Salem’s Lot: Film Review
Salem’s Lot, the latest movie adaptation of a Stephen King novel, was dumped on the streaming service Max in the US after being delayed for two years. I can see why the studio went with that release strategy – the film is only fine – and I’m surprised it’s opted for theatrical in the UK.
Set in 1975, author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in Maine after many years to get inspiration for his next project. He discovers the town is being preyed on by a vampire, Master Barlow, who wants to turn all of the residents into blood-sucking creatures. 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 the vampire takeover.
I can see why the previous adaptations of this novel were TV shows because there’s a whole town’s worth of characters to establish and you need to care about them being turned into vampires. A feature can only cover so much of the book; elements have to be cut and streamlined. We still have a core bunch of people to focus on but I didn’t have any emotional connection to anyone except Mark. When you dedicate a decent chunk of time to building characters and relationships, there should be more of a pay-off when they die/get turned.
Fans of gore and jump scares may be disappointed because it isn’t particularly scary. There are a few effective scares and I found Master Barlow visually horrifying. While it’s quite weak as a horror, it is still a solid movie. The writing could have been better but there’s an interesting mix of characters, they have a thrilling problem on their faces and it’s surprisingly funny in places. It really levels up with the final act too. The climactic showdown is really great – it’s exciting, entertaining and staged in a really cool location.
There are plenty of established actors in this but the star of the show is quite easily Carter as Mark. If you’re in a survival situation, you want a Mark on your team. He’s clever, resourceful and keeps a cool head in a crisis. He’s the smartest character I’ve seen in recent horror memory and he’s only a 11-year-old kid. He earned a couple of cheers from the audience because he’s so awesome.
Salem’s Lot takes too long to get going and may not satisfy horror fans but it is still a decent movie with a star-making turn from Carter.
In cinemas from Friday 11th October