- Lewis Pullman, Spencer Treat Clark, Alfre Woodard
- October 11th 2024
- 113
- Gary Dauberman
A ragtag group of Jerusalem’s Lot residents band together to survive when the town becomes overrun with vampires.
Considering that Stephen King novels get adapted into movies all the time, it’s quite remarkable that his 1975 horror Salem’s Lot hasn’t been made into a film before.
The story is set in Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine in 1975 and follows author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) as he returns after many years away to get inspired for his next novel.
He becomes significantly sidetracked from his work when children go missing and dead people inexplicably return to life. It turns out that an ancient vampire named Master Barlow has moved into the long-abandoned Marsten House and his familiar Richard Straker (Pilou Asbæk) is providing him with sacrifices.
As the residents slowly but surely become vampires, Ben teams up with a teacher (Bill Camp), a doctor (Alfre Woodard), a priest (John Benjamin Hickey), his girlfriend Susan (Makenzie Leigh) and a schoolboy named Mark (Jordan Preston Carter) to survive.
Those who like their horrors filled with gore and jump scares may be disappointed by Salem’s Lot because it isn’t particularly scary. There are a few solid scares and Master Barlow is horrifying to witness but it is quite weak as a horror overall.
Despite its flaws as a horror, Salem’s Lot is still a solid movie. The writing needed some work and it takes too long to get going but it’s surprisingly funny in places, the ragtag team are amusing and they have a thrilling problem on their hands.
The final act is where this movie really hits its stride and goes from being so-so to a lot of fun. The climactic showdown is exciting and entertaining and set in a unique location.
It’s easy to see why previous Salem’s Lot adaptations have been for TV – there are a lot of characters and relationships to set up and we have to care when these people get turned into vampires.
With a feature, it can’t achieve as much character building and so you don’t have as much depth and therefore don’t care about them too much.
The only exception is Carter as Mark, who is hands-down the star of the show. He may only be 11, but you want Mark on your team in a survival situation – he’s smart, resourceful and he keeps calm in a crisis.
He’s such a breath of fresh air compared to typically silly decision-making in horror movies. He earned a few cheers from the audience for being so awesome.
Salem’s Lot may not be a satisfying horror but it is still a decent movie with a scene-stealing performance from Carter.
In cinemas from Friday 11th October.
© Cover Media