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No single author bears the fame of Stephen King when it comes to novels and short stories that simultaneously raise fear, disgust, nightmarish terror, and melancholy for an Americana of the past. And I don't think any fiction author has had more of his works adapted for the silver screen. But the risk factor for adaptations always is the question of "Was the Book Better". With Salem's Lot, a 1975 early masterpiece by King, this movie had a lot of ground to cover. And it failed to do so. In fact, it could not do so because incorporating one of King's tomes into one feature length film is just too hard.

So - as simply a vampire horror movie - Salem's Lot was good. Not great. Not "30 Days of Night" great by a long shot. But - in it's own place - it was good. The base theme is simple: prominent vampire with human helper moves into remote Maine town with the intention of turning the town into obedient vamps one at a time. But some of the locals catch on to what's happening (including a 12 year old hero kid - typical of King novels), and try to save the day.

The cinematography was average. The effects average. The movie is set in 1976, and does a good job maintaining the setting. The acting was fair - a little too campy at times. Overall - if you're a horror/thriller fan - worth a watch. After all, it is October !!

Let me start by saying this is a very good stand-alone Science Fiction Horror movie. And it does justice and honor to the original 1979 Alien film masterpiece by Ridley Scott that birthed the most terrifying space Alien creature in movie making. The xenomorph. But the movie did not "wow" me. The acting was ok. The sets were good (as they should be given the gift of CGI). And the bare necessary links to the original Alien universe are made - placing it temporally after the original Alien film and the happenings upon the ill-fated Nostromo. But there was nothing new, no real twist, nothing setting up for a future thematic diversion. That was the intended task of Prometheus and Covenant, which never got finished. So - while I am obviously bitter about that, don't mistake my gripes with discouragement from Alien:Romulus. Like I said to start, it is very good.

So the demonic house is a tried and true genre going back to The Amityville Horror. And here - The Deliverance is at its core more of the same.

The difference is made up by the primary characters and setting. This is an almost entirely black family (except for a white grand ma played by icon Glenn Close). And they are poor - living in a rough neighborhood of Pittsburgh, trying to recover from the mother's alcoholism and break-up from their absentee soldier father. They move into a house, typical urban brick structure in a tightly packed row of identical homes. Soon after moving in, unusually bad behavior by the protagonist mother's three kids lead to run-ins with child services to add to the disarray. As you may have guessed, the behavioral issues were not 'all natural'.

This movie is held together by superb acting. And it got to a ''6" in my book as a result. The storyline itself though is tired, and the movie builds too long only to then rush through the ending too quick.