Heidi, a DJ at a local radio station, receives a mysterious package containing a record from a band calling themselves "The Lords of Salem." When played on the air it seems to have a strange drug-like effect on Heidi and some of the town's female inhabitants. Pretty soon Heidi starts having visions and nightmares involving the Devil and strange figures from the Salem Witch Trials. Over time the record's popularity rises, but Heidi's visions get worse and become too much to bear...
The Tropes of Salem:
- Affably Evil: Heidi's witch neighbors.
- All There in the Manual: The novelization by Rob Zombie explains much of the backstory and includes more information on Michael Berryman and Sid Haig's characters.
- Brown Note: The record.
- Burn the Witch!: The fate of Margaret Morgan and her coven.
- The Cameo: Michael Berryman and Zombie regular Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) appear as witch hunters in a flashback. They apparently had more to do but were cut from the film.
- Demonic Possession: At the end of the movie, Heidi appears to be possessed by demonic forces.
- Eldritch Abomination: The child of Satan that Heidi gives birth to in the end looks like a mass of flesh with tendrils hanging off of it.
- Evil Old Folks: Heidi's 'friendly' neighbors.
- Fan Disservice: Nude, elderly witches. Though Margaret Morgan, the leader of the witches, may be a Fanservice for hardcore fans of Meg Foster.
- Gainax Ending: The Bad Guys Win. Maybe.
- Mass Hypnosis: The record does this to the women born in Salem.
- Madonna Archetype: Heidi was chosen to mother The Antichrist.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. There are two Hermans, known by their last names, Whitey and Munster.
- Pop-Star Composer: Rob Zombie's long time guitarist John 5 and Hollywood Undead-producer Griffin Boice composed the music.
- Precision F-Strike: Unlike most Rob Zombie films, f-words are kept to a minimum and only used at very specific moments.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: It's the Devil's music. Literally.
- Salem Is Witch Country: The titular Lords are a coven of infernal witches who date back to the Witch Trials and have been longing to get their revenge on Salem.
- Shout-Out: The line "Cunting Daughters" of Salem is a reference to The Exorcist, and possibly also a reference to the Slayer song South of Heaven.
- Sins of Our Fathers: The witches curse the descendants of Hawthorne and the rest of Salem.
- Swarm of Rats
- Wicked Witch: The title characters.
- Witch Hunt: Subverted as Reverend Hawthorne actually identified real, satan worshipping witches.
