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Film: Salem’s Lot
Year: 2024
Director: Gary Dauberman
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Starring: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh and Jordan Preston Carter
Review:
This was a film that intrigued me when I heard it was being made. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t have high hopes after learning that it was made years ago and then shelved. It then came out to Max this year. I’m leery since this is my second favorite novel from Stephen King. Tobe Hooper did a great job at capturing the look and feel for the adaptation. There was a Mini-Series with Rob Lowe that fell short. Still wanted to give this a chance as you can tell.
Synopsis: an author returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover that the townspeople are being attacked by an unspeakable force.
We start this with R.T. Straker (Pilou Asbæk) talking to Royal Snow (Timothy John Smith). There is a crate that needs to be collected and brought to his house. I’ll include here that this house is one that makes the town uneasy of the Marsten House. The money is good so Royal gets his friend to help him. These two are spooked by things that are lingering in the shadows of the basement.
This then shifts us to the next day. Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) is the author who is from the Lot and returning. The reason is that there is the Marsten House as he had a terrifying experience growing up. He’s using that as a backdrop and looking to do research for his next book. He’s shocked to see someone has moved into it. While looking he is approached by Sheriff Parkins Gillespie (William Sadler). This is a small quiet town and he doesn’t want this drifter causing trouble.
We then go about meeting people from the town. Ben meets a young woman who is reading his book at the local realtor office, Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh). She’s excited about her chance to get to know him. There is a new family that also has moved here and the son is Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter). He befriends the Glick boys, Danny (Nicholas Crovetti) and Ralphie (Cade Woodward). Mark also stands up for himself against a bully, gaining the attention of Matt Burke (Bill Camp) who is the English teacher. There is also Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey), who is battling a personal demon of alcoholism, and Mike Ryerson (Spencer Treat Clark).
It doesn’t take long for strange things to happen here in town. Ralphie goes missing and then soon after his brother passes away. The odd deaths are baffling to Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard). They aren’t the only ones either. Ben, Susan and Matt come to a cold hard truth, but accepting it is something else. Ben knows the evil within the Marsten house and it is very real with the other strange new owner, Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward).
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start then would be that this isn’t horrible to me. I fall in line with others that this does seem like an unnecessary remake. I was chatting with a buddy about how this would be better to just be a stand-alone vampire movie, because of what the creature is in this film. It doesn’t capture the heart of what makes the King novel work so well. There are more underlying issues in this town that this version alludes to, but without fleshing out the atmosphere.
Now I know that comes off as negative, but this isn’t bad. This is just more generic unfortunately. The Hooper and Lowe mini-series had more time to develop these elements. They condensed everything into a two hour runtime, which is impressive. It just feels forced and loses the subtlety that makes this work. I’m not going to spend this whole review comparing it to the other versions as that isn’t fair. I just needed to include this here. This does work in the respect that it doesn’t waste time getting into the story. The vampire's attack is almost immediate. I think they do good with that and the set pieces that we get as well, especially the drive-in.
Let’s then shift over to filmmaking. This has great cinematography and editing. There are transitions that I thought were expertly done. I’d even go as far to say we’re getting almost an arthouse feel there. That is something I’ll credit. I’ll also say that the look of the vampires was solid. The glowing eyes were great. My only nitpick here is that I don’t love the fangs of Barlow. I’m glad they stuck with the more rat or feral looking vampire though. There is a gimmick here that when you have faith and your cross is working, it glows. That was fine. I’ll credit framing as well. The soundtrack also fits without necessarily standing out.
I think then I’ll finish out my thoughts on the story. There is social commentary here that feels like it is just dumped instead of fleshed out. They do well in setting up the Marsten house in this creepy building that overlooks the town. It is supposed to attract evil. There is this idea that Jerusalem’s Lot is a dead town though and that Barlow is just finishing it off. We don’t get much about the death of the small town in the 1970s aside from that so I get the vibes that you’re supposed to just take the film’s word for it. More could be fleshed out here.
All that is left then is acting performances. Pullman is fine as our lead. He has a good look for it, but he fades into the background for me. That doesn’t bode well as our ‘hero’. Leigh is attractive. I don’t know if she’s giving a lot to work with though. Carter was solid as our ‘horror movie’ character. Always a fan there. Woodard and Camp are solid as this circle trying to save the town. Hickey has interesting elements, but he’s given little screen time to develop. Clark, Sadler and the rest of the cast were fine to round this out for what was needed. Asbæk is an okay Straker, but my problem is that it feels like he’s impersonating James Mason. Ward looks good as Barlow as well.
In conclusion, this is one that I want to like more, but it just falls flat. The setting is solid along with set pieces and how the vampires attack. My problem is just that I know there is more that could be fleshed out. Condensing to under two hours hurts. Now it isn’t fair to compare it to the other versions, but there are elements that are introduced and not fleshed out, so that is where my critique comes from. The acting is fine but doesn’t stand out. There are good artistic things done with the cinematography, editing and framing that I’ll give credit for. I do think this is worth a watch despite my problems with it as well.
My Rating: 6 out of 10