The New Movie of the Week: ‘Salem’s Lot 2024

In 1975, writer Ben Mears returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, the town he lived in until he was nine, to find inspiration for his new book. Years before, a tragic accident took the lives of his parents, and he was sent away to live with extended family. When he first arrives, he meets Susan (Makenzie Leigh) at the local real estate office, the two hit it off and a romance soon blossoms.  Meanwhile, new kid in town, Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter) makes friends with Danny Glick (Nicholas Crovetti) and his younger brother Ralph (Cade Woodward) and catches the attention of their teacher Matthew Burke (Bill Camp).  Also new to town is antique shop owners Richard Straker (Pilou Asbæk) and Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward), although no one in town has actually seen Barlow.  The town starts experiencing some strange happenings.  First, Ralph is abducted and soon after, his brother dies with a diagnosis from Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard) as anemia.  Other towns folk soon start acting strangely as well.  Mark and Matthew are the first to figure out that Barlow is a vampire, and they convince Ben, Susan, Dr. Cody and Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey) of the truth. This rag tag group must destroy Barlow and foil his plan of turning ‘Salem’s Lot into a vampire colony.

‘Salem’s Lot is a 2024 supernatural horror film based off of the Stephen King novel written in 1975. This is the third film adaptation of the source material with the earlier two being television movie miniseries, the first in 1979 and the second in 2004. The latest incarnation was intended to be a full theatrical release film but was eventually shown on October 3, 2024 on Max.  The film was shot in 2021 with a prospected 2022 released date, but delays due to Covid pushed the film out to April 21, 2023, but was again postponed so as to not conflict with the latest Evil Dead franchise film being released around the same time and eventually the decision was made to stream it on Max.  The reviews have been mixed with some praising it as “An old-fashioned spookfest, this ‘Salem’s Lot won’t be the definitive adaptation of Stephen King’s famed vampire tale but it makes for a solid reintroduction to a new generation of audiences.” While the negative reviewers such as Josh Korngut of Dread Central say, “Despite its occasional scares and striking style, this adaptation lacks any of the terror or emotional depth of its Stephen King source material.” And Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting echoing that sentiment reporting, “it’s an adaptation that feels heavily tampered with, gutting all story and character development solely in favor of vampire scares.”  In most rating systems, the film seems to be landing right in the middle garnering about a 50% approval rating.

I land squarely in the middle on this film, having liked it and thoroughly enjoyed watching it, but it was missing any depth or real character development.  The main fault of the film, I feel, is that the story is too complex and the characters too rich to try to encompass all that needed to happen into a single film.  I don’t really remember the 1979 miniseries and didn’t watch the 2004, but I can now see why in both cases they were miniseries.  But and it is a big but, the art direction is visually stunning with some wonderfully shot scenes, the atmosphere is appropriately spooky.  The music by Nathan Barr and Lisbeth Scott is well composed and adds to the overall ambiance of the movie.  The actors are well chosen with no one seeming weak or out of place and the dialogue felt genuine.  It is also refreshing that these are classic film vampires.  Barlow is the “Nosferatu” type not appearing entirely human, where the ones he turns retain their human like visage.  Sunlight and holy water are weapons against these creatures with a stake through the heart or fire as the only real way to kill them.  I am not sure if this is part of the source material, but I loved how crosses began to glow when someone with faith holds it and a vampire is near and the actual physical force it had on the creatures, literally propelling them across rooms and even holding them against walls.  Unfortunately, all the good things about this film are tarnished by its pacing and rhythm.  It feels a bit too rushed leaving little time for real character development which is a shame because each of main characters easily connect with the audience and seem to have interesting and complex back stories. Overall, I think it is worth a watch, but it isn’t going to become a favorite film classic.