Salem's Lot Movie Review (2024)

I have vivid memories of certain things from my earliest childhood years that really stand out – when my kid brother was born, I wasn’t allowed to go the hospital, I had to wait for them to bring him home before I could see him. I remember not liking him, he didn’t look cool, he couldn’t do anything, and he cried all the time! I reckon he looks cool now – according to his wife that is, but he still cries all the time. HA! I also recall standing next to my older brother at his Wedding and feeling his happiness, it’s still one of my first memories of true love and joy. And the next big memory is the sole reason for the man I am today - watching my first Horror movie – Salem’s Lot.

My mom was a Horror movie junkie, and I don’t guess she thought much about me watching the Salem’s Lot film in 1979 with her when it came on TV. I still remember everything about those two nights, it was absolutely fucking terrifying and it ruined me for life, or did it? It was my first trainwreck moment in life the kind where you just can’t look away no matter how hard you try. It was at this moment that I became obsessed with Horror and that hasn’t changed. Sure, I have certain types of Horror that I like and dislike, but I’ll just about do and watch anything for the love of the genre, it just makes me feel good. I prefer Classic Horror, it’s the style I was raised on, it makes me feel at home and I really enjoy the acting, dialect, delivery and the scenery – they had to be able to act to scare you! The strings on the bats don’t bother me at all – RELEASE THE BATS and let them swing!!! I’m not hip to the newer Horror movies; I find them to be too dependent on Gore and shock value as opposed to spooky stories and great acting. Torture Porn isn’t my thing at all, it turns me off all together. Give me some good story telling, spookiness and a lot of campy scenes and I’m there for it!

When it comes Salem’s Lot, whether we’re talking the original with David Soul or the 2004 Remake with Rob Lowe or the book from Stephen King, I’m game. The original is my favorite film of all time, it’s also the scariest movie I’ve ever seen – you never forget your first time and what a fuckin’ fright! “Look at me Teacher”! “Mark, let me in, he commands it”!! “Back Holy Man, Back Priest, Back Shaman”!! And Reggie Nalder as Kurt Barlow was so damned scary, I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when I saw this monster on the T.V. To this day, I still sweat profusely and my heart races with fear every time I watch the original film, it’s just damned terrifying. The 2004 Remake did have the better story line, it was closer to the book, but the CGI and the low budget hurt the film a little bit, but Lowe was fantastic and made his portrayal of Ben Mears so believable. I’ve told anyone who would listen that if they had the backing of a big Hollywood Production it would’ve been a cinematic masterpiece! It was also a 2 night made for TV series and I picked the DVD up as soon as it was released – the bastards still haven’t released it on Blu-ray yet, someone please tell them we need to get on that, like yesterday!
 
As you can imagine, I was absolutely CRAZED and couldn’t wait to see the latest Salem’s Lot Remake because once and for all it would have the budget of a big Hollywood movie and I just knew they couldn’t miss… I researched the movie tirelessly trying to find stills, reviews, interviews, trailers and to read up on the cast. It took forever and then some for us to be able to see it and then we were cheated of being able to see it on the big screen due to it going directly to streaming. I’m ok with the streaming part, but I really wanted to see it on the big screen since I couldn’t see the other two films – they seem to take a shit on Salem’s Lot no matter the era of the film. This is the 3^rd time the movie hasn’t been shown on the big screen.
 
For the sake of argument, let’s call this film Salem’s Lot 2024 although it’s been ready for a few years. So, how does it measure up to the others, it holds its own but let’s be honest, that has more to do with the cast than it does the story line – Lewis Pullman, Jordan Preston Carter and Alfre Woodard save what could’ve been an absolute dumpster fire and surely would’ve been if not for their presence and acting skills. It’s not that the other actors aren’t good, but these three really carry the weight of the movie and you want them to win at all costs. The issue I have is they absolutely gutted the story line and rushed the movie to get it under 2 hours. In some cases, they left out scenes and vital parts of the story, but since I’m a fanboy I put it together in my mind and played along. It’s a slow burn and you’re halfway through the movie before the Vampire stuff really starts to happen and once it begins it’s an absolute thrill ride and a nail biter from then on. And while I find the non-stop action to be fun, it still doesn’t give them a pass for sacrificing so much of the story. It looks like they just said to hell with it, we only have this much time and this much money, what can we cut and how fast can we do it. The other big miss for me is Kurt Barlow, in the original he was non-verbal and looked very much like Nosferatu. In the 2004 Remake, he was verbal and played by the legendary Rutger Hauer who absolutely nailed the part! I was kind of hoping for that, but instead I got a half-baked Nosferatu that looked like a cross between Art the Clown from Terrifier and one of the 30 Days of Night Vampires. His head was misshaped, and he just looked a hot mess all together. I didn’t find him scary, he simply annoyed me, and I felt like I could kick his ass. He did have a few lines, but they were forgettable. Thankfully, he doesn’t get much screen time which I’m ok with, it would’ve annoyed me even more.

The take aways here are still plentiful though. Salem’s Lot finally got the Hollywood backing it deserved and if nothing else the addition of Pullman, Woodard and Carter made it all worthwhile. Carter as Petrie was a hoot, he was ferocious at every turn and unphased that the town had been taken over by Vampires. Pullman as Mears was quiet, reserved and seemed endearing and kind-hearted, no doubt Pullman got that inspiration from David Soul’s performance in the original film. I enjoyed his presence in the movie a great deal. Woodard was comic relief, and she was quite impressive in her scenes. Pilou Asbæk as Richard Straker really worked although when his voice would get loud, I had a hard time not thinking about his time on the Game of Thrones series. I did enjoy his character, I found him to be sinister yet kooky enough to be campy. The scenery and film grade of the movie was stellar, I really appreciated the coloring of the film, it wasn’t dark all the way through, and it really felt and looked like a Horror movie out of the 70’s, they got that right. The final scenes of the movie at the Drive-In were the best, it brought back memories of going to the Drive-In with my folks and watching movies on the big screen although we never went in the daytime. I thought that part of the movie was well done and in hindsight the ending saved the entire movie. Also, the beginning of the movie was cool, it showed maps, shipping papers, newspaper clippings and things of that nature that talked of the Marsten House, the crate that Kurt Barlow would be shipped in. And for you book geeks, the actual FONT of the title SALEM’S LOT was from the cover of the book which I thought was a neat ode to author Stephen King. If you’ve watched and felt cheated, go back and have another look, you’ll pick up on more than you think possible.
 
While I’ve given the movie a hard time here and there, there’s still so much good to be enjoyed and taken in. If it were the first movie about this story it would’ve been much better. I’ve watched it three times already and I pre-gamed on the original movie and the Remake, so the story was fresh in my mind. As previously mentioned, the Salem’s Lot Saga is my thing, I’ve been inspired by it greatly through the years. Kurt Barlow is my number one nemesis and the nightmare that haunts the darkest corners of my mind and will do so forever. What do you do with your nightmares, you make friends with them, you hail and praise them at every turn, so they don’t hold so much power over you. Many years ago, my precious wife and I brought home a beautiful Boxer puppy that I lovingly named Mr. Barlow, he went onto be 120-pound behemoth who lived for 9 years, and he held my heart in every way possible. We lived for love, music and for Horror, he understood his namesake and he played that role to the max. I still miss him and remember him fondly weekly; he was a damned good boy! I, also have a large Salem’s Lot patch that features Kurt Barlow’s face on the back of my Battle Vest. It never fails when I wear it, I always get comments on the patch from strangers – most tell me how the movie absolutely terrified them. It’s a segue way into meeting others that feel the same way about the original movie that I do. And all of this because of the very first Horror movie I ever watched! Salem’s Lot started a sincere love for Horror that has raged uncontrollably, and it always will. I know it’s not necessarily something cool like Frankenstein or Phantom of the Opera, but it’s still one of the creepiest moments in Horror to me.

I strongly urge all who’ve read my thoughts here to watch 2024 edition of Salem’s Lot with an open mind, really take it in, live in the character’s shoes for 2 hours and think about what you would’ve done had it been you in Jerusalem’s Lot in 1975. Would you have let Danny Glick in when he tapped at the window? Would you have tucked tail and ran like the Sheriff. Or would you have reacted like Ben and Mark – and packed up a bag of stakes, holy water and crosses and went searching for these bloodsuckers?! “Sundown, you better take care” …