The Lords of Salem may be Rob Zombie’s most underrated horror film, but it features the director branching out into exciting supernatural territory; there’s even the chance that the evil depicted in the movie is a precursor for Zombie’s Halloween movies.
It may not have been the director’s intention, but between Rob Zombie’s two Halloween movies and his Devil’s Rejects trilogy, he’s become a filmmaker who works within the framework of larger series. Zombie has shown a passion for returning to old characters and expanding upon the stories that he’s told in new ways, which is what makes Lords of Salem such a curious deviation in Zombie’s filmography. Lords of Salem plays with many of the same ideas that fascinate Zombie in all of his movies, but it’s billed as a standalone story from the director.
Lords of Salem looks at Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a down and out DJ who becomes the obsession of a cult of witches after she encounters a Satanic record. Lords of Salem sees Zombie play around with the occult and witchcraft in creative ways and tell a story that feels bigger than his previous horror films. Part of what makes Lords of Salem such an entertaining effort from Rob Zombie is that it’s not bogged down by the baggage of other films and it’s allowed to just tell a bleak self-contained horror story. In spite of the original nature of this story, Rob Zombie has also been candid about how The Lords of Salem could be interpreted as a kind of prequel to one of his other film series.
Rob Zombie’s Lords Of Salem Might Be A Prequel To His Halloween Films
The Lords of Salem may stand on its own, but Rob Zombie has spoken about how it can also be viewed as a spiritual and thematic precursor to his Halloween movies. Both Lords of Salem and Zombie’s Halloween films explore the same idea of generational evil and innocent people becoming the conduit for an ultimate evil that’s much bigger than them and their understanding. The situation that Heidi is caught in that's vastly beyond her control is not unlike what Michael, or even Laurie in Halloween II, succumb to. They're all just unwilling puppets to greater forces that suddenly activate them.
Additionally, the witchcraft and gateways that are opened up in Lords of Salem could be seen as a precursor for the surreal events that continue to strongly affect individuals within the Halloween movies. The film also ends with Heidi giving birth to a demonic God, which is followed by her disappearance. While it's unlikely, perhaps Heidi was even used to give birth to Michael or Michael's mother shares some kind of cosmic connection to her. The fact that Sheri Moon Zombie plays both Heidi and Michael Myers' mother could just be a coincidence since Rob Zombie likes to cast his wife, or it could represent a deeper connection between these two characters.
This is certainly possible considering that Zombie made The Lords of Salem between production on his two Halloween movies and he went into the film actively thinking of it as a spiritual and metaphorical precursor to those films. Halloween’s aesthetic and atmosphere get worked into the movie, whether intentional or not. There are even a bunch of creepy masks on display that could give Michael Myers a run for his money, further blurring the lines here.