Review: The Lords of Salem (2013)

Radio DJ Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) receives a record from the self proclaimed “Lords of Salem” which features a strange mixture of notes repeating themselves. When played, it places certain women in Salem in a trance in addition to having an adverse affect on Heidi. Is the DJ going insane, or is she being targeted by a coven of long dead witches for a specific evil purpose?

The Lords of Salem is a “but” movie as in, this would have been really good…but. There’s something off about the film, even though I really appreciate what director Rob Zombie was going for here. It’s got that creepy vibe that’s present in some of the great (or at least more interesting) films of the late 1960s and early 1970s that I love like Rosemary’s Baby and Let’s Scare Jessica to Death.

But…

At times the film feels a little self indulgent with excess that, if toned down a bit, might have resulted in a far superior film. As it stands, The Lords of Salem, like all Zombie films, is interesting but it doesn’t quite reach the level of greatness that House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects (the latter of which is not just Zombie’s best film, but an exceptional horror film overall) did. Zombie seems more interested in style over substance here and it damages the finished product.

I’d recommend The Lords of Salem because I truly think Zombie is an interesting visionary whose films deserve an audience. However, I’d like to see him invest more time in developing a script with a stronger story and characters that we care about before applying his unique talents to committing it to film.

The Lords of Salem grade: C+

Preview: April Ghouls Drive-In Monster-Rama

Those of you in or around the North Vandergrift area of Pennsylvania are in for a real treat this weekend! The second annual April Ghouls Drive-In Monster-Rama is slated for Friday, April 25th and Saturday, April 26th at the Riverside Drive-In.

Located about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh, the Riverside Drive-In will open its gates at 7pm both nights with a quadruple bill of classic horror films scheduled to begin at dusk. The prints are all 35mm and the lineup is as follows:

Friday, April 26th

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)–Loosely based on actual events, the film is set in 1946 Arkansas with a Texas Ranger hunting a hooded serial killer.

Carrie (1976)–Adapted from the novel by Stephen King, Carrie tells the story of a high school girl with telekinetic powers tormented by fellow classmates.

Suspiria (1977)–Dario Argento directed this bloody classic about a young student who attends an acclaimed ballet school only to realize it’s populated by witches.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)–Savages attack a family after they break down in a desolate area. An early Wes Craven gem!

Saturday, April 26th

Halloween (1978)–Michael Myers escapes from a psychiatric hospital and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield to wreak havoc on the residents.

The Beast Within (1982)–A teenage boy that was the product of a rape between a creature and a woman begins to exhibit strange behavior in this film inspired by the horror novel by Edward Levy.

Phantasm (1979)–Don Coscarelli’s classic featuring a boy and his friends who face off against an otherworldly tall man, his killer silver spheres, and an army of tiny creatures. On a personal note, THIS is the one I would really want to see on the big screen, then stay for…

Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1973)–An acting company travels to a small island and perform a satanic ritual with a corpse named Orville in an attempt to raise the dead. A campy (and ultimately scary) venture from Bob Clark of Black Christmas, A Christmas Story, and Porky’s fame.

Ticket information can be found here but please contact them for confirmation on special events. If you have the chance to catch this eclectic group of fantastic horror films, take it! You won’t be disappointed.

Review: Fright Night on Channel 9: Saturday Night Horror Films on New York’s WOR-TV 1973-1987 by James Arena

It might be difficult for those born after the late 1980’s to comprehend, but there was a time when you were limited in terms of the availability of television programming. Viewers had a handful of options then as opposed to thousands now (not even counting internet content). Until the advent of cable, local stations and three major networks reigned supreme and your UHF stations pulled in signals from only a few hundred miles away (which is why, in Pittsburgh, we had the great WUAB out of Cleveland).

When cable arrived, more stations became available but it was still a far cry from what we have today. One of the blessings we received in Pittsburgh was New York’s WOR-TV which was one of the first cable “superstations”. WOR will always hold a special place in my heart for its broadcasts of King Kong and Godzilla movies on Thanksgiving as well as the various afterschool movies (one of which was Psycho, scaring the hell out of me at an early age) that kept me company until dinner time. So when I became aware of James Arena’s Fright Night on Channel 9: Saturday Night Horror Films on New York’s WOR-TV 1973-1987, I knew that it was a must read.

Fright Night on Channel 9 is a labor of love for Arena, a horror film junkie who was weaned on WOR’s late night offerings of lurid tales of monsters, murderers, and mayhem. In an exhaustively researched and documented book, Arena not only details the programming evolution of WOR but also provides his own insight in regard to each and every offering of the entire Fright Night lineup from its inception to its demise in 1987.

Arena’s assertion that he kept meticulous notes of the films broadcast during the Saturday viewings rings true in his recollection, thorough description, and insight into each and every movie. He also traces the erratic offerings of Fright Night on a weekly basis, even noting when the broadcast was delayed or preempted (there certainly seemed to be a lot of telethons back then for some odd reason).

Fright Night on Channel 9 will undoubtedly appeal only to certain readers, primarily those older TV viewers who fondly recall the bygone days when you could snap on the bulky tube televisions and be treated to either a classic film or something completely bizarre in the wee hours of the morning. However, the book’s glance at the transitional years of television at a major station will also be of interest to those who enjoy traveling back to a simpler time.

Though I don’t recall ever having had the pleasure of watching WOR’s Fright Night, I do remember both the amazing programming WOR had to offer as well as the old blocks of time local stations devoted to airing old horror movies (in Pittsburgh, it was Chiller Theater with Bill “Chilly Billy” Cardille). For genre fans like me and Arena, these broadcasts were a vital part of our childhood and provided hours of entertainment.

If you’re a horror fan, regardless of whether or not you had access to WOR, you should give Fright Night on Channel 9 a look. It will bring back a lot of memories and a smile to your face.

Fright Night on Channel 9 grade: B+

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Review: ‘American Horror Story: Coven’

Let me begin by saying that the American Horror Story series is arguably the most fun hour of television. Throughout its first three seasons, the series has incorporated moments of high camp, scenes of intense gore, twists aplenty, and some of the best performances by the entire ensemble. AHS has continually pushed the envelope, especially for a series on a cable network, and is groundbreaking because it paved the way for other series which feature intense imagery and high concept stories (at best, NBC’s Hannibal and at worst, FOX’s The Following). At this point, it’s hard to find a better group of actors who relish their roles and put 100% of their energy into selling a concept as much as the company on AHS and I look forward to the scenery chewing every week.

Since the third season, entitled American Horror Story: Coven, premiered back in October, it’s been a joy to watch.

That said, the parts of AHS: Coven were better than the whole.

When the season began, it started off promising. In New Orleans, a witches’ coven masquerades as an upscale academy for young girls, one of whom will eventually become the next “supreme” and usurp the aging Fiona (Jessica Lange) as the new leader. Under the tutelage and guidance of Fiona’s daughter, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson), select students (played by Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Jaime Brewer and Gabourey Sidibe) would develop their powers until one proved themselves worthy as the new “supreme”.

Then, in the rich tradition of AHS, things got increasingly weird and interesting. The resurrected spirit of a saxophone playing serial killer known as the “Axeman” (Danny Huston) was let loose upon the city; the girls created a Frankenstein monster out of a college frat boy (Evan Peters); and antagonists Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) and voodoo queen Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) were tossed into the mix to create even more friction.

And that’s not even scratching the surface of the multiple storylines AHS: Coven tried to juggle this season, which also featured a minotaur, witch hunters, and the spirit of a powerful voodoo deity, Papa Legba (Lance Reddick).

The big problem with AHS: Coven was that, unlike the previous seasons, many of the stories either became convoluted or hit dead ends at various points during the season. There really was no big showdown between Fiona’s coven and the powerful Laveau. The wealthy and powerful witch hunters were barely fleshed out and disposed of rather easily, considering they were looked upon as a force to be reckoned with early on. And everyone came back from the dead which undercut any tension there might have been among those vying for the title of “supreme”.

Overall, the individual episodes were lavish and stylishly shot (thanks to the array of directors, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon particularly nailing it with every effort) and beautiful to look at. Add to that the fact that each and every actor delivered sparkling, crafty dialogue until it crackled and came alive, making each performance and character memorable (hell, I would love to see a Papa Legba series!). Finally, I admire that each season (and AHS: Coven particularly) focuses on female empowerment, allowing these very talented actresses to shine. More often than not, there aren’t enough quality roles for women on TV, but AHS creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk ensure that there are plenty of opportunities to showcase their craft each and every year.

Though there are a lot of things I loved about AHS: Coven, it ultimately proved to be unsatisfying, allowing really only one character (Cordelia) to have any sort of arc and even that seemed a bit forced, especially in the finale, “The Seven Wonders”. The season seemed to be less of a coherent narrative and more of a “What oddity can we toss in to stretch the story?”. The latter worked well in previous seasons but the story remained compelling throughout AHS: Murder House and AHS: Asylum; the oddities only added to the fun rather than act as a distraction.

I’ll definitely return for season 4, but I hope the writers are better able to focus on more substance to complement the style.

American Horror Story: Coven grade: C-

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