The Lords of Salem (2012)

Heidi, a radio DJ, is sent a box containing a record -- a "gift from the Lords." The sounds within the grooves trigger flashbacks of her town's violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords back to take revenge on Salem, Massachusetts?

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writer:

Rob Zombie

Stars:

Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Heidi Hawthorne
Bruce Davison	...	Francis Matthias
Jeff Daniel Phillips	...	Herman 'Whitey' Salvador (as Jeffrey Daniel Phillips)
Judy Geeson	...	Lacy Doyle
Meg Foster	...	Margaret Morgan
Patricia Quinn	...	Megan
Ken Foree	...	Herman Jackson
Dee Wallace	...	Sonny
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Alice Matthias
Richard Fancy	...	AJ Kennedy
Andrew Prine	...	Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne
Michael Berryman	...	Virgil Magnus
Sid Haig	...	Dean Magnus
Bonita Friedericy	...	Abigail Hennessey
Nancy Linehan Charles	...	Clovis Hales

Storyline

Heidi, a blond rock chick, DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the "Big H Radio Team." A mysterious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, a gift of the Lords. She assumes it's a rock band on a mission to spread their word. As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords' record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma. Later, Whitey plays the Lords' record, dubbing them the Lords of Salem, and to his surprise, the record plays normally and is a massive hit with his listeners. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon, Heidi and her cohorts are far from the rock spectacle they're expecting. The original Lords of Salem are returning and they're out for blood.

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Plot Keywords:

salem massachusetts | city name in title | place name in title | female protagonist

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Taglines:

Heretic. Witch. Devil.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2013 (UK)

Also Known As:

Gospodari Salema

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$642,000 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Gross:

$1,163,508 (USA) (10 May 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Films, Automatik Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actors considered for some roles were Richard O'Brien (he was not available) and Hammer girl Caroline Munro, finally replaced by another genre favorite, Judy Geeson.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne: As I write these very words, the witch, Margaret Morgan, gathers with her coven of six deep within the woods surrounding our beloved Salem. The blasphemous music echoes in my mind, driving me to the point of insanity. I, Jonathan Hawthorne, swear before the eyes of God, on this this day in the year of our Lord 1696, to destroy all persons who choose to pledge allegiance to the demon Satan and his spectral army!

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits appear over gloomy images of Salem.

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Connections

References A Trip to the Moon (1902)

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Soundtracks

"Sugar"
Written by Maceo Pinkard, Edna Alexander, and Sidney D. Mitchell
Performed by Vic Damone
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Used by permission EMI Robbins Catalog Inc.

User Reviews

The lords of boredom...

When it was first announced that Rob Zombie was working on another movie, I was thrilled, as I had thoroughly enjoyed his previous movies, and as I am also a big fan of his music. And it was with great expectation that I followed the bits and pieces of information leaked/released about the movie up until it was finally released.

And now having seen it, I sit here with my expectations and hopes totally shattered. 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. And as such, the movie was a rather dull experience.

Storywise, then it wasn't particularly captivating or innovating. 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. The rest of the cast did good enough jobs, but it just didn't fully shine through.

Don't get your hopes up too high, unless you are into weird imagery that doesn't necessarily need to have a solid supporting story to be interesting. But, personally, I wasn't entertained by this movie, and I actually had my smartphone out at a point and was playing Jewels Star.

I suppose everyone throws a swing and a miss every now and then, and for me, then this was one such instances from Rob Zombie.