Salem's Lot

Man's dark obsession,

With drive-in theater screens,

Cause fatal sunburns

****

A/N: The above Haiku is written for Matthew Fromm's Bad Movie Review Challenge. If you're interested, give it and the other entries a look! For the actual critique, keep on reading!

****

There is so much to love about 2024's version of Salem's Lot (the first one was made in 1979 ya'll!), and plenty to be pissed about if you're an avid Stephen King fan like myself, so I thought I'd make a critique about the film while simultaneously entering myself into Matthew's challenge. I know, lame, but whatever. Let's break down the good and the bad.

For those of you unfamiliar with this story (shame on you), it follows a published - though not very famous - author, Ben Mears, as he returns to his childhood hometown in Jerusalem's lot, looking for some creative inspiration. The subject of his interest is the old Marsten house, a creepy abandoned home on a hill recently purchased by one of the antagonists, Mr. Straker. Ben and his love interest, Susan Norton, soon discover some strange things are happening, including the disappearance of a child and the death of his older brother. Ben, Susan, and another child, Mark Petrie, find themselves embroiled in a classic battle for survival against the main antagonist, a powerful vampire named Barlow.

What I loved about this movie:

Many of today's horror films rely on too many well-timed jump scenes to scare the wits out of their viewers, but this film is different. From the beginning, Salem's Lot sets a creepy vibe that viewers may fondly recall from other terrific films like Silent Hill, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Obviously, many of the scenes occur during the night, but what adds to the fantastic creepiness vibe in this film is the often-used impenetrable fog and off-screen actions. In one particularly frightening scene, we see the world through a desperate character's point of view as they try to view their surroundings through the torn fabric of the sack they've been placed in. Que the stomach-churning sound effects, and you've got a recipe for a tense scene that's guaranteed to get your heart thumping against your chest.

What I disliked about this movie:

While I always find a reason to gripe about the liberties directors take when adopting a book into a film, this one did have less than others. It certainly has its deviations, but what bothered me most was the character development, especially in the representation of Father Callahan. The priest is a core character in the novel but seems to be barely an afterthought in the film. In fact, there's hardly any character development at all here. Most of the characters are somewhat flat. Not to say they lack depth, but the movie just doesn't spend enough time with them to give us any one protagonist we can care much about. The relationship between Ben and Susan is barely touched, so it's hard to believe they see each other as more than flirtatious acquaintances, much less lovers, which has an eventual important impact in later scenes. Petrie's character is so underdeveloped it's almost laughable.

Overall Score - 3.5 stars

I think this movie could have been great, perhaps even a five-star film if the directors had given it more time. It has a great atmosphere, some nice scares, a terrific plot, and one hell of an evil monster. Just needed a few more minutes to develop the characters more, but as the movie is already almost two hours long, perhaps they did the best they could. Either way, Salem's Lot is certainly worth the watch.

Have you seen the film? If so, let me know in the comments below, and tell me if you agree/disagree with my critique. As always, thank you for reading!