Last week, it was announced that The Lords of Salem received an R rating. While many people read the news without questioning it, my first thought was "what did they have to cut?"
I saw the movie this past September during TIFF and thought it would be very difficult to achieve an R rating as is, specifically due to a couple of sexual priest scenes. Now, it has been revealed that the movie has received some cuts in order to avoid an NC-17.
Last Friday, Rob Zombie posted the following to his official Facebook page: Finally THE LORDS OF SALEM gets an R rating! It will carry the rating -- Rated R for "Disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and some drug use"
He appeared later that night at the NYC Horror Film Festival and answered questions about the movie. We don't have a specific release date yet, but it looks we'll see the movie by April, 2013: "The Lords of Salem will be out in about four months maybe..."
Rob Zombie then announced that the film had just received an R rating, saying that "everyone says make it NC-17, but if it was NC-17 it would play in one theater..." When asked what he left out, he mentioned that a "masturbating priest scene" was cut, but didn't go into details about any additional edits that may have been required. Someone in the audience brought up a director's cut and it seemed like that may be a possibility.
Anchor Bay acquired The Lords of Salem shortly after its premiere at TIFF. We're expecting a limited theatrical release in March/April, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release that will hopefully included an unrated version. We'll be sure to follow up on this story with official release details as soon as they become available. To learn more about the movie, check out the synopsis, coverage links, and trailer below:
“Heidi, a blonde rock chick, DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the ‘Big H Radio Team’.
A myserious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, ’a gift from the Lords’. She assumes it’s a rock band on a mission to spread their word. As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords’ record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma.
Later, Whitey plays the Lords’ record, dubbing them the Lords of Salem, and to his surprise, the record plays normally and is a massive hit with listeners. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon Heidi and her cohorts find that the gig is far from the rock spectacle they’re expecting: the original Lords of Salem are returning, and they’re out for BLOOD.”
The Lords of Salem stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Patricia Quinn, Sid Haig, Michael Berryman, Judy Geeson, Bruce Davison, Ken Foree, Dee Wallace, Meg Foster, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Jeff Daniel Phillips.
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