A recent post in Reddit’s r/horror forum opened up a floodgate of fan opinions, good and bad, regarding one of the genre’s most divisive figures and one of his most disputed works. It turns out horror fans are more than willing to discuss the good, the bad, and the all too ugly of Rob Zombie‘s witch coven would-be master(?)piece, The Lords of Salem.
User implodingnerd may have gotten more info than they were counting on when they made an inquiry on opinions on Zombie’s 2012 production, and the fans didn’t hold back. Not surprising given that Lords of Salem has always received a mixture of opinions since its release ten years ago and currently holds a 57 percent rating on Metacritic, with opinions ranging from awesome to terrible.
The film was a bit of a departure for Zombie, and its focus on a radio DJ (played by Zombie’s wife and long-time muse, Sheri Moon Zombie) who becomes intertwined with a coven of Satan-worshipers is a few miles away from his normal territory of in-your-face gore-centric horror tinged with black comedy. User SlimShot801208 praises the film for its uncharacteristic bit of subtlety.
Other Zombie fans also appreciated the effort, praising the film’s subtler aesthetics.
Zombie even manages to pull in a few non-fans on the strength of the work, comparing it to Dario Argento’s giallo masterpiece, Suspiria.
However, many fans didn’t hold back in their negative feelings, straight up “noping” the movie out of consideration.
Despite the disagreement, many fans do agree that the film at least has the merit of being a step in a different direction for Zombie. Perhaps after the release of The Munsters, the film may seem less controversial.