Salem's Lot

You'll Enjoy Mr. Barlow and He'll Enjoy You

Salem's Lot was perhaps the starting point of my love for horror movies. I have watched this movie a million times but it could still give me the scare. I still remember back in 1979 (I was about 5 then) Mummy took me and along to watch this movie on a midnight show. I was sissy- scared like hell for God knows how many years after that. On our way home from the movies the three of us passed by a cemetary (the same one Mummy's at now) and how hilarious that the three of us began clumsily reciting versus from the Quran.

One of my Favourite Scenes

My favourite scenes in the movie were of course the part where the little vampire floats at the bedroom and hospital window trying to get into the his brother's and a friend's room. Another one is when the kid vampire wakes from his coffin after his funeral. Wow these were real nice scenes (with good make up effects and sound usage to scare the sh**t out of you). If you don't know what movie I am referring to here's a synopsis taken directly from Wikipedia. There are 3 Salem's Slot Movies, one made in 1979 the second in the 80s titled Return to Salem's Lot (don't watch this, it's really stupid) and a remake of the original in 2004.

The Original 1979 Salem's Lot

The Following info on Salem's Lot was Taken directly from Wikipedia

'Salem's Lot is a 1975 horror novel written by Stephen King, and was the author's second published novel. The title King originally chose for his book was Second Coming, but he later decided on Jerusalem's Lot. The publishers, Doubleday, shortened it to the current title, thinking the author's choice sounded too religious.

The 2004 Remake

The novel has been adapted into a television mini-series twice, first in1979 and years later in 2004. The novel was also adapted by the BBC as a seven part radio play in 1995.

Plot Summary

Ben Mears, a successful writer who grew up in the (fictional) town of Jerusalem's Lot, Cumberland Country, Maine (or “The Lot”, as the locals call it), has returned home following the death of his wife. Once in town he meets local high school teacher Matt Burke and strikes up a romantic relationship with Susan Norton, a young college graduate.

Ben plans to write a book about the “Marsten House”, an abandoned mansion that gave him nightmares after a bad experience with it as a child. The Marsten House was the home of '30s Gangster Hubert Marsten. Hubert, or "Hubie" was a hitman who specialized in rather unsavory hits. Hubie's profession intersected with his personal life and after his suicide, it was discovered he was responsible for the deaths of several children. Unbeknownst to Ben and his new friends, the Marsten House is about to be inhabited by the vampire Kurt Barlow. It is later revealed that Hubie Marsten had in fact communicated with the erstwhile Barlow, and that in the course of their correspondence Marsten may have extended to Barlow the necessary invitatio to come to 'Salems Lot.

Mears discovers that the Marsten House has been bought by a Mr. Straker and a Mr. Barlow, appearing as a pair of businessmen who are opening a new furniture store in town, although only Straker has yet been seen. Their arrival coincides with the disappearance of a young boy, Ralphie Glick, and the suspicious death of his brother Danny. Over the course of the book, the town is slowly taken over by vampires, reducing it to a ghost town by day as they sleep.

Ketua Penjahat...

Ben and Susan are joined by Matt Burke and his doctor Jimmy Cody, along with a young boy named Mark Petrie and the local priest, Father Callahan, to stop the vampires from dominating the town. When Mark Petrie and Susan break and enter into the Marsten House, they are found and taken prisoner by Mr. Straker. Mark is able to fatally wound Straker (who is eventually killed by the master vampire Barlow for failing his duties), but Susan is captured by Barlow before Mark has a chance to rescue her. When Mark returns to the others, the characters begin to run into several unfortunate tragedies. Susan, while held hostage by Barlow, becom

es a vampire herself, and Mears has to resort to killing her with a wooden stake. Then, Father Callahan is caught by Barlow, and Barlow forces Callahan to drink blood from his own neck, transforming Callahan into a dazed and confused human being, soon to take a bus ride out of town- his motives remaining unknown. Finally, Jimmy Cody is killed when he falls into a dark basement and is impaled by knife traps set by Barlow, while Matt Burke dies suffering from heart attacks in the nearby hospital.

Mind the Hair-do, Cherish the 70s

In the end Ben and young Mark Petrie succeed in destroying the master vampire Barlow, but, lucky to escape with their lives, are forced to leave the town to the crop of newly-created vampires. The novel's prologue, which is set shortly after the end of the story proper, describes Ben and Mark's flight across the country, ending in a seaside town in Mexico.

An epilogue has the two returning to the town a year later, intending to renew the battle. Ben, knowing that there are too many hiding places for the town's vampires, sets some underbrush on fire in an attempt to destroy as many homes as possible thus making the vampires easier to hunt. The Marsten House serves as an eventual pyre when it is burned down by Mark Petrie and Ben Mears.