LUST IN THE DUST (1985)

Under the "blistering, burning, blazing, scorching, roasting, toasting, baking, boiling, broiling, steaming, searing, sizzling, grilling, smoldering, very hot New Mexico sun" lays the small settlement of Chile Verde.  It's not much to look at.  Just a bar, a few buildings, an outdoor shower and a gate where they lynch somebody every Saturday night, but travelers still come from all over...in search of gold!

One such traveler is Divine.  After being gang raped (off screen) by some outlaws (including Geoffrey Lewis, Woody Strode and Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez!), she latches onto traveling gunslinger Tab Hunter.  Together they show up in Chile Verde.  Divine is looking to be a singer, but sadly only gets to sing one song (which is the highlight of the movie). Tab sticks around because he's looking for the secret treasure that is rumored to be hidden in Chile Verde.  Some of the others looking for the gold are local priest Cesar Romero, bar owner Lainie Kazan and local whore Gina Gallego.

Despite the sinful title, LUST IN THE DUST is surprisingly tame.  Yeah, the subject matter is rough and there's a lot of raunchy stuff talked about, but very little happens onscreen.  And that is the films biggest downfall.  It's too restrained.  As a straight Western, it's fairly entertaining and Tab Hunter plays a great cowboy, but there's too much goofy humor.  As a campy Western...there wasn't enough goofy humor.  I think it would have been a better film if it had been crazier...and with more of Divine singing.  Still, it's an entertaining low-budget time-waster with a surprising cast.

SALEM'S LOT (1979)

Can evil dwell in a house and even call other evil-minded individuals to come live in it and do naughty things? Well, the townsfolk of Jerusalem's Lot are about to find out because the creepy old Marsten House has some new occupants. The house has been abandoned for years, but the last owner was a mass-murdering asshole who eventually killed his own wife and then hung himself.  The new owner is even worse: he's a goddamn shit-sucking vampire...wait til mom finds out!  (Yes, that was a LOST BOYS reference.)

At the same time, a writer, who grew up in 'Salem's Lot and even had a bad experience at the Marsten House as a child, has returned to write a book about the house. He meets an old teacher and starts romancing a young lady, but his courtin' days are cut short when numerous locals start turning up dead and their corpses disappearing.

Enjoyable (for a 1970's TV movie) adaptation of Stephen King's excellent novel, but it's not all that great. The biggest problem is the main vampire dude just doesn't have enough screen time and I could never get over the made-for-TV feel of the movie. The whole thing came off as cheap and watered-down. Still this version is definitely watchable with a truly impressive cast, but the ending is pretty lame...especially that tacked on horseshit in Mexico.

It was really cool seeing Elisha Cook Jr and Marie Windsor in the same movie again. I just wish they had more scenes together.

Part 2 - A Return to Salem's Lot (1987)

Miniseries based on same source material - Salem's Lot (2004)