Rob Zombie's 'The Lords of Salem' Makes East Coast Debut at CinemaSalem

It seems like ages ago when Rob Zombie's crew was in the city shooting "The Lords of Salem."

But the wait is over. The horror film made its East Coast debut Wednesday night at CinemaSalem. That's well in advance of the film's general release on Friday.

The film is set in present-day Salem, and you'll see a lot of the city in the finished product. That is, if you don't have your hands over your eyes the whole time.

Zombie has told interviewers that this film isn't violent like his well-known butcher-fests "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects." Instead this one offers psychological horror.

Zombie says reading a book about the witch trials was the impetus for the movie, but that it doesn't aim at any kind of factual portrayal of history.

The plot involves a Salem DJ who unleashes an ancient curse. She might be going crazy or dark forces may be coming back to punish Salem for the events of 1692. "Possessing the souls of Salem women" apparently also comes into play. And if goat sacrifice offends you, you might want to see a different movie.

Some locations Zombie visited during his shoots included the Salem Willows Pier, Greenlawn Cemetery, the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall, the Witch Trials Memorial, Engine House Pizza and Essex Street by Hamilton Street.

The film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival back in September. Audiences at SXSW in Austin, Texas saw it in March. It opens to general release on Friday, including a run at Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers.

We've attached a YouTube trailer for the film.

We also have to give a hat tip to Salem Patch readers Sean Burque and Pamela Captain, who tipped us off that the sneak preview was happening at CinemaSalem.

Burque left this mini-review on our Facebook page: "Definitely lots of Salem, but to be honest, the movie was unbearably bad. And I am a HUGE fan of Rob Zombie's other movies....So disappointed."

Here at Salem Patch we've had fun following this project. Here are some of our previous stories about the film.

• Home Used in Rob Zombie Movie is For Sale
• Is Rob Zombie's "Lords of Salem" Done?
• That's a Wrap: Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem" Shoot [PHOTOS]