Editor’s note: My review originally ran during SXSW earlier this year, but we’re posting it again as the film hits theaters this weekend. Some filmmakers, no matter how hard they may try to appeal to the masses, can never escape the label of acquired taste. Others don’t even try though instead preferring to speak to a smaller and more receptive core audience. Kevin Smith is a good example of the former. Rob Zombie is a better example of the latter. Zombie makes movies for himself, and he’ll be the first to tell you that not only will the majority of viewers hate his films but that he simply doesn’t care. That’s more than evident in his four previous features as they presented worlds filled with ugly and foul violence while being devoid of humor and joy. His new film, The Lords of Salem, continues that trend of not giving a damn, but something is visibly and unexpectedly amiss. Rob Zombie has discovered how to have fun…even if some of it is unintentional.

“50% of you are going to love this movie, while the other 50% of you are going to hate it,” writer-director Rob Zombie said to the SXSW crowd at the midnight screening of his newest film, The Lords of Salem. That’s not something we often hear filmmakers while they intro their film, and the same goes for most of what we heard at his highly entertaining Q&A. Zombie, who wore splashy blue pants and what looked like over-sized crocs to the event, was correct when it came to the reaction. For the 50% of the people who hated it, he doesn’t care too much. Zombie knows his work isn’t for everyone, and the idea that he can get half of an audience onboard with his films or music sits well with him. According to Zombie (and David Bowie), getting a reaction is all that matters. We discussed that reaction, as well as how the film’s producers were only interested in lunch and more, with a candid and relaxed Mr. Zombie.

Rob Zombie‘s four previous features have left audiences divided between those who find them dull in their barrage of uninteresting, poorly acted, white trash characters meeting bloody and blunt endings and those who, well, are wrong. I kid! His latest film, The Lords of Salem, hits theaters in April and was just announced today as one of the Midnighters premiering at next month’s SXSW film fest. The story follows a woman (Sheri Moon Zombie) with bad hair and worse fashion sense who gets caught up in supernatural events occurring in modern-day Salem, MA. Ghosts, demons, cults and more slowly envelope her world until only darkness remains. Check out the trailer after the break.

The main lineup at this year’s SXSW Film Festival was announced last week, and while it features a ton of great-looking content it wasn’t complete. The list was missing the dozens of shorts that will be playing next month, but more importantly it was absent any hint of the Midnighters that some of us look forward to all year long. That changes today. SXSW have revealed the films from both categories, and the nine Midnighters look to be a fun and exciting mix of established names and interesting newcomers. One of the stand-outs is the highly praised and long-delayed You’re Next from Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, which I’m hoping lives up to the hype and the wait. We’re also getting two Sundance holdovers with The Rambler and S-VHS (curiously called V/H/S 2 here). Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem will be making an appearance too, but more exciting are the presence of new films from Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) and Dennis Iliadis (The Last House on the Left remake). SXSW 2013 runs March 8th-16th, and the complete list of shorts and Midnighters can be found below.

There’s nothing about the new teaser trailer for Rob Zombie‘s The Lords of Salem that hints at the story. Mostly it’s a parade of production, costume and make-up design in service of odd religious symbols and the prospect of a Satanic baby being born. According to the official synopsis, the story focuses on Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), who DJs at a local radio station and receives a strange wooden box with a record in it. As the song becomes a hit, the alcoholic Heidi is driven further into despair, and further boxes from the band promise a return from The Lords of Salem. Early reviews, like this one from Arrow in the Head, call it Zombie’s most ambitious film, noting that it’s less of a grindhouse splatterfest and more of an art house flick that gets bizarre. Which seems sort of obvious now that a teaser is out (via Deadline Hollywood). Check it out for yourself: