Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Dr.William Russo Conspicuous by his absence.Salem's Lot in Life & Death When in 1979 we heard James Mason was doing a Stephen King TV movie, we were appalled. We refused to watch one of our perennial favorites demean his career in its last years.Today we eagerly watch it and devour his every screen moment.Who would have guessed that James Mason slumming on TV could be so delightful? With Tobe Hooper directing like he is doing an imitation of Vera Miles approaching Hitchcock's Bates mansion, you throw in some performers we always liked: Lance Kerwin, Ed Flanders, Elisha Cook, Lew Ayres, Marie Windsor, Kenneth MacMillan and Fred Willard!! What a juicy little horror-just a tad silly around the edges.It's a little perverse too. James Mason is the procurer for some kind of Nosferatu in Maine, finding little boys for him to devour. Lance Kerwin seems ripe, but he has eyes only for David Soul. Their smoldering subtext is off the charts in its own way. Did anyone making the movie understand the word 'latent'?James Mason and Lance Kerwin share only a couple of glances in their scenes, but it may be that they saw something utterly disdainful in the other. With an uncut three-hour version of the old TV miniseries now available on streaming, you can sit back and wallow in low-rent horror that remains top-drawer compared to the junk of today. There is no needless blood and/or off-the-computer special effects. Here actors rely on their wiles, not on the blue screen.James Mason is the full show here, delivering lines with an inimitable throwaway snobbery. Wait till you hear him pronounce, "expertise."Most of the movie he is either entering or exiting doorways and looking askance. He clearly enjoyed making a movie with his wife, Clarissa Kaye, and chewing the scenery. You will enjoy it too.

moonspinner55 Famous writer returns to his hometown in Maine to complete a new project: a book about the Marsten House, a creaky, rotting mansion on the hill with a dark past, one that has haunted the author since he was a young man. It turns out the house still casts a dark spell, one that may be responsible for the deaths or disappearances of several local boys. Horror-veteran Tobe Hooper directed this made-for-TV miniseries, adapted from the early Stephen King novel ('Salem's Lot short for Jerusalem's Lot). Hooper does good work here, particularly in the climax, though for the first hour he dawdles over the material. The 184-minute running-time may have convinced the filmmaker he could allow the story to unfold slowly; if so, the gambit doesn't quite pay off. With a main character who isn't very exciting (he fills us in on the house's history and introduces us to the rest of the cast), a midsection involving the Catholic Church (complete with a child's funeral and a priest staring down evil) and too many trips to the hospital and morgue, the narrative goes into a depressive rut. One of the most intense sequences, an unhinged man finding another man in bed with his wife, isn't topped by the supernatural happenings (a fatal flaw) and nothing imperative comes of this story thread. James Mason has a devilishly good time playing the mysterious new owner of the Marsten House, but mostly the performances are solid if unspectacular. Hooper's spooky visuals will give fans of the occult what they're hoping for, though the picture has cheesy tail-ends to most of its big scenes. Also, the interiors are too bright, the sets are disappointing, the art direction is dull and the prologue is unnecessary. Followed by "A Return to Salem's Lot" in 1987.

Nigel P Way back on Monday 7th September 1981, amidst the police and hospital dramas, the light entertainment comedy shows and wildlife documentaries, the BBC transmitted the first of a two-part American TV Movie based on a story by Stephen King. I don't know what its viewing figures were like, I am not aware of how critically acclaimed it was, but the following day, virtually everyone I knew was talking about it and how frightening it was. Two days later, after the final part aired, it was the only thing people were talking about. It was, as I remember, a phenomenon.The story: The Marsten House, reputed to be haunted, has long been a source of morbid fascination for writer Ben Mears (an intense David Soul). It is based on the outskirts of the small town of Salem's Lot, where Mears has returned after many years to write his latest book. Immediately he strikes up a closeness with Susan Norton (Bonnie Bedelia) and gets to know the characters who frequent the community, their relationships with one another and the stories they have to tell. Their lives are so meticulously intertwined that we are easily allowed into their world, into which enters Richard Straker, who is about to open an Antiques Shop there. Straker is played by James Mason, an actor of immense power. Charming, affable, elegant and capable of great evil, Straker is played to perfection. His partner, Mr Barlow, is spoken of in hushed tones, but never seen. Straker observes the peccadillos of the townsfolk from an amused distance, for he has bigger plans.The first part of 'Salem's Lot' puts the pieces into place. In the second, most of the characters die in a series of expertly handled horror set-pieces. The outbreak of vampirism results in wild-eyed, fanged children floating outside the window begging to be let in; a sick hollow-eyed gravedigger, Mike Ryerson (an incredibly sinister Geoffrey Lewis) falling from an upper story window and never hitting the ground; people rising from their graves with a familiar sickly pallor. It is difficult to imagine any of these set-pieces being handled better. Director Tobe Hooper keeps things sinister and uneasy, taking the situations from King's book and transferring them seamlessly to screen.When we eventually meet Mr Barlow, actor Reggie Nalder's cadaverous features are well and truly plastered under whitening contact lenses, vampire teeth and Nosferatu-like prosthetics. He is a snarling, inhuman monster, used sparingly – perhaps too sparingly – but never without great effect.'Salem's Lot' is a triumph on every level and still packs a punch today. Only Marc Petrie (Lance Kerwin) threatens initially to irritate – but then, he is something of an outcast, a bowl-haired horror 'nerd' and monster-kid academic. Really, that should endear him, but it doesn't somehow. Yet his swottish leanings are essential in battling what becomes a town of slavering undead, which he does with considerable expertise.Barlow's major scene, where he and Straker gate-crash a Priest's visitation on the Petrie family, where he rises from a black cloak to about 7 feet tall, is one of many highlights. Straker's patronising name-calling of 'holy man' and 'shaman', faith against Barlow's blue-skinned, heavily-veined face, with crucifix proving frighteningly ineffective – all add up to a set-piece of immense proportions, which, like Barlow's involvement, is over far too soon.

dworldeater Terrific vampire epic based on a novel by Steven King and directed by Tobe Hooper. Very classy, but suspenseful and atmospheric horror production. When writer David Soul returns to his hometown to write a novel inspired by a creepy old house that terrified him in his youth, a creepy antiques dealer moves in. Then strange and horrific events begin in the small and quiet town known as Salem's Lot. James Mason is great and has a brooding, diabolical presence as the evil antiques dealer. David Soul is great as author turned hero and did well as the lead in this film. The rest of the cast is solid and it is nice to see frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator Geoffrey Lewis in a supporting role here. Salem's Lot is an epic production clocking in at nearly three hours long, but the story flows well with tension, suspense and terror throughout. All and all this is truly a classic and in my opinion the team of Tobe Hooper and Steven King did an excellent job in crafting this masterpiece. Great stuff.