Musician turned director Rob Zombie casts his wife, Sheri
Moon Zombie, as a late night radio host who unwittingly summons a coven of
witches in this shocker.
A parcel arrives at the radio station containing a vinyl
record by a band called The Lords. This strange recording has a weird effect on
the host and many female members of the audience resulting in countless acts of
violence and murder.
The heavy metal soundtrack and the grating resonance of the
strange record immediately made me reach for the volume control, I get that
this was meant to be unsettling but the feeling created was just one of
annoyance.
There is also a constant stream of devil-worshipping type
images that includes goats, big hairy monsters, silly guys with masks and naked
old ladies. This is often unintentionally hilarious and miserably fails to
provoke the intended reaction.
A brilliant straight-to-video cast is largely wasted here.
Bruce Davison (V, The X Men), Dee Wallace (E.T), Meg Foster (They Live) and Ken
Foree (Dawn Of The Dead) all appear, as does Michael Berryman (The Hills Have
Eyes) but unfortunately he is hidden behind a mask.
With The Lords Of Salem Rob Zombie has attempted to move
(albeit sideways) away from his previous efforts which include the Halloween
remake and the brilliant The Devil’s Rejects. Unfortunately it just doesn’t
work.
The Lords Of Salem is available on DVD
in the UK
now.
Ric’s Rating: Poor.
I hate to say it, but I've not enjoyed any of Zombie's films.
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