“Disappointed... but might give it a second watch” – Final Grade: B
Mixed feelings
walking away from this one, and I'm pretty certain I'm not alone in
that. Though I have tremendous respect for Zombie as a filmmaker, I
hate to say that I think he may have missed the mark here. A great
original idea based around the legendary folklore of the 17th
century salem witch trials, LOS gets an A+ in the area of unnerving
it's audience with disturbingly dark imagery, but barely passes the
grade in providing a cohesive story with a proper arc that doesn't
leave the viewer feeling frustrated or confused. Though I respect
Zombie for not spoon-feeding his audiences, here I felt we truly did
need a little more. Unfortunately I was also very unimpressed with
the “satanic” score by John 5, which was more annoying than
frightening. On a positive note, Zombie is clearly tipping his hat
to Kubrick with this film, and that I appreciate. BUT... I'm afraid
he may have failed to achieve that eerie and haunting undercurrent
which Kubrick so successfully achieved in The Shining. I'd
say this is a valid addition to the rather small collection of
original modern horror stories and should be appreciated in a world
of endless remakes & reboots. Yet still, I'm not quite sure this
struck the precise chord that Zombie was hoping to strike with the
audience. In fact, from what I observed in people's reactions, it
was some very unpleasant music they heard.
