Reviews
[REVIEW] ‘Salem’s Lot’ (2024) is Another Toothless Stephen King Remake
Salem’s Lot follows the familiar author, Ben Mears, as he returns to his childhood home to research his next book but discovers the town has a vampire infestation. While this newest iteration retains a few central characters, it does not let them have as much fun as either miniseries that came before it. There is no grandiose Donald Sutherland’s Richard Straker having a devilish time or the sweet Rutger Hauer’s Kurt Barlow rolling across a ceiling energy as seen in the 2004 version. It also does not recapture the few scares that live rent-free in our minds from the 1979 adaptation. Although, this one does return to the 1970s instead of attempting to bring the story forward to modern times.
Salem’s Lot was the first novel I ever read as a kid. I powered through it to watch the Tobe Hooper adaptation on TNT when I was 11 or 12. That was also the tender age when I discovered the book is usually better. I have realized these last few years that this Stephen King novel holds a special place in many horror heads’ hearts. This explains why we have carried so much collective annoyance as the newest version sat around collecting dust for a couple of years after completion. With the checkered history, the ridiculously long wait, and King’s very own stamp of approval, the tension was thick when I hit play on my screener.
Revisiting the Familiar Story of Vampires in Small-Town Maine
Salem’s Lot follows the familiar author, Ben Mears, as he returns to his childhood home to research his next book but discovers the town has a vampire infestation. While this newest iteration retains a few central characters, it does not let them have as much fun as either miniseries that came before it. There is no grandiose Donald Sutherland’s Richard Straker having a devilish time or the sweet Rutger Hauer’s Kurt Barlow rolling across a ceiling energy as seen in the 2004 version. It also does not recapture the few scares that live rent-free in our minds from the 1979 adaptation. Although, this one does return to the 1970s instead of attempting to bring the story forward to modern times.
This version leaves the iconic kitchen battle toothless. It makes the child floating to the window surprisingly less eerie. However, it does have a few tense moments up its sleeve. Ralphie’s abduction specifically has never been so terrifying on screen. From the actual kidnapping to the audience watching his fatal ending from his POV through a burlap bag, it is unsettling and led me to believe this movie would have more cool stuff to rattle us. Sadly, this would not be the case though.
Mark Petrie Steals the Show as a Smart and Fearless Final Kid
One thing I loved about this version is Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter). Not only is he seemingly the bravest and smartest person in town, but he is an actual kid. There are no underdeveloped teens who tell bad jokes and get into trouble in The Lot this time. When he encounters a vampire, he turns to his comics for research and starts figuring out his next steps. He is also a Black central character in a Stephen King adaptation that cannot die if we stick to the character arc. I also love that this adds another layer to his isolation in Salem’s Lot and inspired the set designers to sneak a Sugar Hill (1974) poster onto his bedroom wall. I also have to highlight that there was no racial trauma shoehorned in, as that is a trope the industry cannot seem to shake. I was happy that the only time he was picked on was a standard bully, and Mark kicked his ass. I almost clapped when the teacher and other students were on his side because I had braced myself for the worst.
Another thing that works in Salem’s Lot’s favor is that we never waste time trying to convince people vampires are real. If it is not a major plot point, like getting them to the morgue so Ralphie’s undead mom can have some fun, the characters fall into formation. I have to admit that while things faltered after Ralphie’s death, it was cool to have scary vampires again, even if it was too brief. We have been getting too many cutesy non-threatening ones, and I am tired. I want vamps to be brutal, vicious, and frightening. Although some of the vampire activity of Salem’s Lot was undercut by the crosses glowing whenever a baddie was nearby. It was a puzzling choice that I still do not know how to feel about.
Underdeveloped Characters and Wasted Talent Hold the Film Back
I was rooting for this movie, but it is sadly another missed opportunity to capture the magical world Stephen King built all of those decades ago. I appreciate that this is the leanest version we have seen, clocking in at just under two hours and cutting away any unnecessary characters. However, it also leaves the story feeling a little hollow as we do not really get to know the new iterations of some of these characters. This is especially a shame because Alfre Woodard plays Dr. Cody this time. I would love to see if the character is as messy as all of the male versions of this character. I also just wanted her to have more screen time because it feels like filmmakers do not understand what a powerhouse she is when they cast her. I am still seething about how they wasted her talent in Annabelle while giving her all of the racial tropes we are all tired of seeing. This Salem’s Lot also has what feels like the most rushed attempt at this forced romance between Ben and Susan (Lewis Pullman and Makenzie Leigh). So, his unwillingness to kill her once she is turned is even more confusing than any previous screen adaptation.
What the film lacks in character development and any good scares after Ralphie’s demise funnels over into creativity. I have never seen vampires use cars as coffins, and I have never seen an epic battle go down in a drive-in. There are some cool shots of vamps catching fire, but this also feels like it is going through the motions far too often. This also highlights this film’s problem of having great ideas but no follow-through. Gary Dauberman’s script feels like it bared its fangs but was not ready to sink its teeth into anything. This results in wasting some fantastic set pieces in a movie that mostly plays it safe. I hoped this would be my favorite attempt at Salem’s Lot, but it made me feel sad as I slid it to second place in my mental ranking.
Salem’s Lot is a Middle-of-the-Road Stephen King Adaptation
This Salem’s Lot is not the worst version we have seen on screen. The film is quite simply okay, which is fine. I know we feel compelled to love or hate something, but the middle of the road is still something to celebrate. This is probably a good movie for tweens to sneak by parents at slumber parties. It will also make Uncle Stephen’s stans looking for their regularly scheduled adaptations breathe a little easier. However, watching it fall from grace after such an epic disposal of Ralphie is going to leave a lot of King fans as annoyed as I am.
Salem’s Lot arrives on Max (formerly HBO Max) on October 3.
Haunted house stories are a staple in the horror genre. But it’s not often that a haunted house film digs its way under your skin and stays there long after the credits roll. Enter Recluse, celebrating its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.
A Disturbing Return Home Fuels Recluse’s Story
Joan Wyatt, a young and troubled audio engineer, is called back to her childhood home following a bizarre accident in which her father, the famous artist Lawrence Wyatt, was engulfed in flames and left in critical condition. Joan has been estranged from her father for quite some time, so when his longtime housekeeper Lydia leaves a voicemail telling her that he likely doesn’t have a lot of time left, she ignores it. But then Lawrence himself calls, telling Joan that he’s been seeing her mother—who disappeared when Joan was a child—around the house.
Joan arrives to find Lydia armed with a crossbow to ward off Lawrence’s obsessive fans. Her father is bed-bound with severe burns, and is being cared for by a hired nurse around Joan’s age named Emily. Lawrence, who notoriously experimented with psychedelics and occult practices during his career, is barely coherent and keeps his face concealed underneath a crude plaster mask. He keeps asking about his “little spider.” It’s disturbing and deeply upsetting, especially since Joan already has a lifetime of trauma associated with the house. Now that she’s back, she begins to suspect that these “ghosts” aren’t metaphorical. Lawrence was not a good man… but something even more sinister may be lurking in the house.
Henry Chaisson Reinvents the Haunted House Formula
Recluse, written and directed by Henry Chaisson, is a masterfully crafted debut feature that takes familiar elements of the haunted house genre—like a remote mansion as the setting, traumatic family secrets, and supernatural mischief—and twists them into something fresh and, well, twisted.
Sasha Frolova Leads an Exceptional Ensemble Cast
Sasha Frolova stars as Joan, delivering a performance that is both believable and compelling. She’s easy to root for throughout the film, especially as she contends with her father’s unwaveringly loyal housekeeper Lydia, brilliantly played by Toby Poser. Mia Vallet’s portrayal of Emily is also noteworthy, commanding attention from her first appearance all the way to the end. Kimball Farley plays Lydia’s son and Joan’s friend Todd with the perfect balance of levity and tension. Frankie Seratch is enjoyable to watch as the opportunistic nepo baby art dealer Tom. Rounding out the cast is Xander Berkeley as Lawrence; even from behind a mask, his performance is intense and chilling. Berkeley even provided some of his own art to be used in the film.
Sound Design and Cinematography Create Unrelenting Terror
The cast is far from the film’s only strength, though. Sound design by Matthew Rollins will have you death-gripping your seat in the best way, and serves as an integral part of the story itself. Production designer Yulanda Yo-Rong Shieh and art director Ana María Kalvo absolutely nailed the set and made the Wyatt family mansion simultaneously sprawling and claustrophobic.
Finally, we have the beautiful and (appropriately) haunting cinematography by Bryce Holden, supported by the editing prowess of Nik Voytas, Josh Lobo, and Henry Chaisson. Not only did they maintain an air of unrelenting suspense throughout the entire film, but they also executed some of the most disturbing and bone-chilling jump scares I’ve seen in recent years.
Seriously: One of those jump scares made me feel physically ill. You’ll know it when you see it for yourself.
Recluse had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2026.
One of my favorite special interests is the Mormon-millionaire-real-estate-tycoon-owned Skinwalker Ranch. Mormon millionaire Brandon Fugal has crafted a wonderfully apophenic history in his post-Bigelow ownership. His perfectly curated release of pseudo-information through the lens of a History Channel TV show did wonders not just for his wallet but for docu-dramas as a whole. Fugal did what The Curse of Oak Island could have only wished to accomplish. BUT, three years before Joseph Smith’s teachings made their way to the Uinta Basin, a group of filmmakers set out to capitalize on one of America’s strangest phenomena. Skinwalker Ranch is a film that is as perplexing as it is insufferable.
Skinwalker Ranch: Missing Children, UFOs, and Found Footage Chaos
In 2010, Hoyt’s (Jon Gries) son disappeared in a blinding ball of light. Some time later, Modern Defense Enterprises sent a team of experts to Hoyt’s property to study what happened to Cody (Nash Lucas). Upon arriving at the property, MDE sets up a reality-TV-like number of security cameras in the hopes of finding anything. But what they found may just make them wish they hadn’t set foot on this property.
The Real History Behind Skinwalker Ranch Lore
As stated, the story of and behind Skinwalker Ranch is one of my favorite bits of Americana. From the Sherman family’s story, through Robert Bigelow’s ownership, all the way to its current Mormon occupation, the history behind Skinwalker Ranch runs deep. Dire wolves, dino beavers, and disappearing orbs, oh my! Whether you believe in the stories or not, Skinwalker Ranch is one of America’s biggest pieces of lore.
One of my favorite theories is that a resource-observing beacon was placed by, for lack of a better term, aliens when Pangea existed. Throughout the years, the dissolution of Pangea shifted the location of where the aliens placed the beacon to what is now considered the Mesa on the northern portion of Skinwalker Ranch’s property. The said beacon could very possibly be what causes the mysterious 1.6 GHz signal on the ranch, or why there are so many UAP sightings around the Mesa.
How Skinwalker Ranch Wastes Its Fascinating Premise
Now, I know all of this has been discovered post-Skinwalker Ranch (movie), but Hunt for the Skinwalker and Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, by Colm Kelleher and George Knapp (and James T. Lacatski for Pentagon), had already been released. Dino beavers on Skinwalker Ranch had already been discussed. The true terror of Skinwalker Ranch had been disseminated by three highly regarded UFOlogists. So, for writer Adam Ohler (and story by Devin McGinn, Steve Berg, Ken Bretschneider, and Murphy Michaels) to craft such a plain story that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what makes Skinwalker Ranch even slightly interesting is confounding. It feels as if the writer/story creators heard the term “Skinwalker Ranch” and decided to focus on that, and that alone. Skinwalker Ranch has zero world-building, and hopes that the title is titillating enough to get someone to click ‘play’.
The singular great aspect about Skinwalker Ranch is the casting of Jon Gries (Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite) and Michael Horse (Deputy Hawk in Twin Peaks). Gries does enough carrying in this film to make up for dropping that winning pass. And it’s just wonderful to see Michael Horse in a film, even if he’s cast as a token Native American whose only purpose is to make the writers feel better for capitalizing on Native American lore. Besides that, the acting in Skinwalker Ranch is beyond atrocious. In fact, the acting feels so unnatural that I honestly thought the team from MDE was going to turn out to be the aliens that kidnapped Cody. Turns out, the story doesn’t even attempt to be 1% as clever as that.
A Massive Found Footage Failure
Skinwalker Ranch not only fails at being an interesting sci-fi horror flick, but it also fails at being a found footage flick. Full of awful CGI, bad acting, and an even worse script, Skinwalker Ranch exists as nothing more than a time waster. In fact, Travis Walton’s experience in Fire in the Sky would be more entertaining to take part in than watching even two minutes of this film–I’d rather get dry probed by the Hyperboreans than ever think of this movie again.
