As I have said before, I never really watched a lot of horror movies before 2020. My husband, however, is a big fan. Especially of Stephen King books/movies/series. When he heard that a new ‘‘Salem’s Lot movie was coming out, he was very excited.
Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to his childhood hometown, Jerusalem’s Lot, to do some research on both his past and the town itself. Shortly after his arrival, children begin to go missing. With the help of some locals - town heartthrob Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), teacher Matthew Burke (Bill Camp), Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey, Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard) and 11-year old Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter) - Ben tries to rid ‘Salem’s Lot of the darkness that has arrived.
Since I am very unfamiliar with the book or either of the previous miniseries, I spent a lot of this movie asking my husband questions. While I found this version of ‘Salem’s Lot pretty enjoyable, there were some drawbacks. One character went unnamed until he appeared in a later bar scene. I even asked my husband “Oh, that’s this guy, right?” and he had to correct me. The movie is just under two hours long so some of the characters felt a little flat and some relationships felt rushed.
With that said, Mark Petrie is an absolutely kickass kid and I watched the entire movie just for him. I would watch a sequel that is just him going around fighting vampires. He would have to be a little older or get Ben to tag along but that’s OK. Sometimes kickass kids need dumb adults to help them get places.
‘Salem’s Lot wasn’t a super scary movie. Despite being a vampire movie, there wasn’t a lot of blood or scenes where I had to avert my eyes. If you are looking for something that isn’t going to give you nightmares or something on the tamer side of horror, this might be for you. Die-hard ‘Salem’s Lot fans may not like this movie very much but those of us that want to watch a King movie without losing sleep, this is the one you should go for.
Rating: B