Rob Zombie's "Lords of Salem": An Atmospheric, Trippy 70's Mash-Up

Since he transcended from the realm of Rockstar to Film Auteur with “House of a 1000 Corpses”, Rob Zombie has had mostly a love-hate relationship with his fans. And with his latest release, “Lords of Salem”, Zombie, proves that this will be much of the same. Despite the fact that this time around, [Rob] Zombie is completely thinking outside the norm of what has been his filming style and technique. Where before he set out for a certain shock value, with “Lords” Zombie has given us a very atmospheric, almost trippy film that borrows elements from such other masters of horror as Cronenberg, Polanski and Lynch.   

If “Lords of Salem” was made in the 1970’s (perhaps even as late as 1981) then it would have been hailed as an iconic horror film, much in the same way as such other greats of the genre of that time, as Dario Argento’s “Suspiria”, “Rosemary’s Baby” or even that of Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining”. Sadly, however, the film finds life in 2013 where most of the audiences that will go and see it will neither understand or have the patience for Zombie’s latest creation.

We find ourselves following along the life of DJ Heidi Hawthorn (aka Heidi LaRox), played by Sheri Moon Zombie, living life in Salem, Massachusetts, as night time radio’s hottest DJs. When One night after a show with her cohorts and hosts Herman ‘Whitey’ Salvador (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Herman Jackson (Ken Foree), Heidi receives an old wooden box containing a vinyl record and a note saying it is from the band The Lords. Heidi takes the box home, and while she and Whitey are hanging around Heidi’s apartment, Whitey plays the record. The music is mostly made up of string instruments being played in some strange rhythmic beat. The music, however, invokes a vision of days past for Heidi (and that of Salem) who sees what happens to a coven of supposed “real” witches back in the days that would get you killed for practicing or even being accused of witchcraft. The next night Herman puts the record up for the typical radio gig of Smash or Trash, dubbing the band The Lords of Salem. However, those women that are descendants of Salem that are listening to the show are hypnotised by the sound; stopping what they are doing entranced. Much in the sameway Heidi was the night before. Unaware at the time, the music triggers something inside Heidi that sends her spiraling out of control as she begins to see and deal with things that can not possibly be real.

Like many 70’s films of the like, and while the film is set in modern day it has a definite 1970’s feel to it, Zombie does as little as possible in the way of character development. Just giving you the bare essentials (Early in the film we see Heidi taking shots with her co-hosts after the job only later to find out that she is a recovering junkie. A fact sort of come into play later in the film.) of backstories for them. Replaced instead with more backstory when it comes to plot. Although, that does not take away from the film. Zombie gives just as much as needed and doesn’t get bogged down in useless or over dialogued scenes. Which is good. While I do not mind (as others) that Zombie puts his wife Sheri in all his films, her acting is quite limited, and at times with this film it is painfully so. As Zombie stretches Sheri Moon’s acting ability and is a far cry from what she has done before. Zombie also has abandoned the shaky, handheld almost documentary style of camera work from his previous films. Replaced now with thought out scenes shot on steady cameras using 35mm film; fantastic lighting and set designs with a moving, moody score that draws the viewer inside this strange world where a sect of ancient witches are hell bent in bring the Devil’s child into our world. The plot is nothing new when it comes to this style and genre but Zombie makes it his own.

I can see the influences that Zombie has when it comes to horror. “Lords” is much in the way of “Rosemary’s Baby” was when it comes to subject matter; “The Shining” where the tension builds through the slow pace of the film helped with a heavy score; scenes that highlighted (while not of the 70’s, but just as insane) “Twin Peaks”. Though if it were made by Argento instead of Lynch.

“Lords of Salem” took me a little while to absorb. I was lucky enough to have seen it in an empty theater with no distractions that plague today’s movie going experience, because in my opinion (an opinion that Rob Zombie will only half agree with) is that this film, to get the true experience, needs to be seen in the theater. Although a mostly, if not fully, empty theater. I believe the impact of the visuals will be lost when it comes to BluRay, and won’t lend the same stimulation of the cortex of the mind that of the big screen.

Like with Sheri Moon, we find the usual Rob Zombie stand ins. Although, timeout if you blink you will miss Sid Haig and Michael Berryman. The real standout, acting wise, is Jeff Daniel Phillips (aka the Geico Caveman). Phillips brings forth a certain reality and believability to his character.

Love it or hate it, Zombie, with “Lords of Salem, does exactly what he sets out to do with the audience with the visuals, the sound and added factor of a creepy-ass, empty theater: the film sits with you long after it is finished. Leaving to think and discuss with others about what the hell you have just sat through.

I give, even though most will disagree, “Lords of Salem” 4 out of 5 severed heads.

Until Next time...            

Bill & Ted Have a Naked Lunch. My Review for "John Dies at the End"

From blog to book to screen, the evolution of David Wong’s “John Dies at the End” has been pretty much a writer’s dream. And with the sequel to “John” in bookstores now (Wong has said the story is going to be a trilogy), and after viewing the film last night, I wonder if there will be a second one. Or if there is really any need.

The story of “John Dies at the End” unfolds as David (Chase Williamson) is relating the facts to a reporter (Paul Giamatti) of the events some events that took place and how he and his best friend, John played by Rob Mayes (in both movie & the book they come as a modern day Bill & Ted) deal with the strange goings on in their Midwest town. It hasn’t always been this way, mind you. They don’t even realize the weirdness that goes on behind the scenes of life, taking place just out of the corner of your eyes, until they meet the weird Jamaican that does magic tricks and reads minds for beer one night at a party. While Dave turns out to be the smart one, leaving the party with his newly found dog (the dog belongs to Amy, a one handed girl who lost him after he bit the Jamaican), whereas John meets up with mad Reggae guy and heads off to a coffee shop with several others.

Later that night John calls David telling him he is stuck in house by this weird creature. David, thinking that John is tripping on bad drugs, heads over to John’s apartment where the two make a mad dash out of the place. David not sure what the hell is going on and what John has taken wants to head to the hospital. John nixes the idea and the two wined up at an all night diner where John tells David about the Jamaican and a drug called the Soy Sauce. And that John believes that he has been traveling through different times. Things go from bad to worse as David finds out that the drug opens doors to different dimensions and that beings from the other side are planning to take over Earth. And now that David & John have learn about this, it all falls on their shoulders to prevent this hostile take over.

Now we find out that the Jamaican and almost everyone else that went to party with are dead except for a select few. The cops are on the case and some douche-bag, wannabe white rapper has been possessed by the other side and has began kidnapping all the survivors...

I don’t want to give too much away. But I found the movie rather a mess. There is a lot that goes on the novel and i figured that they would have to cut large chunks of it and molde things together. Which is fine. All adaptations from books to film take those liberties. However, with “John”, and while the first half of the movie stays pretty faithful to the first quarter of the book, highlighting some major points, the film as a whole felt cobbled together & rushed. There is never any real development of the story and why certain things are happening and will happen. Especially in the beginning as the film tries to stay true to the beginning of the book, although, it comes off confusing if you haven’t read it.Also there is very little character development. We learn very little about David and John and nothing at all about the rest of the cast. Even that of Amy who plays a pivotal role in the story.

All and all “John Dies at the End” is just okay (which sucks because I was really looking forward to this film), expecting much more from Don Coscarellie who brought us great films as "Bubba Ho-Tep" & "Phantasm" . And while it has the feel of Bill & Ted meets Naked Lunch, in the end it mostly comes off as a “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell” adaptation than the one it really deserves.  

I give “John Dies at the End” 2 and half severed heads out of 5. Read the book. You’ll enjoy the story a whole lot more.     

Fade To Black (1980) My Eightieth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

The late 70’s and early 80’s horror was on the cusp of something truly great and it is unfortunate that the decade got so bogged down with endless retreads of the same old characters and the same old stories that horror genre is still trying to pick up the pieces as Hollywood has now decided to remake all those money makers from the 80’s. So for today’s pick for my Must See Movies for the Halloween Season: “Fade to Black” is truly a lost classic.

Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher) is a shy, quiet person who is obsessed with movies to the point that he would rather spend his life sitting in a darken theater than deal with the real world. A fact that makes Eric look rather odd to most people, and with people like Eric they quickly become a target for people (bullies really, and one of which is a rather young, and rather normal looking Mickey Rourke) that do not understand him. And with any good obsession it turns into something more along the lines of psychosis after Eric crosses the path with a young blonde bombshell Marilyn O’Connor (Linda Kerridge) that reminds Eric of his favorite on screen legend, Marilyn Monroe.

The two hit it off after a chance meeting in a dinner, and set up to meet later that night. Unfortunately, Marilyn stands up (unintentionally) Eric who then feels that he has been duped once again by people that don’t understand him and want too. Sending Eric along a path homicidal rage and the need for revenge against all that have he believes done him wrong. But like any true cinematic nut job Eric wants to it in style and dresses up as some of his favorite characters from some of his favorite films.

Eric starts with his wheel-chair bound bitch of an aunt Stella, sending her rolling down a flight of stairs ala 1947’s “Kiss of Death” to a more glorious kill of a prostitute that once snubbed his advances (how fucking sad is that when a hooker makes fun of you?) dressed as Count Dracula. And the fun stuff is just beginning leading to an ultimate climax that is the stuff of Hollywood legend.

A real must see for Halloween.

Until next time…  

The review for "Lovely Molly"

It can be said that Eduardo Sanchez knows how to set up a movie in the realm of suspense that few (and for the budget) can seem to do. From “Blair Witch” to “Altered” to “Seventh Moon”. And newest film, “Lovely Molly” is no different.

Molly (the gorgeous Gretchen Lodge) and her new husband, Tim (Jonny Lewis) move into hMolly’s old family home, formally owned by her now deceased father, and lies pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The house holds painful memories long locked away inside Molly but it doesn’t take much time for those memories to start to resurface.

Tim is a long haul truck driver who is on the road for days at a time, leaving Molly alone to her own devises, which isn’t the smartest thing because Molly is a former heroin addict struggling to stay clean and sober. But as the lonely days and nights increase, Molly starts to feel that she is not alone on the property, as she starts, at first, hearing things around the house at night. The strange occurrences turn into something more physical and Molly has a hard time keeping it all together. Feeling the pressure that she may be going crazy or maybe there is something truly happening to her, Molly turns to her sister, Hannah (Alexandra Holden) then to her husband and try to explain what she think is going on, however, neither believe much in what she has too say causing Molly to go back to her old habits of drugs which just compounds the problem. Only now does anybody take notice that Molly is suffering, so her sister and husband turn to their local pastor for help, which was about as useless as one might think. All of which ends in one of the more “What the Fuck” (a term I actually found myself saying out loud) endings, as it comes to a truly horrific head, where nobody is safe.

As I watched “Lovely Molly”, I kept wanting to compare it too “Silent House”, but with Sanchez at the helm “Lovely Molly” was a stronger more disturbing film when it comes down the subject at hand.

One I highly recommend.

I give it 3 out 4 severed heads on my rating scale.

Rec 3 : Genesis-Review One Wild and Fun Ride

“[REC] 3: GENESIS” is the third installment in the highly successful “[REC]” series. In case you are not completely familiar with “[REC]”, the American remake of it was called “Quarantine” which is basically a shot for shot remake of the original “[REC]” (although “Quarantine 2” deviates from “[REC] 2”).

The original “[REC]” follows a female reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman (Pablo Rosso) as they basically do a fluff story on firemen and paramedics, who then fatefully end up going on a call at an apartment building for an unresponsive woman.

Upon arrival the fire crew hear screams coming from an apartment, the woman appears to be crazy and having some type of melt down. From there things go from bad to worse as the residents find themselves being sealed inside the building do to some sort of outbreak which the authorities are vague in explaining, even to their own people inside. The infection begins to spread thru the group that is locked in, making them come across as rage-filled (think “28 Days Later”) zombie-like creatures that move fast and attack in a second, and with each attack the infection spreads. In “[REC] 2” we follow as a SWAT team enters the building to asses the situation, along with a group of adventurous teens who find a back way in.

Both “[REC]” and “[REC] 2” are shot in POV so the action develops as the camera rolls and we see it first hand as the participants do, and whereas “Quarantine” is practically the same film as the first “[REC]” the two films deviate from each other over what causes the infection. In the American version of the infection is a super sized type of the Rabies virus made by a doomsday cult hell bent of destroying the world, and in the original Spanish version the infection is steeped in religion where a doomsday cult hell bent on destroying the world has figured out a way through exorcisms for the devil to come into our world and start Judgment Day.

Which takes us to “[REC] 3: GENESIS”. “Genesis” begins on the same day as the first two films only that it starts hours before and at a completely different location, and like the first two films begins in the POV style filming as we follow the wedding of Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martín), in fact the whole first twenty minutes of the movie is just like raw footage you would have from an actual wedding. As we are introduced to the party goers who are destined to become the horde of psychotic possessed zombies we are shown who is to be patient zero of it all while they are still normal, tying in the first “[REC]” nicely because patient zero works at the same vet where the infected dog from the building of the first film was from.

You get your usual junk cuts and shaky camera work that is to be expected from using hand held camera as we watch the set up too and the wedding itself all the way up to the reception (on side note I might add if this is how Spanish weddings are, I so want to go to one). But as things go south and the shit hit’s the fan with zombies, the POV camera (and since if you are watching this film you more-than-likely know how the filming will be) that has become a staple of the “[REC]” series suddenly changes. We now go from POV to a more traditional style of film making. And at first I got the impression that maybe it was going to go back and forth from the two. Alas, while I, personally thought it would be cool, it is given up pretty quickly for a straight shot.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, because the “[REC]” series is like an onion and the more layers they peel away the more layers there are. Although I want to add that while films one and two were dead serious this third film brings in a lot of dark comedy to the series that works quite well with all that is happening, and the comedy doesn’t over step it’s bounds like it can and has been the case with plenty of horror films. When something funny happens it is usually followed by something really horrible.

In the end I found “[REC] 3 GENESIS” a fun and wild ride and a must see for those who have seen the series and like these types of horror movies and that it fir nicely with the first two films making yearn all the more for “[REC] 4 apocalypse.”

The only real problem I had with this “[REC]” is that some of the zombies shambled and moved slower than they did in the previous films.

I give “[REC] 3” 4 out of 5 severed heads.