There’s an early scene in The Lords of Salem that’s indicative of what much of the viewing
experience will be. Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) walks around her poorly lit
apartment, oblivious that there’s something menacing lurking in the next room.
It’s a creepy moment, no doubt, but it’s just of hint of the terror that will
likely come later. Except that most of The
Lords of Salem is just that: creepy things just in the background or the
foreground, toying with Heidi without actively harming her. It’s far removed
from director Rob Zombie’s best film, the grueling, viscerally upsetting The Devil’s Rejects, which was set at a
near-constant level of terror. The Lords
of Salem sees Zombie going for a more slow-burning, atmospheric horror. He
doesn’t quite knock it out of the park, but it shows one of the world’s most
important horror directors growing as a filmmaker.
Heidi is one of a trio of DJs for a radio show in Salem,
Massachusetts. One night a record arrives at their studio, sent from a band
called The Lords of Salem. When she plays the record, she begins to have
visions of witches in the 1600s slaughtering babies or being burned at the
stake. The record seems to have effect only over the women of Salem, who fall
into a trance when Heidi plays it on the radio. Soon, Heidi’s landlady (Judy
Geeson) brings in her two friends (Patricia Quinn and Dee Wallance) and begins
to look after Heidi, but they may have more sinister motives. Meanwhile, local
author/witch historian Francis Matthias (Bruce Davison) investigates the record
and the band name, which sounds all too familiar to him.
The plot isn’t much more than a bunch of hokum, but it’s
wonderful, wonderful hokum from a director who knows the history of horror
films rather well. Zombie includes smart throwbacks to Rosemary’s Baby, Repulsion, Suspiria, Halloween, The Fog, The Shining, frequently
playing with spatial dynamics or atmospheric tracking shots in order to build
suspense. He creates such a hypnotizing and creepy atmosphere that it almost
seems churlish to point out that the film isn’t particularly frightening. It
builds suspense, but that suspense doesn’t lead to many real scares. Still,
Zombie throws in enough memorably strange moments (including an ending that
feels like Rosemary’s Baby directed by
Ken Russell) to make it worthwhile, and his skill at using 70s rock songs hasn’t
diminished. For those who loved his use of “Free Bird” in The Devil’s Rejects, it’s worth seeing just for his use of the
Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties”. If Zombie
can only mix his gift for slow-burning tension with his proved talent for
visceral horror, he could make a masterpiece.
Did you know that you can like The
Film Temple on Facebook and follow @thefilmtemple
on Twitter? Well you do now!
Does that number by the grade confuse you? Go over to this link, where I explain my idiotically specific 100-point system and how it corresponds to the grades.
Curious about my favorite films from various years? Check out my account on Letterboxd.
Does that number by the grade confuse you? Go over to this link, where I explain my idiotically specific 100-point system and how it corresponds to the grades.
Curious about my favorite films from various years? Check out my account on Letterboxd.
No comments:
Post a Comment