Macabre...ish Horror Review: Salem’s Lot

Salem’s Lot, 1979/ 184 min.

Author Ben Mears returns to his small town, Salem’s Lot, after a long absence. He intends to write about the old Marsten House, an old supposed haunted house that sits on top of a hill. It’s original owner, Hubie Marsten, a suspected pedophile, killed himself there.
When he attempts to rent or buy it, he discovers a newcomer has beat him to it. Richard Straker, he’s also opened an antique shop with his always absent business partner, Kurt Barlow.

Ben concedes and moves into a boarding housing. He also recalls a memory when he was a child, of a dare, when he went into the house and saw Hubie’s ghost. He believes the house is inherently evil and attracts evil men.

Soon after, the Marsten House receives an unusually large delivery, the towns people begin to disappear or die under suspicious circumstances. Undead people wake up in morgues and at their own funerals and it spreads fast. With the help of a horror movie buff kid, the surviving towns people, who don’t flee, figure out how to fight back. But is it too late?

This movie is loosely based on Stephen King’s book of the same name. Lots of recognizable faces here. Some hilariously, cheesy acting and effects, a few jump scares and very nostalgic.