Salem’s Lot (1979)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com August 17, 2022

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This was originally aired as a miniseries, and they do a nice job keeping it scary and interesting while still tame enough for television. The direction, acting, script, and effects are all very good. It’s long, but well worth the watch.

Synopsis

We start in Ximico, Mexico, where Mark Petrie and Ben Mears fill vials with holy water. “They found us again,” Ben says when one of the bottles starts to glow. Credits roll.

In Salem’s Lot, Maine, two years previous, Ben Mears looks at a creepy old house. An older man, Richard Straker comes out; he’s well dressed and classy looking. Straker gets in his car and drives off, giving Ben a_ look_. Later, we see Straker unpacking lots of stuff from boxes; he’s moving into a new antique store, “Barlow & Straker.” Ben goes to the realtor to talk about the Marston house, but it’s already been sold.

Ben gets a room at the boarding house, and we learn that he’s a writer, a local who left and has now come back. He meets an art teacher, Susan Norton, and she has one of his books. That night, he stares out the window at the old Marsten house. He’s obsessed with the place.

Constable Gillespie tells “Weasel” Phillips, the town drunk, to keep an eye on the newcomer, Ben Mears. Ben meets Susan’s parents, Bill and Ann. Straker arranges for Crockett, the realtor, to send a truck to pick up a box at the docks tonight. Crockett keeps asking to meet Mr. Barlow, and Straker keeps saying “soon.”

Cully Sawyer goes to the cemetery and asks the caretaker there, Mike Ryerson, to gather a few strong men for a job at the docks tonight. Cully is married to Bonnie, who is having an affair with Larry Crockett. That night, someone or something kills Ryerson’s dog.

Ben introduces himself to Jason Burke, an old teacher. They talk about Mark Petrie, a young writer still in Jason’s class. They also talk about the Marston house and Hubie Marston, who used to live there. Ben went into the Marston once, and he imagined seeing old Hubie still hanging there, a ghost. Ben thinks the house is inherently evil; bad things have always happened there. “An evil house attracts evil men.”

Ryerson and Ned Tebbers pick up the Barlow Box at the docks while Cully spies on his cheating wife back home. The box in the truck is unnaturally cold to the touch. Ted wants to open the crate, but Mike isn’t interested. They get spooked and run off, throwing the padlocks on the ground and driving away.

Ralphie and Danny, two brothers from Mark’s school, take a shortcut home, and something gets Ralphie. Danny makes it home, but he’s in shock.

Straker gets home to find the house is not locked up, which is concerning. He goes downstairs to find the big crate has been destroyed. Straker carries a package downstairs; it’s Ralphie in a body bag. Across town, Cully catches Bonnie and Crockett in the act and stomps in with a gun. It’s a bluff; Crockett runs outside, but something completely unexpected gets him.

Ben and Susan are making out down at the lake, and they hear a car. They walk over and find Crockett, sitting in his car in his underwear, dead. They call the constable and make a report. Danny dreams that his dead brother comes to his window that night. He opens the window, and it’s not a dream.

The constable pays a visit to Mr. Straker after Ben casts some aspersions. The constable checks out Ben Mears as well as Straker and Barlow. Dr. Norton tells Ben that Crockett died of a heart attack, and Danny has pernicious anemia. That night, Danny lets his brother inside again, and this time, Danny doesn’t survive the experience.

Danny’s funeral is held at the cemetery, and later on, Mike starts to fill in the grave with dirt. He stops and stares at the coffin a long time before he jumps in and uncovers it. Danny sits up and bites him.

Mark and his father talk about his interest in monsters and magic tricks. Ben and Jason have dinner, but they are interrupted by Mike, who is acting very strangely. He has bite-marks on his neck. Mark gets a nocturnal visit from Danny, but Mark knows about monsters and won’t let him in. Jason takes Mike home with him for the night to keep an eye on him.

Jason wakes up with nightmares and calls Ben to bring over a crucifix and a rosary. Mike is dead, and there’s a single drop of blood on his neck. There are no marks on his neck now. Jason tells Ben all his suspicions, but there’s just so much they can do. They do tell Dr. Norton about it, but he’s not a believer.

It’s opening day at Barlow and Straker Antique shop. Ben talks to Straker about the house; he’s writing about it, and he’d like to visit. Out of nowhere, Ned Tebbets attacks Ben for dating Susan. Alone for the night, Jason hears someone upstairs; it’s Mike, back from the dead. Jason revokes his invitation, and Mike falls out the window. Jason then has a heart attack. Over at the police station, Ned Tebbets gets a visit from Mr. Barlow in his jail cell.

Susan tells Ben that people are dying all over town. Ben tells her and her father about the vampires, and they believe him now. Mark talks to the local priest, who mostly believes his story after hearing similar things from Ben and Susan. Barlow and Straker break in and kill Mark’s parents. The priest pulls out his cross, but it doesn’t help. It’s a trade; Barlow wants the priest.

Ben and Dr. Norton go to the morgue to investigate the latest victim, and Ben makes a cross out of taped-up popsicle sticks. He burns the new vampire with the cross, and she simply vanishes. The next morning, the constable and the deputy are both sick. People all over town are sick today.

For some reason, Susan goes to the Marston house and runs into Mark there. The two of them soon wind up in Barlow’s basement. They go upstairs, and it’s not much better there. Straker catches them easily. He ties up Mark and takes Susan to see Barlow. Mark is good at escape tricks and works himself free.

Ben goes to see the constable, who is planning on leaving town. The constable gives Ben his gun. Ben and Dr. Norton grab some holy water and head for the old haunted house. They run into Mark. Straker picks up Norton and impales him on some deer antlers. Ben shoots Straker six times before he falls down.

Ben and Mark go down to the basement and eventually find Barlow’s coffin. There are other bodies laying around in various states of half-life. They try to figure out how to open the coffin as the sun goes down. Barlow tries to fight back as Ben drives a stake into his heart, but it’s too little, too late for him. The two guys then set the house on fire, not even bothering to look for Susan.

We return to Ximico, Mexico, two years later, where the other vampires are still chasing Ben and Mark, looking for revenge. The latest vampire turns out to be Susan. She “just wants a kiss,” but Ben stabs her anyway.

Commentary

It’s long. It was originally a miniseries, and the format gives the movie plenty of time for character development and backstory. Parts of it feel a lot like a soap opera, but then there’s always something horrible going on in the background. The further the story progresses, the more it focuses on the vampires.

We watched “Midnight Mass” a few weeks back, and it’s hard not to see the roots of that story here. They have several very interesting parallels: vampires appearing in small towns, lots of family and local drama, and a fear of outsiders at the center of it all. They even burn the town at the end.

Barlow’s makeup is very good. He’s essentially a color version of Nosferatu. The other vampires all look good, with huge fangs and glowing eyes. Very nice, very creepy, and very believable.