Salem's Lot (2024)
Salem's Lot
Starring Lewis Pullman, Mackenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp
Directed by Gary Dauberman
Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) is an author who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem, Maine, to research for a new book he's writing when he meets secretary Susan Norton (Mackenzie Leigh), and the two begin a relationship. Meanwhile fellow newcomer Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter) is being picked on at school for being the new kid, and is aided by teacher Matthew Burke (Bill Camp). When people start disappearing in the town, suspicion turns to Richard Straker (Pilou Asbaek) and his partner Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward), who also just moved to town and started a business, owning the huge house on the hill. However, the missing people aren't just missing - they're being turned into vampires to serve Barlow's needs, and he won't stop until the entire town - then the world - is under his control.
There's a reason the book was made into two miniseries as opposed to a feature-length film, and that's because - like most of Stephen King's books - there's a lot to unpack. It's almost impossible to do it in one movie, as proven with the exceptional one-two punch of "It" and "It: Chapter Two." "Salem's Lot" feels like a hodgepodge of King's novel, pulled apart and stitched together like a Cliffs Notes version of the novel. Characters are underdeveloped, motives are left mysterious, and it seems that several scenes were left on the cutting room floor that would've had things make more sense from one scene to another.
There's multiple stories that try to be told, with no emotional resonance whatsoever. You don't even know the characters' names let alone care for their well being, because they're so thinly written they just retain as wallpaper. Ben Mears returns home to research his new book, and falls in love with Susan, but their relationship is so random it just happens and there's absolutely no chemistry between the lead actors. One minute they're talking at a drive-in, and the next they're a full-fledged couple (granted, the film jumps a week later, but it doesn't help in the lack of character development). Matthew Burke is a teacher who knows a lot about vampires for some reason, and once it becomes clear that vampires are in town, everyone seems set to kill them without question, like they've been there before. Mark is the new kid befriended by a couple other kids and that story goes completely nowhere.
The performances are all bland and stale, easily going from one scene to another with no consequence. Lewis Pullman has a strong start as Ben but his role gets diminished throughout the film when other stories come into play. Mackenzie Leigh is essentially a whisper as Susan, having no characteristics at all and leaving absolutely no impression whatsoever. Only Alfre Woodard and Bill Camp give some decent performances as the local doctor and Burke, giving some life to this otherwise long-dead film.
Vampire movies should be exciting and bloody, but there's a surprising lack of gore in the film, even though it's a streaming-only movie there's still enough that could've brought on more actual violence than what happens offscreen. It again leads to a dull, lifeless outing that reminded me way too much of another terrible streaming King adaptation, "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines." Both follow almost exactly the same formula (guy returns to his hometown, falls for girl, has a helper in town, finds a supernatural evil, gathers a ragtag group of people to stop it). It'll leave no impression on the viewer, and you'll quickly forget it once you get up from your couch.
The Score: D-
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