Rosemary's Baby" or even that of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining".
We find ourselves following along the life of DJ Heidi Hawthorn (aka Heidi LaRox), played by Sheri Moon Zombie, living life in Salem, Massachusetts, as night time radio's hottest DJs. When One night after a show with her cohorts and hosts Herman 'Whitey' Salvador (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Herman Jackson (Ken Foree), Heidi receives an old wooden box containing a vinyl record and a note saying it is from the band The Lords.
Unaware at the time, the music triggers something inside Heidi that sends her spiraling out of control as she begins to see and deal with things that can not possibly be real.Like many 70's films of the like, and while the film is set in modern day it has a definite 1970's feel to it, Zombie does as little as possible in the way of character development.
I believe the impact of the visuals will be lost when it comes to BluRay, and won't lend the same stimulation of the cortex of the mind that of the big screen.Like with Sheri Moon, we find the usual Rob Zombie stand ins.
Love it or hate it, Zombie, with "Lords of Salem, does exactly what he sets out to do with the audience with the visuals, the sound and added factor of a creepy-ass, empty theater: the film sits with you long after it is finished.
The Lords of Salem is a picture that replicates Rob Zombie's style in such a way that it will live up to his indelible, trashy standard he has made his films so often center around.
In the foreground are mildly amusing, but forgettable characters and loads of pretty satanic imagery.The story revolves around Heidi (Zombie's wife Sheri Moon), a local-girl DJing at a radio station with two close friends, both named Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ken Foree).
The first thing I want him to do is find a story that compliments his style greatly and pursue it in a manner that doesn't distract him.NOTE: Rob Zombie released two new albums recently, one of them the soundtrack to The Lords of Salem and, the other, his latest solo work Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor.
The movie all together is terrible, Rob Zombie had an idea but it's apparent in the film he didn't know how to execute it properly, it ended up being a forced boring mash up of old horror films(mainly Kubrick).
the only thing that worked in this movie was the throw back feel to early satanic horrors of the 70's which the film created wonderfully in the beginning 30 or so Min's.this atmosphere continued through out the movie but- this is when it all goes wrong....you are jarred out of the films presence by some of the saddest and laughable attempts at surreal and religious imagery that it almost defies description at how badly it is handled...
A radio DJ receives a mysterious package from a group that calls themselves "The Lords"...This is just one of those movies you would enjoy if you are a die hard Rob Zombie fan.
I cannot believe some of the other reviews here.This is one of the worst films I have seen in years and I have seen Sharknado.I am not a fan of Rob Zombie but I was looking forward to this pile of self indulgent trash, more fool me.It is full of the sort of imagery that a 14 year old goth with unfulfillable dreams of doing art at a second rate college would laugh at.The plot, such as it is, is beyond stale and clichéd.The evil 'demon' looks like an umpa lumpa after a particularly good party and the much vaunted 'trippy' scenes are just silly.I watch nearly all horror movies I can find, from John Carpenter to Fred Vogel, from James Whale to Ryûhei Kitamura and everything in between so I do know the genre.
So lets say I did not have high expectations, but I did not have low ones either.The film starts out with some scary visuals during a black mass that lets me feel like this is going to be a fantastic scary paranormal evil movie.
Where a cool character like Dr. Satan kind of jacked up the Texas Chainsaw vibe that film had going "Lords of Salem" had the goofiest looking creature (calling it a creature, don't want to spoil), its not a major character and things bounce back quickly after that character is shown.
Will be someone's least favorite film of all time and another person's favorite Rob Zombie movie that will anticipate his next release.
There is a ton of Satan worship in this so if that bothers you avoid this...but since it's a Rob Zombie movie you kind of expect something like that anyway.
Judy Geeson,Patricia Quinn and Bruce Davidson and so many of the cast all great I'm amazed to say I really liked a Rob Zombie film ...
Rob Zombie's previous films are meek in comparison to this film of his, and if anyone is a fan of Rob Zombie's music but not his film notice the song Lords of Salem is many years old and was expected to be his first film but thankfully he finally made the film.For film goers that enjoy all forms of Horrors, Rob Zombie's understanding of Occult films is brilliant beyond any director i have seen..
I found myself drifting and fiddling with stuff and walking away from the movie because i was so bored.Its bland and poorly developed, there are some artistic scenes here and there but they don't really relate to the story.There is no reason to watch this movie im a big fan of Rob Zombies other movies and i love his music but this feels more like a 100 dollar budget movie from sifi channel in the bad 1980s way.Im curious if he actually made it...or if its just his name on the product because it all felt very alien..
And this time, Zombie sheds the 70s grind-house style that his earlier films have had and goes for something that evokes the work of the previously mentioned filmmakers and also some of the 70s occult themed flicks like the infamous Mark Of The Devil.
And Zombie also peppers his film with genre vets like Ken Foree (the other Herman), Meg Foster, Sid Haig and the effectively spooky trio of Dee Wallace, Patricia Quinn and Judy Geeson as Heidi's neighbors, who are more then they appear.
Rob's wife, Sheri Moon Zombie stars and the once beautiful, up and coming star of the Devil's Rejects, is now covered in tattoos and looks like she hasn't eaten in months.
Well, I sadly must admit that I prefer the song a lot more than the movie Personally I was a massive fan of Rob Zombie's first films "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" and I even shamelessly enjoyed his "Halloween" remake.
Rob Zombie's wife Sheri Moon depicts a rock radio DJ in Salem (which she does quite well) who is sent a mysterious record one day, with the note "a gift from the Lords" attached to it.
To this I will say that Zombie has evolved into a "real director" who will (from time to time) come through with some masterfully constructed shots which are aesthetically quite impressive, but that still doesn't mean anybody should be subjected to the rest of "The Lords of Salem", which is for the most part a silly little film.Final Thought: Zombie has always displayed an obvious love for cinema (hell, in this film there is a huge mural of an infamous scene from "Le voyage das la lune" on the wall of the protagonist's bedroom) and "The Lords of Salem" may be his most visually advanced film yet, but the bland storyline, clunky script and lack of scares in conjunction with the weirdest visuals of any horror film in recent history, will be the reason this film will lose a lot of its audiences way before the arrival of the demonic chicken baby in the third act.
It's a new leap for Rob Zombie, film wise, but he handles the brooding side of horror quite well, and even in a chaotic, balls to the wall final sequence of wtf-ness, he never goes loud and crude like he has in the past, keeping it reigned in to an atmospheric minimum.
With this first scene writer/director Rob Zombie makes it clear he doesn't care who he angers or disgusts, he is going to go as far as possible to explore the very limits of horror.The film jumps ahead to the present where we follow Heidi, played by Sheri Moon Zombie.
To make things worse, he made a sequel after publicly promising that he wouldn't.The Lords Of Salem is Rob Zombie's most original film.
the result is a mesh mash of scenes that lacked big time in pulling the viewers in and failed to create a thrilling and intriguing atmosphere.the story has some similarities to Rosemary's baby, where it revolves around a Radio station DJ played by Zombies' wife, Shery, who receives a mysterious box with a music record sample, as she plays the record, the music seems to have a wicked effect on here, and things around start to change.the movie started out pretty well at first, with a dark rhythm to it, introducing our main character and building on here character and her life, it kept my interest at first eager to see what will happen next, but then the movie took a strong curve downwards, repeated boring scenes kept showing up, the plot got a bit messy and confusing, and there was really no reason for any thrills or scares for that matter.Shery's acting did not help as well, she is decent, but she could not carry this movie by herself.
this movie requires a type A actress.never mind the acting, the plot and pace were just slow and boring, it failed to pick up pace or interest, adding to that, the lack of artistic vision to Zombies' direction, random and what meant to be shocking scenes or clips ended up being more ridiculous.Fans of Horror and fans of Rob Zombie will be disappointed just as i was.
Zombie.His first movies HOUSE OF A 1000 CORPSES and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS albeit far from amazing at least showed a spark of talent and a desire to tell horror-stories from a different perspective than the usual horror fare often taking the side of the 'bad guys' instead of the 'good'.But with this one it just seems like the desire is not quite there and it just falls kind of flat...
Well actually very flat, the first half shows a little potential but the second half just fades out to emptiness and it becomes rather anticlimactic and you lose interest in both plot and the characters fates.As a horror it completely fails because it's not scary at all, and some scenes are just flat out ridiculous.Rob Zombie casts a lot of the usual suspects including his wife Sheri in the lead, she's okay but she's been better...
Her character is a bit more boring I suppose in comparison to her other appearances in Rob's movies which have usually been quite on the wild side, even though Rob makes sure that Sheri Moons the camera even in this one (pun intended).Perhaps Rob Zombie should let someone else write his next movie and solely focus on directing, or wait until he has a story worth telling cause this was not one of them..
Let's get this out of the way from the start: I like Rob Zombie's movies.
The Lords of SalemTo tell if a woman is a witch simply call Gaia a whore and see how she reacts.Mind you, the witches in this horror movie would actually worship a whore.A Salem radio DJ, Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), receives an anonymous package addressed to her surname.Inside, she finds a record by the band The Lords of Salem.Hypnotized by their music, she recalls her family's history with a local coven.When the Lords play Salem, Heidi learns she'll birth the Anti-Christ as compensation for her reverend witch-hunter relative (Andrew Prine) who torched the Lords in 1696.While it has potential, Rob Zombie's poorly acted dirge is nothing more than a flimsy script littered with oddball imagery and nonsensical strangeness he culled from surrealist directors with more talent.Besides, no matter what spell you cast, there's no way to stop the best singing witch in the band from going solo.Red Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.com.
It doesn't even feel like a Rob Zombie film because it is so different from all of his others.
While the imagery and cinematography was striking, I feel it was used in a way so it was helpful to the story; not replacing the story completely.Sheri Moon Zombie plays the lead role of Heidi Hawthorne in what I think is her best performance so far.
The high ratings from others, know nothing about good movies.Some one needs to end Rob Zombie.
I saw this movie because Barbara Crampton, who I love, is in it but it is absolute garbage and Barbara is mistreated here by only appearing briefly in a couple of shots but no speaking lines.She is credited as Virginia Cable but this name was never mentioned in the film as Barbara was completely on her own in the scene that she was in which ultimately was not essential to the film.The Lords of Salem is in no way enthralling and the plot makes very little sense.It is hard to care about what is going on because frankly it does not succeed in making me care of what is going on especially with the plight of the lead character Heidi..
To celebrate her special day, I watched one of my personal favorite movies of hers, 2012's The Lords of Salem, written and directed by her husband, Rob Zombie.
I know that not many people love or even "get" this movie as much as I do, but when you are actually, really in the mood (paying attention, that is), you'll definitely enjoy it; it's a very different and unique film from Master Of Horror, Rob Zombie..
We've all been so impressed with the work Rob Zombie has done for horror, by being behind the camera, but this movie was WAY off the mark!
If you are thinking, "hey Rob Zombie directed this it has to be good", then save your time and don't watch this cesspool of a movie.
The Lords of Salem is Rob Zombie's fifth major film as a horror director.
However, as the climax neared it began to pick up the pace.The Lords of Salem may not be my favorite Rob Zombie film, or one of the best of the year, but it is definitely an interesting one and worth watching..
Rob Zombie's The Lords Of Salem is in my opinion his best film and one that is real well done and original.
THE LORDS OF SALEM isn't a bad movie but it's better than your average horror film.
I've read another reviewer aptly describe Rob Zombie as the best horror director who has never made a great film.