Salem's Lot

Holy shit. I. Love. Salem's Lot. I really love a lot of horror films, too many to count. I love the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Hellraiser movies and the Friday the 13th movies. But what tops them all for me is Salem's Lot (1979). I literally have been watching it every night now since about October. Now, I'm not sitting and paying attention to it every night because I put it on when I go to bed. An adult night-light if you will. I've read the book and its also one of my favorites. Salem's Lot is becoming increasingly ingrained into my head every day.

I cannot recall when I first saw Salem's Lot. But as with many movies I saw as a kid I loved the feeling of being scared. And Salem's Lot scared the living shit out of me for sure. The scene that always left me awake at night was the window scene where Ralphie Glick scratches his brothers window while floating outside. Yea, that was super damn scary as a kid. I read the book when I was going to Northern around my sophomore year.

When reading the book I was again finding myself scared at night because of how well written the horror aspects were. I mostly read at night and in bed which didn't help my sleeping habits. The book was amazing; I'm a big Stephen King fan anyway which enticed me before I even turned the first page.

If you haven't seen Salem's Lot or read the book the story is simply this: A vampire slowly takes over a small town in Maine. That's the beauty with the story, the first half of either the book or TV movie is just character building. Anyone never knowing what the story was about would never suspect a vampire horror story. Once you do realize a vampire is slowly taking over the town the story becomes a roller-coaster ride. You go from one vampire to dodging vampires left and right.

Tobe Hooper directed Salem's Lot, and for any n00bs out there TH directed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Harry Sukman wrote the score and Salem's Lot was actually his final film. I was able to get a copy of the soundtrack which is only available in bootleg copies since there was never an actual soundtrack produced. David Soul is the movie's biggest actor besides English great James Mason (of Stanley Kubrick's Lolita fame). The movie starts out two years after the main story begins in Ximico, Guatemala. Soul comments that "They've found us again" and that "We have to go further". Bam. Roll credits, you get a full moon and lights up on some creepy looking house with some awesome horror music. Tell me you wouldn't watch it.

One thing I notice while the movie plays 2-3 times are all the parts of the movie that make it so precious to me when I wake up in the night and catch them. I love Halloween and Salem's Lot is the best Halloween movie, in my opinion. A scene I awoke to a week ago was when a side character catches his wife with another man and then threatens that man with a shotgun in his face. It has nothing to do with vampires and these characters don't contribute to the main plot. But the scene is such a trick or treat type of scene, being like a trick where no one get's hurt. I was half awake when I realized this movie has the perfect Halloween feel.

The vampires in this movie are different than most others I've seen. They all have shiny eyes and some are able to float. Barlow aka The Master looks a little cheesy by today's makeup standards but his appearances command attention. Barlow is blue and scary as hell; he never speaks, kills a priest, and bends a cross with his hands. There are so many memorable scenes in the movie and David Soul is a Class A bad-ass throughout. Another reason I have continually enjoyed the film as I age is how horribly pessimistic the ending is. I won't spoil anything for anybody out there who may see this and watch the movie for the first time but it is amazing. Its a great horror movie and a great book; when I get full of doubt by how vampires are being twisted into not-scary glittery Hollywood abominations I just hit this movie up and see what vampires once were: blood suckers not suckers of..well you get me. Check out the trailer here. Amazing.