The Lords of Salem (film)

[Neil]

Personally I don't have much time for Rob Zombie, and this trailer, I'm afraid, does little to change that...

[LouCipherr]

Personally I don't have much time for Rob Zombie, and this trailer, I'm afraid, does little to change that... Umm, yeah. I'm going to pass on this one...

[Mike70]

Umm, yeah. I'm going to pass on this one... i'll second that. i have zero interest in rob zombie. i have never found anything he has done even remotely worthwhile.

[MinionZombie]

Well thus far I'm in a bit of a minority here. I have much more time for him, even though - while I enjoyed them - the Halloween movies he did had decided flaws. House of 1000 Corpses was a first film, so that naturally gets some slack, but The Devil's Rejects was superb. Much to Lou's annoyance I actually quite liked H2 - in spite of numerous gargantuan flaws - it was a movie that was half awful and half really cool ... so yeah, I've got this weird thing for H2, and it annoys Lou so much. Now - Lords of Salem - it looks very pretty, but it's plot I'm concerned about. I've read initial reactions from festival viewers and I've heard it's amazing to look at, but it's weak on the script ... so we'll see. I definitely want to see it, but I'm going in with trepidation.

[LouCipherr]

Much to Lou's annoyance I actually quite liked H2 - in spite of numerous gargantuan flaws - it was a movie that was half awful and half really cool ... so yeah, I've got this weird thing for H2, and it annoys Lou so much. Are you trolling me, MZ? *rolls up newspaper and prepares to strike* Yes it does annoy me! I'll never understand it - how can a movie 50% full of pure crap, 50% full of 'cool' and have "numerous gargantuan flaws" still be considered "likeable"? The only logical conclusion I can come to MZ is that your 'RZ gene' seems to be defective. I'll give him Devil's Rejects - that movie was fantastic if just for Bill Moseley's performance alone - but everything else? As far as Lords of Salem are concerned - it has a nice "look" to it (minus his wife, who I'm getting sick of seeing. NOTE TO ROB: your wife can't act, get her the fuck out of your movies!), but the story just seems so iffy, and based on his output so far, I don't give this one much hope of being decent.

[bassman]

The trailer doesn't do much for me, but i'll give it it's day in court. At the very least it could be House of 1000 Corpses, in the middle it could be Halloween, and at the best it could be Devil's Rejects.

[MinionZombie]

Lou - are you saying the only thing you liked about The Devil's Rejects was Bill Moseley? Another example of a half awful/half fun movie would be "Rubber" - half of it is so much genre fun, and half of it is the most pretentious horseshit I've seen in years. Likewise with H2, there are bits that are just idiotic - the first that I recall is one of the coroner's van drivers (the one who is overtly crass and talks about shagging the dead girl) - after the crash he's grunting and gasping and spewing up blood for ruddy ages and it's just downright weird ... another flaw is Loomis' entire arc, most specifically him being this hit author with a massive ego. I like the idea of him on a book tour as a result of his book after the events of the first film, but everything else is pretty bad ... on the other hand, when Annie gets killed and Sheriff Brackett (all these names are IIRC) arrives at the scene - in the director's cut - it's a powerful performance by Douriff, and the editing is great too, it's genuinely moving and the grief feels real ... also, widely speaking, the Director's Cut is decidedly better than the Theatrical Cut. There's time for those moments to land better, and while the side characters aren't that interesting, they're not the worst I've seen. I also enjoyed the hospital section of the movie, and the tweaked ending in the Director's Cut is definitely superior and actually quite memorable (for me at least). The movie's sloppy and has numerous weak parts throughout, but there are brilliant flashes of excellence throughout too. Is it indulgent? Yes, the whole Laurie going all emo/goth is a bit self-indulgent for example (now she likes all the movies and iconography that Rob Zombie digs ) ... but yeah, it's filled with flaws and weak parts, but it's also got numerous things I really dig about it. He's done far better work in the past, but even still ... I have this weird attraction to the movie. RZ would definitely benefit from co-writing with someone who has a better sense of characterisation and plot propulsion, and perhaps by the looks of the Lords of Salem trailer, a deeper sense of story. We'll see, but I have heard that TLOS is light on story/plot, but very rich on visuals. Strange really, because The Devil's Rejects really showed what RZ can do, and yet he's been faltering in his filmmaking efforts since, even though I've continued to find stuff I dig about his flicks.

[LouCipherr]

Lou - are you saying the only thing you liked about The Devil's Rejects was Bill Moseley? No, I meant that the movie was fantastic even if you took just Moseley's performance alone. The movie, overall, was fantastic. Another example of a half awful/half fun movie would be "Rubber" - half of it is so much genre fun, and half of it is the most pretentious horseshit I've seen in years. The difference is, Rubber meant to be that way. With H2, it was unintentional. I have this weird attraction to the movie. I can see that! ...and I still believe it is your RZ gene that is defective or has mutated. Strange really, because The Devil's Rejects really showed what RZ can do, and yet he's been faltering in his filmmaking efforts since, even though I've continued to find stuff I dig about his flicks. Agreed, too. Y'know, I have to admit, I did chuckle a bit at El Superbeasto, but that's as much as I'll give this dude.

[AcesandEights]

Man, the passion & contentious back and forth Rob Zombie has engendered in various threads around here has probably only been topped by Post-Land Romero and Zack Snyder. You guys almost make me wish I cared enough about Rob Zombie to have an opinion. Almost. That said, I still need to sit all the way through Devil's Rejects (can't remember why I had to stop watching the movie when I sat down to do so). I didn't sit all the way through his Halloween either, though it didn't seem bad for what is usually a pretty drek filled genre.

[LouCipherr]

Man, the passion & contentious back and forth Rob Zombie has engendered in various threads around here has probably only been topped by Post-Land Romero and Zack Snyder. You guys almost make me wish I cared enough about Rob Zombie to have an opinion. Almost. I think a lot of that is just me and MZ ribbing each other about these two flicks in particular. He likes RZ's H1 & H2, and me being a fanatic for the originals I can't stand what RZ did to them. MZ likes to poke me with a stick about them 'cause it's funny and he knows it'll get a reaction out of me. It's all in good fun though, and I certainly take it that way. I think MZ does too. If he didn't, I'm sure I'd be banned by now or he wouldn't talk to me. Hey, I can't fault MZ for liking H1 or H2 - I mean, his 'RZ gene' is defective after all, it's not his fault. Besides, this is coming from the dude (me) who thought "Rubber" was funny for what it was. I mean, really.. that right there disqualifies me as far as "good taste in movies" is concerned. As far as this "Lords of Salem" movie - I just fear that it will be more of the same from Rob. I think the dude does have potential - The Devil's Rejects proved that IMO, but everything else he has released has just seemed so half-assed and "for the money" it bugs me. Remember, this is the guy who was adamant that there would be no Halloween 2 and if there was, he wouldn't direct it. Funny how that changed when they waved enough money under his nose. Oh, and BTW, Aces, I think I must correct your "post-LAND" comment - it should have been stated as "post-DAY" Just sayin'... *runs and hides*

[MinionZombie]

I will qualify my remarks on H1 and H2 with the fact that I firmly hold Carpenter's movie as far superior to RZ's flick. I very much enjoyed RZ's take on Halloween, and my bizarre attraction to H2 has been well documented on these forums, but yeah - Carpenter's flick is far superior and indeed far more important cinematically. Even the original Halloween 2 is decidedly better than RZ's Halloween movies, but RZ's Halloween movies are good in their own right - it's not like they were proper full-on hardcore dreck like The Fog remake or, what's it called, you know the one, that movie that that slow-mo director guy made, it had zombies in it or something? Interestingly, the Director's Cut versions of H1 and H2 are both superior to their respective theatrical cuts. Out of interest Lou, even though it was only a fake trailer, what did you make of RZ's "Werewolf Women of the SS"?

[LouCipherr]

Interestingly, the Director's Cut versions of H1 and H2 are both superior to their respective theatrical cuts. Y'know what Dj and I discovered? The work print of H1 was much, much better than the theatrical cut. That being said, it was still a steaming pile but it was certainly cut and paced much better than the theatrical release. I haven't watched the Director's Cut yet (I am not a masochist!), however I'm curious MZ - did the Director's Cut of H1 have the institution "rape" scene in it? Where the two guards attempt to rape that one chick in Michael's room? I can see why RZ cut that, but I would also be surprised if it showed up in the DC as it was sort of out of place and really had no bearing on the story itself. Out of interest Lou, even though it was only a fake trailer, what did you make of RZ's "Werewolf Women of the SS"? Well... I have to be honest. I liked it the least out of all of the trailers in Grindhouse. Personally, I think Thanksgiving and Machete nailed it, followed by "Don't" (which was quite funny, but didn't remind me of the "grindhouse" days and trailers from yesteryear) and lastly, WWotSS. I'm not even saying that because I dislike RZ or anything, it just wasn't my favorite out of all of the ones in the flick.

[MinionZombie]

Yes, the DC version of H1 did have the rape scene in Michael's room. It was a bit strange/out of place in a way - I suppose it was a way to have his room unlocked so he could escape, and in-turn show off the nastiness of some of the staff there (you hear horror stories about these sort of things), but was it really necessary for inclusion? Institutional abuse wasn't really part of the plot of the early part of the movie (not at all really), so it does slow things down a bit, it would have been better if it was more a case of "let's goad the idiot" and then WHA-BLAM shit gets real, you know? I rather enjoyed the Werewolf Women of the SS trailer, but I do agree that Machete and Thanksgiving nailed the vibe/tone. I loved the Don't trailer, but that is definitely a bit more tongue-in-cheek, and besides, no actual grindhouse movie looked that good. I'd say that WWotSS was more a 'modern' take on the idea of grindhouse flicks, rather than trying to be a trailer for a grindhouse flick ... same with Don't, except Don't was really bloody cool. I dug all the trailers though. Interestingly WWotSS was a song on RZ's last album (which also had a song about Michael Myers), and IIRC The Lords of Salem was a song on the album before that.

[MinionZombie]

Okay so I finally got to see the film - and I rather enjoyed it. http://deadshed.blogspot.co.uk/2013/...-2012-dvd.html Indeed, it's been lingering in my mind since seeing it - which is always a good sign. What are your thoughts on my thoughts in the review, and has anyone else seen the flick yet (and if so - thoughts?)

[Neil]

Maybe I'll check it out then...