Salem’s Lot ending explained: Do Ben and Mark stop Barlow’s vampire uprising?

Now that Salem's Lot is available to stream on Max, have you gotten the chance to watch it? We have, and we'd say it's a pretty decent film adaptation. It's a movie adaptation of Stephen King's 1975 popular horror novel of the same name. In fact, it's the first-ever film adaptation, with previous iterations being the 1979 and 2004 miniseries of the same name.

Salem's Lot is a supernatural horror film written and helmed by Gary Dauberman (The Conjuring Universe, It movies). The movie takes place in 1975 and centers around Ben Mears, an author who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot aka Salem's Lot, in search of inspiration for his next book and to confront his fears. However, shortly after his arrival, he finds himself in a fight for survival along with the other townspeople when a bloodthirsty vampire named Barlow makes the town his new home and begins turning everyone into vampires.

As more and more people begin to mysteriously disappear and return as vamps, it's up to Ben, a young kid named Mark, and several others to put a stop to Barlow's vampire uprising. But are they successfully able to do so? Keep on reading as we shared how the horror flick comes to an end right below!

Spoilers ahead from Salem's Lot.

How does Salem's Lot end?

Yes, the ragtag group is able to put a stop to Barlow once and for all. However, only two survivors make it to the end: the protagonist, Ben, and the young kid, Mark. Around the same time that Ben returns to the small town of Salem's Lot, a mysterious man by the name of Richard Straker makes his arrival from London and moves into the haunted house on the hill, Marsten House.

He sets up shop in town, naming his business "Barlow and Straker Fine Furnishings." However, we quickly find out that he's not just coming to the town for a fresh new start. He has an ulterior motive, and that's to help his master, an ancient vampire named Kurt Barlow, stage a vampire uprising by turning everyone in the "already dying town" into vampires. Barlow's first victim is a young kid by the name of Ralphie, who is used as a sacrifice to consecrate the town's grounds.

Barlow then captures Ralphie's brother, Danny, and turns him into his first vampire. After Danny's funeral, Danny rises out of his coffin to bite Mike, making him the town's second human to be turned. Danny's mother is turned into a vampire next, followed by teacher Matt Burke. However, Danny's mother ends up being killed by a burning cross while Ben has to make the tough decision of staking Matt through his heart. More and more townspeople are turned, and the remaining survivors at this point in the movie are Ben, Susan, Mark, Dr. Cody, and Father Callahan.

While Mark is off by himself, he ends up killing Straker at the Marsten House by knocking him a couple of times with a hard object. Now, Ben, Susan, Mark, Dr. Cody, and Father Callahan must figure out their next plan of action. Mark tells the others that they need to save his parents before Barlow gets to them first. Mark and Father Callahan go to Mark's house to try to get Mark's parents to come with them to the church, but they refuse to do so.

Barlow shows up at the house and kills Mark's parents. He then kills Father Callahan, and Mark is left all alone. Meanwhile, Ben and Susan show up at Susan's house to find out that Barlow has made Susan's mom his new human servant. Remember, Straker is dead so Barlow needs a replacement.

Mike shows up out of nowhere and bites Susan in the neck, turning her into a vampire. Ben grabs Susan and runs out the front door with her while Susan's mom shoots at them with a shotgun. While Mark hides in a treehouse being terrorized by kid vampires, Ben brings a turned Susan to the church. Initially, he thinks he can save her, but he realizes it's too late when she starts reacting negatively to being in the church. Now fully a vamp, Susan knocks Ben out and runs out of the church. Ben chases after her but stops when he notices Mike and several other vampires standing on the roof of a nearby building.

He runs back to the church, and just as he's about to go through the doors, Mike snatches him up. However, he manages to kill him by stabbing him in the heart with a sharp object. Ben and Dr. Cody stay in the church for the night and leave the following day. As they drive through the town the next morning, they notice how quiet it is. This is because everyone's been turned into vampires, and they're hiding because of the sun. Ben and Dr. Cody then go to Mark's house to find him, only to discover that Mark's parents and Father Callahan have been killed. Before they leave the house, they find a note from Mark saying that he's going to kill Barlow.

Elsewhere, Mark runs into Danny at Barlow and Straker Fine Furnishings and stakes him. As he walks out the door, he sees Ben and Dr. Cody. They all decide to go to the drive-thru movie theater since that's where they believe the vampires are hiding. Once they arrive, they discover that the vampires are hiding in the trunks of the cars. They find Susan in one of the trunks, and just as Dr. Cody is about to stake her, Susan's mom comes out of nowhere and fatally shoots Dr. Cody. As Ben and Mark hide from Susan's mom, the sun begins to go down, and the other vampires start coming out of the trunks of the cars.

Now, Ben and Mark are running from vampires and Susan's mom. Ben gets caught by several vamps while Mark finds a car and drives it through the big movie screen. By knocking the screen over, the sun starts beaming on all the vampires, ultimately killing them. Susan's mom finds Ben and is about to shoot him when she gets hit by a car. Mark hops out of the car, and he and Ben try to find where Barlow is hiding. After finding his coffin, they try to open it up. Barlow bursts out of the coffin, and Ben and Mark run into a nearby building.

Inside the building, Ben and Mark run into Susan, who then hurls Mark out the window. Mark hides behind a car while Ben and Susan tussle inside the building. Ben gets the upper hand and stakes Susan in the heart. He then runs outside to see Barlow about to turn Mark. He stabs Barlow through the mouth with a sharp object before grabbing and throwing him. As Barlow lies on the ground, Ben stakes him through the heart. He watches as Barlow's yellow eyes turn to black. The ancient vampire is officially dead.

With all the vampires gone, Ben and Mark hop in a car and drive away. What's next for them, you ask? Well, they're leaving town for a fresh new start.

That's how Salem's Lot wraps. What are your thoughts on the ending?

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