Max’s New Stephen King Horror Reboot Delivers Retro Bite

You can tell the new ‘Salem’s Lot movie wasn’t filmed in Maine. I say this because, as a writer who’s lived and worked in Maine for the past seven years, I can instantly spot a faux-cinematic Maine. Like the underrated 2019 Pet Sematary remake, the new ‘Salem’s Lot was shot in Massachusetts, despite taking place in the state where Stephen King created and set so many of his haunting novels.

But authenticity isn’t really the point of this remake, since we also know it wasn’t shot in 1975, even though that’s the year it takes place. This romp is an almost intentionally unconvincing period piece right from the start. The strength of the new ‘Salem’s Lot is its basic unreality, and once you accept that, you can enjoy yourself.

Filmed in 2021, and originally scheduled for a theatrical release in 2022, its release was delayed by post-production issues and is only now hitting Max. Was it worth the wait? Will hardcore Stephen King fans have their vampiric appetites satisfied? Kind of. It may not be great, but if you can cut the new ‘Salem’s Lot a break, you’ll find there’s a fun horror movie lurking in this remake. And if you’re a serious Stephen King fan, its retro vibes and uncanny aesthetic ultimately make it essential viewing.

Starring Lewis Pullman channeling some of his Outer Range excellence as novelist Ben Mears, ‘Salem’s Lot is fairly faithful to King’s original book. It’s 1975, and Ben has returned to Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, where he’d lived until he was nine. Now living in New York City, Ben is searching for inspiration for his next book, hoping, like a character in a Hallmark movie, to find answers in a small town with simpler ways. Instead, Ben finds that the new residents of the creepy old Marsten House are ancient vampires.

As the director behind Annabelle and The Nun, Gary Dauberman knows how to deliver effective moments of shock, but does so in ‘Salem’s Lot with a kind of nostalgic restraint. Much of the film seems to be coated in layers of sepia, as though we’ve just found an old VHS tape in the basement containing a ‘70s HBO movie recorded by our parents.

Dauberman doesn't go full-Tarantino with this technique, but if you liked Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, or better still, Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, you’ll find a similar checklist of faux-historical references. Nods to movies released in 1975 (Operation Day Break), ‘70s radio hits (“Clap for the Wolfman”), and classic cars all round out the hit-you-over-the-head period piece. It’s the Stranger Things effect; yes, these things existed in 1975, but everything is presented with such museum-quality pristine-ness that you can’t buy any of it. But that’s okay, because realism is not the point here.

Instead, the movie invites you into a borderline silly mood that recreates the feeling of reading a Stephen King novel when you’re perhaps a little too young to be reading a Stephen King novel. Accidentally or not, from its opening scene in which Richard Straker (Pilou Asbæk) gives detailed instructions to some moving men transporting vampire Kurt Barlow’s (Alexander Ward) coffin, there’s almost a sense of parody. Is this guy for real? Are those guys really going to go into the basement? The meet-cute between Ben and local love interest Susan (Makenzie Leigh) is similarly clichéd-on-purpose. Either you can accept that the movie's first hour is setting up the chaos of the second, or not.

Arguably, all the clunky dialogue is designed to settle you into a familiar narrative paradigm. In all the scenes where Straker and Barlow aren’t kidnapping children or turning people into vampires, there’s almost a coziness to the movie; it’s the sort of film you wish was still being made. Sadly, it no longer feels edgy enough to be mainstream. When Dr. Cody (the always brilliant Alfre Woodard) decides it's time to drive a stake through Susan’s heart, it should bring down the house. But you have to imagine a movie theater full of people screaming and cheering.

It’s a shame that ‘Salem’s Lot wasn’t released in theaters. In 2019, I saw Pet Sematary in a packed theater in Portland, Maine, and being in an audience that decided to go along with the silliness was part of the fun. That remake — just like this new ‘Salem’s Lot — was far from perfect, but it also wasn’t nearly as bad as some purists would tell you. At this point, the goal of a new Stephen King movie is surely vibes over content.

‘Salem’s Lot is hurt by the fact that you can’t share the experience with strangers, but the film is still worth your time because its throwback horror movie goals will, for some, feel oddly comforting. The fact that vampires are closing in and no one owns a cell phone is refreshing. It’s the 1970s, and horrible things are happening in a small town in Maine. It feels fake, but exciting. Stephen King’s dark magic has briefly been rekindled.

‘Salem’s Lot is streaming on Max.