I’m always going to be cautious but curious when it comes to Rob Zombie the director. He hasn’t made a film yet that’s fully worked for me, and yet sometimes he definitely seems to know what he’s doing. Rob Zombie the screenwriter, however, is a problem. He’s like the grungy M. Night Shyamalan. I’d be eager to see Zombie take a crack at something that he’s not able to foul up with his ridiculous dialogue and tiresome “let’s feel for the bad guy” sensibilities; LORDS OF SALEM, which was announced back in September, might be that picture, although of course we’ll have to wait and see.
The film, which Zombie is currently writing and hopes to direct in the spring, is set in contemporary Salem, where the inhabitants receive a demonic visit from a 300-year old coven of witches. Sounds cool enough, as long as the witches don’t talk like Kid Rock. Zombie sat down with Billboard and spoke a bit about how the project came together, and how he’ll be involved in a capacity other than writer/director.
“They came to me and wanted to work together,” Zombie says about the producers, the team behind PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. “I didn’t even have an idea at the time. They were like, ‘If you want to make a movie, if you have an idea we will give you complete control over casting, the script, the final cut of the picture — everything. You never heard that. Nobody hears that. Everything’s a battle, but these guys were like, ‘That’ll be our deal with you.’ And I was like, ‘Great!’ “
Zombie also talks about why the idea is near and dear to him: “I grew up in Massachusetts, so the Salem witch trials and all that was always very prevalent. Even when I was a little kid, you take a school field trip and go to Salem to the witch museums and watch re-enactments of the witch trials. I always found it fascinating, so I started writing an idea about…this group of five witches that were killed back then and have come back to modern day Salem to seek revenge.”
Finally, Zombie mentions he might ultimately score the film too. “I’ve been thinking about the music in this movie early, early on. We’ll probably do the score this time out — not rock music, but a score. I know I want music to play a large role.”
Keep it here for more LORDS OF SALEM info as it comes in.