This was a wacky one. Part of the wave of Stephen King adaptations that were only tangentially related to their source material and clogged up the video shelves in the late 80s and early 90s, A Return To Salem’s Lot (1987) is a sequel to Stephen King’s novel and the TV miniseries, which is directed by genre-meister Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, The Stuff, Q The Winged Serpent) and it has that feel of a Hollywood cheapie (the poster even recycles the original’s poster image even though the vampire Barlow isn’t even in this one!). Corners are cut, shots seem stolen and when the first monster appears, it’s the fakest rubber mask seen outside of a Halloween costume store. Yet, the film is intriguing kettle of fish with Michael Moriarty committing to an interesting mannered performance as an anthropologist who takes his foul mouthed kid to Salem’s Lot where his aunt has left a shack to him in her will. However, they soon discover this deserted town comes alive at night and is basically an enclave for vampires – and in an unusual twist they want Moriarty’s character to document their history and write their town bible. Rather than anything horrifying or spooky, this seems like a satire on American provincial values, such as how this town raises cows to feed on rather than humans (aside from stray passerbys), all of which is weird enough to be watchable. Yet the movie kicks into another gear by the third act when legendary filmmaker Samuel Fuller (of Pickup On South Street and Shock Corridor) rocks up as cigar-chomping, luger-carrying Nazi hunter who decides to expand his targets to those with fangs. So many great one liners spat out by this elderly icon of iconoclastic filmmaking: “I’m not a Nazi hunter, I’m a Nazi killer!” Some people will find this pretty laughable and low budget, which it is to one degree, but I enjoyed its wacky approach to the material, particularly when it gets to Morarity and Fuller running around staking vamps in the daylight. Available to rent on Google Play. Recommended.
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