A Return to Salem’s Lot *** (1987, Michael Moriarty, Samuel Fuller, Ricky Addison Reed, Andrew Duggan, June Havoc, Evelyn Keyes) – Classic Movie Review 8,297

Michael Moriarty stars as Joe Weber, who battles with vampires with his son (Ricky Addison Reed) when he inherits a farmhouse in Maine, in Larry Cohen’s lively, offbeat 1987 horror movie A Return to Salem’s Lot.

Co-writer/ co-producer/ director Larry Cohen’s 1987 horror movie A Return to Salem’s Lot is a lively, offbeat, low-budget chiller spun off very loosely from the 1975 Stephen King novel Salem’s Lot and 1979 mini-series film Salem’s Lot.

Michael Moriarty stars as scientist/ anthropologist Joe Weber (Moriarty) who battles with the local vampires with his young lad Jeremy (Ricky Addison Reed) when they inherit a cottage in the New England small town of Salem’s Lot in Maine.

Joe takes custody of his dysfunctional adolescent son Jeremy, and decides to return to his hometown of Salem’s Lot, where he owns an abandoned farmhouse inherited from his Aunt Clara (June Havoc). What Joe doesn’t know is that Salem’s Lot is a vampire colony. The problem is that he hasn’t seen 1979 mini-series film Salem’s Lot and obviously everyone should.

Cohen has an impressive armoury of shocks, suspense and dark humour to drive it along, he finds space for esteemed old-time movie stars Evelyn Keyes (as Mrs Axel) and June Havoc (as Aunt Clara), and he fills the film with some irresistibly weird ideas, such as casting film director Sam Fuller as a Nazi vampire-killer called Dr Van Meer.

There is also a strong score by Michael Minard and imaginative shooting by cinematographer Daniel Pearl, as well as another irresistible performance from Moriarty, with the rest of the cast good too.

It also features Andrew Duggan, Evelyn Keyes, Jill Gatsby, June Havoc, Ronee Blakley, James Dixon, David Holbrook, Katja Crosby, Tara Reid, Brad Rijn, Robert Burr, Jacqueline Britton, Janelle Webb and Gordon Ramsey.

The story is by Larry Cohen, and the screenplay is by Larry Cohen and James Dixon.

In the mid-Seventies, Cohen wrote a screenplay for Salem’s Lot, one of several feature film scripts rejected by Warner Bros before they decided to make it into a TV miniseries instead. Years later, Cohen approached Warner Bros, who asked him to write and direct a low-budget feature, so he proposed a sequel to the 1979 Salem’s Lot.

Cohen said: ‘ The intention was to bring a sense of humour to the picture in playing with the established elements of vampire movies. I tried to revamp the vampire legend by making vampires the most persecuted race in Europe.’

It was filmed in Vermont in St Johnsbury, Newbury and Peacham in late 1986, with some shooting in New York City.

Cohen recalled: ‘The inhabitants in Peacham virtually gave us the entire town. I disrupted normal activities for several weeks. Since the film was about vampires, I shot late into the night and recruited the townspeople to be extras and their children to play young vampires.’

It was screened at Cannes on May 13, 1987, and given a limited theatrical release on September 11, 1987. But Warner Bros were after the video market. Cohen had pitched them the idea of remaking House of Wax (1953) for cinemas but Warners said no and instead asked Cohen to make a film for their video division. Cohen agreed if he could make two films back-to-back: It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive and A Return to Salem’s Lot.

The cast are Michael Moriarty as Joe Weber, Ricky Addison Reed as Jeremy Weber, Samuel Fuller as Van Meer, Andrew Duggan as Judge Axel, Evelyn Keyes as Mrs Axel, Jill Gatsby as Sherry, June Havoc as Aunt Clara, Ronee Blakley as Sally, James Dixon as Rains, David Holbrook as Deputy, Katja Crosby as Cathy, Tara Reid as Amanda Fenton, Brad Rjin as Clarence, Janelle Webb as Sarah, Robert Burr as Dr Fenton, Jacqueline Britton, and Gordon Ramsey.

A Return to Salem’s Lot is directed by Larry Cohen, runs 100 minutes, is made by Larco Productions, is distributed by Warner Bros, is written by Larry Cohen and James Dixon, based on characters by Stephen King and the story by Larry Cohen, is shot by Daniel Pearl, is produced by Larry Cohen and Paul Kurta, and is scored by Michael Minard.

Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941)

Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is known for Bang the Drum Slowly, Who’ll Stop the Rain, Q: The Winged Serpent, The Stuff, Pale Rider, Troll, Courage Under Fire, and Shiloh.

Larry Cohen (July 15, 1941 – March 23, 2019)

RIP Larry Cohen (July 15, 1941 – March 23, 2019), best known for It’s Alive (1974), God Told Me To (1976), It’s Alive II [It Lives Again] (1978), The Stuff (1985) and It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) and his screenwriting works Phone Booth (2002), Cellular (2004) and Captivity (2007).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,297

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