I like movies about Witchcraft. I've been fascinated by the lore of witches and demons and black magic since I was a child. Where in my childhood this interest first manifested, I have no idea, but it's something that has stuck with me ever since, long after I had my falling out with organized religion and began to walk the path of the Atheist. Though I really enjoyed Rob Zombie's second film, The Devil's Rejects, I found the Halloween reboots to be so-so, making my anticipation of a new original work, that just so happened to be all about black magic in a "what if" scenario involving the Salem Witch Trials, all the more heightened.
Then the movie came out to lack luster reviews, low imdb ratings, and next to zero distribution. I remembered thinking, "Well, shit..." and I never ended up getting around to the film until today. The film is about local Salem Rock DJ, Heidi, played in a nicely subdued performance by Zombie's wife and muse, Sheri Moon Zombie, who begins to experience bizarre dreams and flashbacks of a demonic nature after receiving a strange and trance like record in a wooden box from a group calling themselves the Lords. You can kinda see where this is going already. I don't want to spoil the film, but let's just say that there is plenty of imagery of debauchery and sadism, naked women speaking in tongues, elderly women who are sweet as sugar but pack a wallop with a frying pan, blood, blood, more blood, and did I mention blood?
This is something that's fairly typical of Zombie's work, as he has always been more interested in the movies that have a "fucked up" quality about them. Imagery that arrests the viewer and freezes them to the screen in a mesmerizing mixture of revulsion and curiosity. Lords doesn't quite hit that mark, but it certainly tries to. That's perhaps my only complaint towards the film is that it is another example of that attempt for the "slow burn" that is a bit more slow and doesn't quite burn hot enough. The final act, however, is completely bonkers, gonzo, and downright strange with this a scene involving a large golden music hall shot in a way that I can only compare to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
Another thing I love about Rob Zombie's films are his casting choices. He goes to great lengths to pull in horror icons from as far back as the 60s, giving the actors who have otherwise been retired by Hollywood in favor of the new, fresh, meaty, and creepy roles in his films. For, example, in this film you will see, not only stalwarts Sid Haig and Ken Foree, but Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace, Meg Foster, and Judy Geeson. Patricia Quinn and Dee Wallace stand out particularly in their supporting roles.
The production design of the film, while not as over the top as some of his previous work, is full of Zombie's "American Horror" motifs and film buff fetishes. That grimy rock and roll meets silent film and horror element that he has been cultivating since the start of his music career with White Zombie. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want an apartment like Heidi's. It's also probably his best shot film to date, eschewing the shaky hand held camera aesthetic of the scare moments in the Halloween films, opting for more use of smooth dolly movement and steadicam.
Overall, I did like the film, and I do think it's the type of film that is meant to be seen as a late night double feature, perhaps with To The Devil a Daughter (one of my all time favorite films about black magic devil worship), on a big screen with a great sound system.
3 skulls out of 5.
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