The Lords of Salem

Rob Zombie understands horror as an aural-visual experience that should gnaw at the nerves, seep into the subconscious, and beget unshakeable nightmares.

A genuinely nasty and disturbing piece of work, but its cumulative nerve-shredding effect is not just the product of effective direction. Sheri Moon Zombie delivers her best serious dramatic performance yet (before marrying Zombie, she used to be a porn star).

The Lords of Salem is more creepily atmospheric than truly scary and eventually lapses into silliness. But it does provide some evocatively spooky moments along the way.

Considerable care goes into establishing the premise, but the film eventually abandons psychological subtlety for hallucinatory garishness, which is too bad.

There are echoes of Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” in all of this that are impossible to miss.

Occasionally potent but mostly risible, this tale of the occult sees Rob Zombie cast a weak spell. Disappointing.

This one is so bad it’s hilarious. Sheri Moon Zombie is no Mia Farrow, Rob Zombie is no Roman Polanski, and The Lords of Salem seems to have been made by people on the rubber bus headed for a rubber room with bars on the windows.

The visuals and music make for an entrancing experience, and ensure a dark, weird tone throughout. I liked that the lead was not the stereotypical damsel in distress seen in many horror films. It feels very different to most other films now released; and for that, I can only praise Mr Zombie (p.s. I have not seen any of his other films). Nonetheless, the originality ends at the plot, which is bland, and uninterestingly put together. The subtly of visual imagery early on, seems to disappear later in the film, and often these images can be amusing (very). Gets sillier as it goes on, but remains attention-grabbing throughout.

I remember reading an interview with Rob Zombi stating that with The Lords of Salem he had more freedom in his vision for this film than he had with Halloween... but... i think all the oposite. The film doesn't contain any of the gore or disturbing grunge images that Rob Zombie typically uses. The plot is slow and lacks to generate interest for the spectator and for being a thriller i didn't see any tense moment. Character development is almost non existent. The photography i did like it... specially in the last 15 minutes. But at the end the film is pretty forgettable.

I've never cared for Rob Zombie's films. As a writer, I think he's terrible as all his movies look like he just stole plot points, themes and ideas from other films (there IS a point where paying homage becomes outright stealing) but, as a director, I think the man has an amazing eye and, as long as he didn't write it, he COULD make decent horror films. I was actually really surprised at how good "The Lords of Salem" was as it is nothing like his other movies. The film, for the most part, is grounded and doesn't play out like a demented cartoon like his other works. The film has substance, tone and actual scares playing in it. Zombie really showed an evolution and a newly discovered maturity with this film. Just as surprising as Rob's sudden turn is the fact his wife Sheri Moon Zombie (playing the lead) goes from being an annoying scenery chewer in his other movies to someone with some skills. She really surprised me at how amazing her performance was in this one. That being said, "The Lords of Salem" still isn't that great of a film. All the hard work at establishing a solid scary movie starts to unravel in the middle of the film and it starts to turn into the silliness we've seen from him before. However, the movie does seem like a step in the right direction for Rob Zombie as a film maker.

i found it to be boring and not very memorable it hurts me because rob zombie has not failed me before. it had some interesting elements and twists but not nearly enough to keep me interested at all.

What the hell is wrong with Rob Zombie? I get that the guy grew up on Heavy Metal and old black & white Horror movies, but there is twisted and then their is **** insane. The things that must be going through this mans head, that encouraged him to write something like this, is the true definition of horrific. The film follows a radio DJ in Salem, Massachusetts, who has been seeing some strange things. One day a weird record shows up at the station and the DJ plays it on the air. The seemingly innocent record becomes the most requested song on the station, but not without consequences, as it posses the local female population. I am a fan of his music, so I know how strange and twisted Rob Zombie can be, but even I have my limits. Following one of the best horror films I've ever seen, The Devil's Rejects, I was really looking forward to Zombie's next project. That film was a good story, with strong characters, and an amazing ending. This film is pure garbage, meant to shock and disturb audiences, and it does a very good job of that. From nude elderly women, spitting blood on babies, and opening gateways to hell to scary psychics and beast like creatures running around in the dark, this movie is full of things you just never want to see. 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. Her performance is flat and unbelievable, adding to the mountain of manure that this film is offering. I love Horror movies and I love weird **** but this was just above and beyond freaking weird. I should have turned the film off when nude witches were spitting blood on babies, but I didn't, I stuck with it and I'm sorry I did. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get some of the horrific images out of my head.