In August 2021, Lewis Pullman and the rest of the cast and crew of Salem’s Lot begun production on the film, since then we never heard of the film after it was nearly scrapped by Warner Bros. It’s been over 3 years and the film finally gets a release date after not making to a theatrical release. Salem’s Lot finally arrives on Max on October 3. But what we want to know is: did this film really deserved being saved? And the simple and quick answer is yes.
Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.
As I mention on the title, this horror is extremely atmospheric and I think this is one of the best aspects about Stephen King’s stories, it’s that it really feels terrifying in every way, there are some excellent scenes here that will be on your list of best scary scenes of the year. Salem’s Lot never feels unique or different than other vampire films, however, this film feels like a nostalgic back to the 80s experience. The huge amount of practical effects being used and all the technical parts make this film seem like it was made decades ago when actually it’s a very recent film. The way they crafted this was insanely satisfying and it’s sad to think that they considered scrapping this. I’m truly glad that Salem’s Lot is here upon us and I really hope that other films like Coyote Vs. Acme also makes it to our screens.
Despite beautiful cinematography and technical skills in general, Salem’s Lot doesn’t manage to deliver the perfect story nor storytelling, which suffers from bad pacing at some points of the film. It’s a simple film about a group of people trying to fight a vampire that is haunting the small town of Jerusalem’s Lot and if you’re fun of the genre then you will definitely have a blast with this. This film was truly made for horror fans but especially Stephen King fans, this is pure Stephen King work and as a fan I genuinely enjoyed it.
The cast is another highlight, delivering great performances, some standouts are, without a doubt, Lewis Pullman and Jordan Preston Carter who are the badass people in this film. Alfre Woodard and Bill Camp are also some honorable mentions, they really killed it in their roles. I love the way Stephen King approaches the involvement of kids in his horror tales, it’s always terrifying and the subplots are always just so good, and I noticed many similarities to IT in this film.
Salem’s Lot is an atmospheric, terrifying, and beautifully crafted horror film that, despite having some storytelling flaws, it’s the perfect film for this Halloween season. The cast deliver an amazing job on a film that was made not only for horror fans but especially for Stephen King long time fans.
Salem’s Lot releases on Max on October 3.
