Includes spoilers for Salem’s Room (2024)The vampire movie Salem’s place Ralph sees Glick as the first of the town to fail, and there is a particular reason why. The 2024 movie is an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s best books, the 1975 classic of the same name. This is a beloved horror story about an author, Ben Mers, who returns to his old hometown of Jerusalem Lot. This coincides with the arrival of a vampire, Kurt Barlow, and the vampire’s assistant, Richard Straker, who buys the old Marsten house and sets up an antique shop in town, beginning their conquest.
The Salem’s place Cast is composed of an ensemble of various townsfolk, many of whom begin to be killed or turned into vampires as the film progresses. This includes protagonists like Susan (Mackenzie Leigh) and Matthew Burke (Bill Camp). But The first character to be killed, Ralphie Glick, is kidnapped first, and there is a specific meaning behind his death As for how vampires work in Salem’s placeAnd it is crucial to understand the story of the movie as a whole. Ralphie is played by child actor Cade Woodward, who is best known for his work in the MCU as Nathaniel Barton.
Barlow required a human sacrifice before taking over Salem’s place
Barlow needed to sanctify the site of Jerusalem
A scene where Ralphie and his brother, Danny Glick (Nicolas Crovetti), are walking home, they are approached by Richard Straker in a very suspicious vehicle, offering them a ride. When they refuse, he resorts to kidnapping Ralph. Importantly, when the news is spread in Jerusalem’s lot, characters notice that many of the townspeople are ignorant of the severity of the matter. This is a crucial detail for later. As for why Straker kidnapped Ralph, this is specifically related to the nature of Jerusalem’s lot and the history of the city.
Kurt Barlow targeted the Jerusalem lot, however In order to take over, a human sacrifice is necessary to sanctify the town.. It’s an approval ritual that allows Barlow to begin fully directing his affairs, turning people into vampires and causing his destruction of the city. Ralph is the first to be infected; Then he goes to eat Danny. The two then begin moving around Jerusalem’s lot, turning its inhabitants into vampires on behalf of Barlow.
Why Straker & Barlow chose Salem’s Lot
Jerusalem’s Lot is already a dying city
A critical thought to Salem’s place The end result is that the town was “dead” the whole time. The film is very much a metaphor for social decline in small-town America, where it is an outward appearance of old-fashioned values ​​and classic Americana. However, under that mirage is A town is destroyed by corruption. This is why it is so important that the townsfolk are simply acting as if nothing is wrong when many around them begin to become vampires and die. Barlow chose Jerusalem Lot because it was highly susceptible to him.
The idea is that Jerusalem Lot is a town that has been subject to many lesser evils over time. They let corrupt businessmen into the city, and so on, and in compounding many lesser evils, they allow a greater, more existential evil to take root. While Barlow does not survive his encounter with Salem’s Lot because Ben Mears and Mark Petrie oppose him, The city cannot recover from its impact, and the surviving characters leave it behind in ruins at the end of the movie..
As the Salem’s court book expands on the victim and Barlow’s motivations
Barlow must appeal to an evil entity in Jerusalem’s court
Because of an evil entity in the city, Barlow had to sacrifice Ralph to appease it.
There are many differences between book to movie Salem’s placeIncluding the nature of the town is haunted to begin with. The Marsten House is a major plot component that isn’t as prevalent in the film, and it changes the backstory of Ben Mears and Barlow’s selection of the Jerusalem site pretty drastically. Rather than his parents being killed, The book version of ​​​​​​​​​Ben Mears entered the Marsten house and found a hanged ghost, causing him severe trauma.. Because of an evil entity in the town, Barlow had to sacrifice Ralph to appease it. Only after that he actually begins his operation.
Related
Because the movie largely left out that component, it also leaves out some of Barlow’s motivations. The Marsten House was once owned by a man named Hubie Marsten, who killed his wife and himself Decades before the events of the book. Stephen King’s novel reveals that Barlow was in contact with Hubie back in the 1930s, paving the way for Barlow’s eventual arrival in. Salem’s place. The movie has to skip a lot of detailed material for its time constraints, instead focusing on the allegorical aspect of Barlow’s assumption.