Why so much hype?

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

At the very beginning of this movie, we see anthropologist Joe Weber (Michael Moriarty) observing some kind of sacrificial rite among a generic "jungle tribe". While the "natives" cavort, and Weber's assistant films, the chief of the tribe cuts out the heart of the victim. Weber does not flinch, but his assistant is appalled -- even more so when Weber casually informs him that the victim was chosen because "...he knocked up the chief's favorite wife."This scene neatly presents the problem with "Return to Salem's Lot" (and I don't mean the fact that the jungle is obviously a sound stage and the natives are nothing of the sort)--unfulfilled potential. Weber is presented as a man who cares about nothing but his work, a man who thinks compassion is a weakness. I think -- and don't quote me here -- that the story was supposed to be about his acquisition of human feeling, first by being presented with custody of his foulmouthed teenage son, then by being presented with the opportunity to write a "Bible" for a community of vampires and realizing that to do so, he will have to relinquish the soul of his son and turn a blind eye to utter evil darkness.It fails on pretty much every level. Briefly: Weber returns to civilization because his ex-wife cables him that his son is sick. When he arrives, his ex-wife (Ronee Blakely, who can't act her way out of a paper sack) and her pompous husband tell him that his son is not sick but unmanageable, and they are handing off custody then and there. His son, Jeremy (Ricky Addison Reed, in what was apparently his only screen appearance) is a foulmouthed little jerk who would test the patience of any dedicated parent; unaccountably, father and son seem to reach détente very quickly. Together, they travel to Salem's Lot to live in a house left to Joe by his Aunt Clara. Once installed in the house, they discover that the inhabitants of Salem's lot are all vampires, who live by raising cattle and feeding off their blood, and whose patriarch, Judge Axel (Andrew Duggan) has arranged for Joe to come to the community. How? Because of course Aunt Clara is not dead; she is undead, and always has been. It is never explained, satisfactorily, just HOW Judge Axel got Joe to come to Salem's Lot; during the conversation between father and son in the car, Joe says Clara has been dead for a long while so he did not just inherit the house. Plus you have to wonder how a man whose work seems to be contingent on his ability to travel at a moment's notice is able to just pack it in and move to Maine without so much as a phone call to his editor, but you never can tell with anthropologists I guess.Anyway, Judge Axel wants Joe to write the history of the community and the vampires, and sweetens the pot by producing Joe's teenage crush, Sherry (Jill Gatsby), who has a mighty nice rack for a dead person and who seduces Joe pretty much within a few minutes of their meeting and instantly falls pregnant. With his girlfriend knocked up and his son slowly being sucked (haha) into the vampire's orbit, Joe considers doing Axel's bidding -- until a Nazi hunter named Van Meer (broadly played by Samuel Fuller) shows up looking for a war criminal he thinks is hiding in the town. Van Meer and Joe team up to rescue Jeremy from the vampire patriarch and set fire to the town, after which they escape in a bus. The end.There are a few genuinely creepy moments. A car full of teenagers blunders into Salem's lot on a night when Judge Axel has given permission for the townspeople to feed on humans; one girl breaks free from the carnage and runs into a church for sanctuary. The next time we see her, she is in Judge Axel's living room and Joe is there; when she breaks down, sobbing, and is led gently away by Aunt Clara (June Havoc) and Mrs. Axel (Evelyn Keyes, a long, long way from Tara) you realize that she is going to be eaten, and for just a moment, the movie is frightening. But most of the time, it's one missed opportunity after another. Michael Moriarty phones in his performance. His son is hammy enough to be served for Easter dinner. The other performances, with the exception of Andrew Duggan's Judge Axel, range from workmanlike to just plain laughable (Joe's girlfriend is so vacant of emotion that you wonder if becoming a vampire removes one's ability to emote all together.) The editing is jerky, the effects are amateurish, and the whole thing is so bizarrely bad that you might have to watch it two or three times like I did because you don't believe it the first time. The premise of the story could have been the basis for a very good movie. Unfortunately, that's not what happened here.

A man meets up with his son after a long absence, so they decide to take a trip together. It turns out that he has a legacy at Salem and makes his way there.Oh the nightlife is lovely, but not much goes on in the day....If you ever see this movie, please bear in mind that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the original King TV movie. That was suspenseful, well acted, and most importantly, scary.This is similar in name only, and if you watch it as a comedy, rather than the spine chilling horror it never is, you will have a ball.Moriarty is a lot of fun in his role, but he just plays concerned parent, followed by a man who shouts at old people for no good reason, and then someone who teams up with the oldest action hero ever, to take down the worlds oldest vampire, and their leader who gets so angry, he has to put on a silly mask.But he stays there because he doesn't want his son to turn. After all, they have a great relationship, and his son isn't someone you'd like to leave in the middle of the road because he's obnoxious and acts like a total moron.Tara Reid shows up every now and again, but gets so fed up With everything, decides to get in a coffin which is on fire. And she does it so slowly and so graceful. Literally.If you want ninety minutes of really bad acting, and just a load of unintentional laughs, this will suffice.If you want terror and genuine chills, see the original.

If you aren't familiar with the production details of Salem's Lot, Larry Cohen desired to direct the first film and make it a major motion picture. He's known to create campy horror films, but I'm sure he wanted to bring dark, brooding life to the original. After the miniseries ended, he tried to take a stab with a television series. Again, his dreams were crushed until this project came along. You can tell right off that the film is meant to be intentionally bad. Although, it's so bad until it's entertaining. Well, at least to me it is. Still, it angers me that Cohen took this route because it definitely could've been a great sequel with purpose. The story of Joe Weber being chosen to write a bible chronicling the vampires was very interesting. We have Straker-like characters roaming about the town, making sure no "outsiders" come around to cause trouble. The vampires all have comedic one-liners which bring a smile to your face. Yet, the nightmare-inducing make-up is dropped. This time they have the ability to look like mortals and I wish Judge Axel had've chosen to remain that way. His goofy appearance as a bloodsucker makes him look like a children's movie vampire who helps the gang out in the end. Michael Moriaty and Ricky Addison Reed are good despite the crappy lines they were given. Very beautiful love interests were casted for both, but they are far from talented. Scenery and art direction is the only redeeming quality this film possessed. The music score is creepy and powerful, but in one scene they play two different themes which makes you want to go deaf. The choreography is ridiculous during fight scenes that could've been exciting. I will say that impaling the master vampire on the American flag was a nifty touch. Another good wrap-up with this conclusion to the series was the destruction of all the vampires. Of course, the carnage becomes super choppy to deaden the impact. Seriously, why did this have to be mangled? Instead of taking his rejection in stride, Larry Cohen makes his temper tantrum known with this film's presence. Watch only if you fancy "Mystery Science Theatre" worthy films.

Joe Weber an anthropologist returns from South America to be with his son Jeremy and they travel to a small, quiet New England town, know as Salem's Lot, where he grew up as a child and that he has inherited a house, which he plans to fix up and live. But soon he discovers the town's horrific secret, it's populated by vampires who live a normal life and the town's judge Axel, wants Joe to write a bible for their kind. Drum roll please… shock, horror! What do you know? I liked it, quite a bit. Okay, okay it doesn't come close to Hooper's superior 'Salem's Lot', but I found this cheap looking quickie to be hugely enjoyable and I liked that it was ridiculously quirky. Cohen's touch is evident here with the comedic black humour that underlined the story, which translated into plenty of his films that featured Michael Moriarity. Those two just seem to click when they come together. Cohan's got his own sort of style that distinguishes his films from the rest of the genre and that's why he's a cult b-grade filmmaker. For lot of people I can see why it's a big disappointment and why it was put down, but this is really only a sequel by name, as there weren't any real connections from what I grasp between the two films. If you think you are going to get something in the same vein as the classier Hooper film, you'll be sorely mistaken. It's just unfavourable to compare it to "Salem's lot", as it hasn't got a real chance. They should have had a different movie poster that didn't feature Barlow (from the first film), because he is nowhere to be seen, I guess that was one the other disappointments for people. But that's just advertisement for ya. From watching the 'Island of the Alive: It's Alive 3' (1987) commentary not too long ago, which was shot-back-to-back with 'Salem's Lot'. Cohen originally went to Warner Brothers in the interest of getting the rights for 'House of Wax', but instead they suggested that they would back him for a 'Salem's Lot' and 'It's Alive' sequel. Where Larco production took control and many of the same cast and crew were involved in both products. Both films actually shared the same intro, with its multi-coloured lava effect. Is that saying something about the budget, or did Cohen just liked it and wanted to reuse it again? These double features were intended to be release on Warner Brother video, but they got a small cinema release. Just a bit of trivia for you. The production is pretty rough, which goes for disjointed editing and the shabby makeup and tacky effects. They might not be up to scratch, but in all, those certain aspects don't destroy the fun and heart of this flick. But one thing did stand out and that it was a well-shot picture. Daniel Pearl's (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) camera work ups the ante and a touch of professionalism. Sadly the score didn't have that approach, it was at times just a bit too much. Cohen might have executed some of the action scenes sluggishly, but that didn't dampen the reasonable thrills that flowed with some nice bloody moments and grubby make-up effects. Slow to get going, but when it kicks in, everything picks up with a sudden burst. What's a Cohen film without the trademark offbeat dialog and campy performances. The script was light on material, but the biting wit and maniac language shined through. The outrageous humour seems to be there to counter-punch the corny horror side of things. The flawed plot has some virtually impossible actions taken or done. But my attention was held throughout and I just went with things. I thought it had some incredibly intriguing ideas in the mix and bizarre aspects that pull you in. I was even thinking of 'The Howling', which the same idea is covered in this film. At least it wasn't a retread. Fine performances are heralded from the cast. Moriarity's versatility shows, and there's fun to be had when he's on screen. Also Samuel Fueller hams it up as a grisly old Nazi hunter and Andrew Duggan plays the Judge Axel with a touch of class and hidden menace. Ricky Addison Reed was painful as a foul mouth brat, Jeremy Weber. There's a notable performance from a very young Tara Reid too. What we get here is a dreary atmosphere that adds a nice pinch of satiric macabre, which kept me in a trance.Addictively off the wall horror from Cohen, which might be too much for those who aren't into very cheap, campy b-grade horror.