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The Lords of Salem

2012

Suspense/Thriller

Horror

1h 41m

Rock star-turned-horror maven Rob Zombie conjures up a nerve-wracking chiller involving Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a radio station DJ, who receives a wooden box containing a record, "a gift from the Lords." Heidi listens and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of Salem's violent past. Is Heidi going mad or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern day Salem? (tiff.net)

Directed by:

Rob Zombie

Written by:

Rob Zombie

Starring:

Bruce Davison

Maria Conchita Alonso

Dee Wallace Maria Olsen Jeff Daniel Phillips

Genres:

Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Countries:

Canada, UK, USA

Language:

English

More information at IMDb

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The Lords of Salem

2012

Suspense/Thriller

Horror

1h 41m

Your probable score

Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Avg Percentile 37.08% from 456 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

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Barthalen

Rated 05 Oct 2013

Starts off well enough and Sheri Moon is a decent protagonist for a while, but the film gets lost in its own faux-weirdness halfway through. (That was the most pretentious sentence I'll use all year, I promise) Too many scenes that were supposed to be unnerving just came off as goofy. Seeing a naked, potbellied dwarf with quivering fleshy tentacles doesn't make me gasp in terror, it just makes me think "I wonder what uncle Gerrit is up to these days".

Rated 05 Oct 2013

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Kojiless

Rated 21 Mar 2014

If they were all witches...then wouldn't that make them the Ladies of Salem? I have a feeling Satan tried to get Soleil Moon-Frye for the role of spawnmommy, but a Rolodex malfunction left him with Moon-Zombie.

Rated 21 Mar 2014

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amerigo

Rated 21 Apr 2013

Rob Zombie is a really good diner cook of horror. Like he makes really good scrambled eggs and his diner is always packed with fans of his work. But then he's 40 and doesn't really want everyone to think he's just a diner cook, so he opens up a fancy restaurant. And he's got recipes from all the big name chefs like Kubrick, Polanski, Cronenberg and you really wanna root for him, because he's trying so hard. And in theory all the ingredients are there, but it's all really bland and overcooked.

Rated 21 Apr 2013

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TheDenizen

Rated 19 May 2013

Rob Zombie's latest offering, it's a creepy mood piece about the modern descendant of a famous witch hunter who starts having Satanic hallucinations after hearing an ominous piece of music. Parts of this are quite good, including the creaky sound design and the hyperactive video collage that makes up the final 10 minutes, but Sheri Moon-Zombie is simply not a good enough actress to carry an entire film by herself. Also, I did not need to see a herd of naked old ladies.

Rated 19 May 2013

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AFlickering

Rated 03 May 2013

not a boundary-pusher, but i'm inclined to applaud anyone who's well-versed in genre lore and interested in representing that lore in primarily audiovisual terms. zombie slyly notes his own esoteric appeal with the near-empty theater at the climax, and there's no coincidence that it arrives during his most celebratory, uninhibited sequence. leave your god at the door or stay away, 'cause debauchery sugarcoated by a refined populist sheen ain't no debauchery at all.

Rated 03 May 2013

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overrated

Rated 29 Oct 2013

The first half of this was really great and made me excited that Rob Zombie had crafted a winning formula. Then around the point where the main character becomes a complete recluse, things get laughable at times which dispels the nice atmosphere that had been building. Still worth seeing for the imagery and music, and still the best thing Zombie's done.

Rated 29 Oct 2013

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Luna6ix

Rated 02 Dec 2016

Rob Zombie has heart, he lives and breathes his image, loves horror, so it make sense that he makes some horror movies too, but he is just not that good at it. I want to like his movies, but after House of 1000 Corpses, everything just went to crap. He managed to make the Halloween reboot worse that what it had degraded to in the previous 30 years, and now he comes out with this, which doesn't even have the benefit of a respectable budget. I'm sorry Rob, but we can't say you didn't try.

Rated 02 Dec 2016

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djross

Rated 26 Jun 2014

An attempt to transcend generic limits by more or less abandoning narrative beyond the most basic signposts, aiming instead for a kind of ritualised cinematic nightmare, all of which is fine as far as the ideas go, but the execution is unfortunately frequently amateurish and clunky, the consequence being that feelings of horror or dread fail to be conjured. Nice to see Maria Conchita Alonso in a small part, twenty-five years after THE RUNNING MAN and twenty-three years after VAMPIRE'S KISS.

Rated 26 Jun 2014

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Paxton

Rated 23 Apr 2013

The Shining meets The Cell by way of House of the Devil.

Rated 23 Apr 2013

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BillyShears

Rated 03 Dec 2013

Gonna slap some Mozart on this scene gonna be artsy as shit

Rated 03 Dec 2013

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Jasongirl67

Rated 25 Dec 2020

For the life of me I couldn't make any sense out of this movie Definitely not one of Zombies better films

Rated 25 Dec 2020

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hellsditch

Rated 18 Aug 2014

One of these days Zombie is going to make a great movie. Yet again he does just enough to make me a kinda believer before falling short. At least he reached beyond the rednecky/white trash exploitation junk he seems to revel in. Once he brought that tone to Halloween (of all things!) I had almost lost hope. Some creepy visuals (and some downright silly ones) but the same yawning chasm where an interesting narrative and characters should be. Never has a man loved the sight of his wife's ass more.

Rated 18 Aug 2014

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ABUNCHOFCATS

Rated 27 Aug 2013

Interesting concept that quickly runs out of steam. Not scary other other than a few jump scares.

Rated 27 Aug 2013

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muzak66

Rated 03 Oct 2013

Not really sure if what I watched was all that great but I thought it was damn good none the less and pretty crazy aswell. And Rob Zombie is damn good at directing horror movies.

Rated 03 Oct 2013

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DesertPunk

Rated 06 Apr 2014

I keep typing and retyping this review because I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to say about this. Rob Zombie is a weird dude, but he also has some of the strongest vision I've seen of any working director. Love it or hate it, this is his movie, and you're just along for the ride. Every disturbing, retro inch of it.

Rated 06 Apr 2014

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bob thrillin

Rated 23 Apr 2013

Pleasantly surprised. Despite the last 30 minutes (which are as intense as they are over-the-top), Zombie shows some remarkable restraint and focus on atmosphere for a modern horror film. Very little blood or gore, instead getting its scares from truly unsettling, surreal imagery. And come on son, Velvet Underground. It's not a great film by any means, and never approaches the Kubrick/Lynch/Russell influences it wears on its sleeve, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really impressed.

Rated 23 Apr 2013

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Vandelay1

Rated 28 Jul 2013

watchable

Rated 28 Jul 2013

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damil

Rated 28 Aug 2013

I wouldn't call it great, but I did like it. There were a bunch of really cool visuals, with nice cinematography. Zombie was clearly inspired by Kubrick (in particular, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut) and Rosemary's Baby. I wish he had tightened up the script a little, as the story gets a bit meandering and repetitive. & although I like Sheri Moon Zombie, she's simply not a strong enough actress to pull off a leading role like this. It's a frustrating experience, because it could've been better.

Rated 28 Aug 2013

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INDYATMN

Rated 13 Nov 2013

Zombie does a great job of sustaining a high level of creepiness for 90 minutes by welding spooky audio 2 powerful & arresting imagery (although let's be honest: using Christian iconography 2 do it is like shooting fish in a barrel). This is good news for Zombie since the story he tells offers not even slightly more depth than one told by a counselor at a campfire trying to frighten his young charges. It's all a first act: an hour and a half of building 2 a climax.

Rated 13 Nov 2013

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Suture Self

Rated 14 Jun 2016

Light, silly, and nonsensical. After the halfway point it becomes clear the narrative isn't going to make any sense, so expecting a real plot is something you should let go of in order to get any enjoyment out of what's happening. Something about the birth of the devil because witches casted a hex on some dude's bloodline in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. I wasn't entirely sold, which my score makes clear, but it's watchable, guilty pleasure horror stuff.

Rated 14 Jun 2016

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Ryan Lueders

Rated 12 Sep 2013

Not Rob Zombie's best. Not by a long shot. Still, I found it to be pretty interesting. I liked how he incorporated music into the horror genre. This film sort of reminded me what the Ring did with V/H/S tapes but they used vinyl records instead. Zombie's wife "Sheri Moon" did an ok job. I don't think she's good enough to be the main star of a film. I like her more in a supporting role like in the Devil's Rejects. The creepy factor was high and there were some gross nude old ladies. Be warned.

Rated 12 Sep 2013

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hotsake

Rated 15 Jul 2018

Odd and off beat and rather restrained for Rob Zombie. There might be an interesting movie here if it wasn't so damn boring. Not one single character in this movie acting remotely normal and the fact that there are only three plot threads that's a really big minus. Heidi, The three sisters and Francis are the only one who are even remotely fleshed out but they all still manage to feel one dimensional. Some decent imagery but turned into a music video I pretty much checked out.

Rated 15 Jul 2018

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Yiannos

Rated 27 Oct 2018

(Viewed on 10/12/13): Admirable failure by Zombie to create an intense audio-visual horror that veers towards abstraction. Despite some striking imagery, it rests too heavily on its influences (i.e. Kubrick, Polanski, Russell and Lynch) and casting his wife in the lead was a major miscalculation. She is passable in ensemble driven vehicles, but she can't carry a film and her lack of skill really hurts it. The droney score is really unsettling though, and the atmosphere is suitably 'occult'.

Rated 27 Oct 2018

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adornment

Rated 15 Oct 2018

Nicely suspenseful and wonderfully grotesque. However, I do tire of the whole animalizing niche groups like witches, or in the case of Wrong Turn, cannibals. It's far more terrifying to make them human, is it not? One of us that just blends in? Just some thoughts.

Rated 15 Oct 2018

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KramYessev

Rated 02 Jun 2013

This was my most anticipated horror of 2013, and, like most people will tell you, it's a little disappointing. There's far too many jump scares, the majority of the characters are obnoxious and there simply isn't enough acting talent to carry the film. However, HOLY FUCK THE VISUALS. This is some of the most impressive audiovisual work I've seen in a long, long time. It's by no means a great film, but it left me slack-jawed many times. Watch it with religious types and let the good times roll.

Rated 02 Jun 2013

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redacted

Rated 03 Nov 2013

Rob Zombie hustles his wife out in front of us in a week of preamble before she births Satan's son. Bounces between screech reveal tactics & a bizarre compilation of biblical/witch visuals all under-toned with straight-faced modern day Salem. Credit goes where it's due though as this film is spawned from a meagre 1.5 million dollar budget. Just feels like the plot is spread a bit thin, or is short changed by no real fallout from its climax.

Rated 03 Nov 2013

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wayofthegun

Rated 10 Jun 2014

I'm not too clear on the ending, but the movie was interesting and had the usual Rob Zombie weirdness. It was somewhat like Rosemary's Baby.

Rated 10 Jun 2014

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moraesfelipe

Rated 04 Apr 2020

It's incredible how Zombie got better with no handicam. He goes full slow-burn folk horror in this contemporary, Lynchian take on Salem's past. A former crystal meth addict DJ listens to "devil's music", which channels the curse of witches toasted by Hawthorne and now Moon's character - at her best - seems haunted to a fate of sacrifice and everlasting doom. Zombie's savage imagery feels both poetic and putrid, morbid and horny. Those apartment/hall shots are some of the best of his career

Rated 04 Apr 2020

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Mentaculus

Rated 31 Oct 2018

Is it so hard to believe some people actually believe this shit? Zombie seems to understand they do, and his earnestness gives the fucked up proceedings a righteous legitimacy. Admit it, your brain made up a Hail Satan at least once. That means it's working.

Rated 31 Oct 2018

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dst7175

Rated 12 Sep 2013

I will have nightmares from the old nude ladies in this movie.

Rated 12 Sep 2013

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YourNameHere

Rated 28 Apr 2014

Didn't do it for me.

Rated 28 Apr 2014

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Moribunny

Rated 30 Jan 2015

If you're a witch and some guy burns you at the stake, why the f would you curse his f-ing bloodline? Wouldn't you curse him so he himself will hurt in some tangible way? What the hell is the point of his distant future descendant birthing the devil or whatever?

Rated 30 Jan 2015

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Grouchy

Rated 15 Jun 2013

I keep expecting Zombie to direct some kind of Horror masterpiece but I guess he just doesn't have it in him. This was all right, though. Mozart's "Requiem" was put to very good use.

Rated 15 Jun 2013

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HP_Buttcraft

Rated 11 Aug 2013

Clearly straddling the line between genius and buffoonery. Doesn't qualify as a horror film because there were no parts that were scary. Just a lot of really well-shot creepiness.

Rated 11 Aug 2013

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chmul_cr0n

Rated 22 Aug 2017

Weird and cool and a bit boring.

Rated 22 Aug 2017

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bentien

Rated 24 Apr 2013

Starts out OK, and the scenes with Bruce Davidson are all very well done and entertaining. But everything else is so bad its funny which means this film could easily end up a cult classic in time.

Rated 24 Apr 2013

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SpookyMask

Rated 02 Dec 2020

This just a less fun Hocus Pocus.

Rated 02 Dec 2020

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ikkegoemikke

Rated 06 Sep 2017

This movie belongs in the WTF-league ... More reviews here : http://bit.ly/2qtGQoc

Rated 06 Sep 2017

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pilgermann

Rated 30 Jul 2014

The Lords of Salem comes so very close to being a great horror film but it feels like too many pieces are missing and it's too close to Rosemary's Baby territory. There some great set pieces like the delightful staircase scene with the bloated dwarf-demon-thing, and it's a generally great looking film. Meg Foster (who I didn't even recognize) really gives it her all as a gnarly old witch. Frustrating but worthwhile.

Rated 30 Jul 2014

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WWallce4prez

Rated 16 Jan 2018

As far as witch movies go, there are more dildos and profuse vaginal bleeding than Hocus Pocus.

Rated 16 Jan 2018

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SolomonBurrr

Rated 18 Nov 2020

51.3.

Rated 18 Nov 2020

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panzerwolf

Rated 24 Apr 2022

It was a lot more entertaining and engaging than I thought it would be. It starts out slow and eerie enough and the witch lore is always engaging. Sheri Moon is likeable enough as the main character and the slow descent to madness feels real enough. It does lose some of its drive for me towards the end, even if I did really like the bloody and kind of depraved imagery that suits the theme. It just didn't have quite the impact as I expect it should have had.

Rated 24 Apr 2022

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Kylos609

Rated 28 Apr 2013

Rob Zombie polarises critics and film goers at the best of times and I can happily say I fall on the side of enjoyment. Sadly this film completely disappoints. It feels like a cross between Rosemary's baby and the Shining with none of the charm. The film makes almost no sense and it truly comes to something when Sheri Moon's character arc is the best thing about the entire film.

Rated 28 Apr 2013

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PetrosTser

Rated 15 Jun 2019

What's most memorable about "The Lords of Salem" is the imagery Rob Zombie conjures. I've always been a fan of his aesthetic and this time he delivers again, pushing himself even further. Plot-wise though, despite the film being very intriguing in the beginning, as it progresses the tempo slows down and it becomes apparent that the story comes second to the images, revealing this as a rather experimental, and lacking, piece of cinema: striking shots over a lean script.

Rated 15 Jun 2019

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Trash Puppet

Rated 27 Apr 2013

Wtf Rob?? ;-; I expected more. Also, dat ass

Rated 27 Apr 2013

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Amygo

Rated 06 Dec 2019

Insultingly bad and not even remotely unsettling. Most of the moments I was just laughing out loud as the film tried desperately to depict some unholy imagery using mostly naked women (especially elderly) a flesh dwarf and a lot of blood, making everything look like what a 15-year-old would make if asked to create something "satanic and scary". The plot is also a disaster, even as an excuse for the horror scenes. Some points for the few cool visuals it presents and the average acting.

Rated 06 Dec 2019

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aferreira

Rated 30 Apr 2013

Not a horrible movie just not my kind of movie

Rated 30 Apr 2013

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FrancoGonzo

Rated 18 Feb 2016

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

Rated 18 Feb 2016

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glm01

Rated 26 Aug 2013

49.500

Rated 26 Aug 2013

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NothingsGood

Rated 24 Apr 2013

Watch Rosemary's Baby instead.

Rated 24 Apr 2013

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ninebreaker

Rated 28 Feb 2014

Huge miss by rob zombie. Super low budget for a movie and it shows. I hear it has femanist undertones and also you can watch it to see old naked women if that's your thing.

Rated 28 Feb 2014

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Mapplethorpe

Rated 06 Mar 2014

Rob Zombie's whole schtick of acknowledging his influences in his work is starting to come off as really derivative. There are some cool visuals in this, but generally it's nothing we haven't seen before, which completely takes away from any potential chills. The last twenty minutes, though, were satisfyingly insane.

Rated 06 Mar 2014

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jspidah

Rated 24 Oct 2013

This film gets better every repeat viewing, as I notice something else every time. It isn't Polanski, but it's just so bizarre and dreamlike.

Rated 24 Oct 2013

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SlantMag

Rated 19 Apr 2013

"Rob Zombie understands horror as an aural-visual experience that should gnaw at the nerves, seep into the subconscious, and beget unshakeable nightmares." - Nick Schager

Rated 19 Apr 2013

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TheDiceman

Rated 29 Jul 2013

Silly.

Rated 29 Jul 2013

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thalesacobra

Rated 22 Apr 2013

The plot in itself is very simple: slain witches plot revenge from beyond the grave on their executioners' offspring generations later. But the execution of the film itself is wholly difference, with scenes that look very Kubrick and others that are intensely Zombie's own horrific takes on the psychedelic. A lot of the movie seems plotting and is broken up into a sequence of days that just seem to drag on. It's a change of pace from the other Zombie originals.

Rated 22 Apr 2013

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auhasarderik

Rated 22 Apr 2023

Flat except for some visual bits and a climax that deserved a better movie.

Rated 22 Apr 2023

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methad1

Rated 17 Nov 2013

Reminds me of the decent horrors that were made in the 90's. Good use of visuals and audio with a couple of genuinely freaky bits.

Rated 17 Nov 2013

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TjlMovFrks23

Rated 09 Oct 2013

Rob Zombie certainly had a gift for making a stylish horror movie.as some of the scene in the movie had suggest.but some of it,went to far for mainstream cinema. it is a shame that he drew a similarity with "Rosemary Baby" which is by far fail to achieve.even though the premise is good enough that sparks an intrigue and for me sherie moon is pretty decent. in the end the storytelling felt short and pointless.instead, it only focus on being silly and unnecessary style over substance.

Rated 09 Oct 2013

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Amadeus

Rated 23 May 2013

I was hoping that this movie will be Lisa Marie's comeback and waited for a long time. I disappointed after The Devil's Rejects and Halloween remake. Right songs, wrong movie.

Rated 23 May 2013

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