Salem's Lot-- My take on the movie with spoilers!

 

Plot: Author Ben Mears returns to Salem's Lot only to find that it is under attack by a vampire.

Remember Stephen King's acclaimed novel Salem's Lot? It was one of King's novels that gave me actual nightmares.

While the 2024 adaptation is somewhat faithful to the original work, unfortunately, it is unable to create the eerie atmosphere that was so heavily-laden in the novel.

Salem's Lot is an enjoyable movie and perhaps judged too harshly by critics and fans who want everything to be exactly the same as the book.

Let's face it, your favourite book will rarely have a decent adaptation. A book is written by an author who manipulates you into using your imagination to enjoy the story. A movie is written and directed by a different person who wants to bring their vision to life.

Everyone has different perspectives, and the way you envisioned your favourite novel may not be how a person sees it.

So yes, there is yet to be an adaptation of Salem's Lot that is going to please the fans. But this 2024 version isn't as bad as you think it is.

SALEM'S LOT Movie Plot

The movie begins with Straker giving instructions to a mover about a crate that needs to be brought to the Marsten House that he has just purchased. The instructions are to bring the crate in very carefully.

When the movers bring in the crate, they find it extremely heavy, and there is also a pivot scene, but it isn't as funny as the F.R.I.E.N.D.S scene.

The men accidentally break the crate a bit and realize there is some dirt in it. They leave the crate and exit the house.

Next, we see Ben Mears enter Jerusalem's Lot, which has a population of barely 1282. He stops by to gaze at the Marsten House and spots Straker roaming about.

He then decides to make a stop at a realty office to find a place to stay. When he enters, he sees a receptionist reading one of his books. He greets her, and she introduces herself as Susan Norton. She thinks he looks familiar, and he smirks.

Her boss, Larry Crockett, is eager to make a big sale, but Susan, who is slightly smitten, directs him to some apartments. She also develops a tiny crush on him when she realizes he is the author of the book she is considering not finishing.

Then we see our other hero, a boy called Mark Petrie who is at the playground. His friend Danny is teaching him how to get out of the ropes tied around his hand. Unfortunately, Mark is punched by the bully who takes advantage of his bound hands. Mark gets out of his binds and beats up the bully.

Matt Burke, a teacher, notices the beating up incidents, sees there is a teacher who is gossiping with another teacher, and realizes it is up to him to save the day.

He stops the fight and tells Mark to respect the rule of letting someone go once they say Uncle.

Afterwards, Ben is at the library, looking at Old newspaper clips when Susan comes in with her mother Ann, who is practically forcing her daughter to be with Floyd. Susan doesn't like him, but her mother is insistent.

She spots Ben and drops a heavy book to catch his attention. Then she very loudly announces that she will be at the drive-in. Ben hears it. Twice.

At the drive-in theatre, Ben arrives just in time to get the worst parking spot ever. Susan comes to him, and they chat about the citizens rather than watch the movie. Susan tells him about Father Callahan, who is there only so he can drink in his car.

Ben and Susan get closer, much to Ann's displeasure, who keeps an eye on them through the window when Ben drops Susan home.

Danny's brother Ralphie is kidnapped by Straker and brought to the Marsten House. He is offered to whoever is inside the crate.

The next morning, Father Callahan is in prison and is told by Officer Parkins that he practically told him to take him to jail so he may atone for his mistakes. The Father is let go.

There is a search party for Ralphie who hasn't been found for more than a week. The search party, of which Ben is also a part of, returns without any clue as to what happened to the boy.

Floyd gives Ben a hard time and tells him to go back where he came from. Apparently, new people are not welcome in Salem's Lot.

While no one knows what happened to Ralphie, Danny is going to be the one who finds out. At night, he hears his brother calling out to him outside his window. Danny goes outside into the foggy playground to see where the sounds are coming from. A hand plucks him out from our screen.

Danny is then seen in the hospital. Dr. Cody tells Marjorie, Danny's mother, that her son has pernicious anaemia.

Danny wakes up suddenly. He is thirsty. The blood that is being given to him attracts him, and he snatches it and begins to feed on it. Marjorie enters and lets out a scream.

Danny has apparently died. At the cemetery, Father Calahan talks to gravedigger Mike Ryerson about the difficult day ahead of them.

While the father is giving the service, Mike is eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a soda. He dozes off, probably because of the excess sugar in his meal.

When he awakens, it is night, and everyone has left without waking him up from his food coma. Mike goes to work filling up the grave but suddenly hears Danny calling out to him and claiming he has been wrongfully buried because he is alive. Mike opens the casket, but Danny is still lying. As he resumes filling the grave, he suddenly finds the coffin open and the boy missing. In the next instant, he is attacked and thrown into the open grave.

The next day, Ben is at school to talk about his career. One of the students is interested in his dating life. Later in the evening, Matt Burke sees Mike sitting all by himself in the bar. He approaches him and sees that he doesn't look that well. Out of the kindness of his heart, he invites Mike to his house, thinking that the young man is disturbed because he had just buried a young boy.

That is when Matt notices the puncture marks on Mike's neck. After a couple of spooky happenings, he sees someone climb into Mike's window, too. He immediately goes to see Ben, who was spending an intimate time with Susan.

The three of them consider the possibility that Mike may be a vampire. They check his body and find it cold. Dr. Cody is called, and she confirms it. However, later, Mike attacks Matt, who uses his cross to not only send him away but revoke his invitation.

In the movie, every time a vampire is nearby, the cross glows.

On the other side of town, Mark is visited by a floating Danny who tells him that Barlow wants to see him. Mark is entranced momentarily, which is why he opens the window and lets Danny in. Before Danny can attack him, though, Mark's cross glows, and he uses it to engrave Danny's cheek with it.

Mark has promised his friend that he would help him.

The next day, Dr. Cody finds Mike's body is missing, and a lot of people are acting weird or have gone missing, too.

Dr. Cody learns that Marjorie, Danny's mother, had died too. While Matt, Susan, Ben, and Dr. Cody is discussing the possibility of the town being under the siege of vampires, Ben suggests exhuming Danny's remains to see if he is still in the coffin or not.

Dr. Cody suggests checking the mother's corpse instead since Danny probably had something to do with it.

Matt excuses himself to do research on vampires, so it's only Ben, Susan, and Dr. Cody at the mortuary.

Of course, Marjorie wakes up, and the trio has to use tongue depressors to make a cross to defeat the new vampire. Unfortunately, Dr. Cody is bitten in the process. However, she has a rabies shot that suppresses the vampire venom just in time. Ben and Susan use the cross on her, but sue doesn't burn. That means the shot worked!

Meanwhile, Matt decides to check out the Marsten House and complete his research on the new residents. There, he finds Mark roaming about trying to find the head vampire, too. The two team up but fail miserably.

Matt is bitten by Barlow while Mark is tied up by Straker.

But Mark has learned to get out of knots now and manages to escape after killing Straker.

He heads to the church where the trio is speaking to Father Calahan.  He announces that Matt has been turned, too.

Father Calahan decides to visit Mark's House and have dinner with them. While having dinner, they hear a noise, and when Mark's Father goes to check, Father Calahan's cross begins to glow. The visitor is none other than Barlow, who kills Mark's parents.

Father Calahan gets Mark to escape while dealing with Barlow himself, but the light in his cross fades away. Barlow tells him that since he doesn't have faith, the cross will not work.

Father Calahan is attacked.

Dr. Cody tries to get Officer Parkins to help, but he is already leaving town. He knows about the vampires and doing the sensible thing.

Susan goes to her home to convince her mother to come and hide with her in the church. Her mother is happy to see her but not too keen on seeing Ben, which is why he pretends to leave. But Ben becomes suspicious of Susan's mother, and he is right to doubt her because she has Floyd bite her daughter because a great opportunity awaits her.

Ben gets Susan away from there and enters the church, but she begins to respond negatively. Dr. Cody tells him that the shot will no longer work, but Ben wants her to try. Susan goes manic and escapes.

Meanwhile, Mark is being terrorized by his schoolmates. Ben tries to leave the church but finds himself surrounded by vampires. He just about makes it to the church in time.

The next day, Dr. Cody and Ben venture out into an empty town. No doubt, many of the residents have been turned into vampires. They find a note from Mark, who informs them he is going to kill Barlow.

Mark enters the shop that was a front for Straker. He is attacked by Danny, but Mark is ready for him. He stakes his friend as he has promised to save him.

Ben comes to collect him, and they all try to find where the vampires will be sleeping during the day. Since they don't find any cars on the street, Ben thinks they might be at the drive-in.

SALEM'S LOT Ending Explained with Spoilers

At the drive-in,  Ben finds Susan's car and finds her sleeping in the trunk. Dr. Cody is about to stake her since Ben can't, when she is shot by Susan's mother.

The sun starts to go down, and all the vampires awaken. Mark hides under a car.

The vampires pounce on Ben, but Mark manages to get into a car and drive right into the screen, dropping it so the sun is visible again. All of the vampires catch fire.

The two then decide to kill Barlow. They find his coffin and try to pry it open with a crowbar, but the sun has set now, and Barlow pulls the crowbar in. The two run for shelter, but Ben is attacked by Susan. Mark is hiding somewhere else.

Ben finally stabs Susan after a scuffle, and she dies.

Meanwhile, Barlow finds Mark and is about to bite him when Ben stakes him through the mouth.

The hole is big enough to see Ben's face.

Mark and Ben get into a car, and finally leave Salem's Lot.

The movie ends.

Salem's Lot is an entertaining horror movie if you are looking for a decent adaptation of Stephen King's novel. It may not be scary, but it is decent enough to watch it once at least.

Scare Scale: 3/5