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- NOTE: This article is about the version of Kurt Barlow from the Gary Dauberman film continuity. You may be looking for information on his original counterpart or his his Tobe Hooper continuity counterpart.
“ | Come here! | „ |
~ Barlow to Mark Petrie when attacking him at the drive-in theater. |
“ | Sad to see a man's faith fail | „ |
~ Barlow to Father Callahan after his cross stops glowing due to his lack of faith. |
Kurt Barlow is the main antagonist of the 2024 film, Salem's Lot, the third screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name and the first big screen adaptation of the novel. He is an evil master vampire who seeks to rule Salem's Lot under his control.
He was portrayed by Alexander Ward, who also played Malthus from Annabelle Comes Home and Nosferatu from SpongeBob SquarePants.
Biography[]
Origins[]
Kurt Barlow is an ancient vampire of unknown origin. It is not known who he is or where he came from. What is known is that he was from somewhere in Europe. At some point, Barlow recruited a man named Richard Straker to be his mortal human servant and familiar. Back in the 1940s, Barlow made a deal with a man named Hubert "Hubie" Marsten, a native of the New England town "Jerusalem's/Salem's Lot", so that he can visit the town sometimes in the future.
Salem's Lot (2024)[]
Richard Straker, Barlow's servant, moves into the town of Salem's Lot in 1975. The new house that Straker owns in the town is the so called "Marsten House", an abandoned mansion where the late Hubie Marsten once lived. Claiming that he and Barlow are business partners retiring to the town of Salem's Lot, Straker orders task man Royal Snow to ship a crate to the basement of the Marsten House, claiming it is a dresser. In reality, the crate contains Barlow's coffin. At the night, Royal and his partner Hank Peters deliver the crate, setting it down at the basement of the Marsten House. Once the two set it down, however, the coffin slightly breaks, leaking dirt out. Barlow then hypnotized Royal Snow to come to him, however, Hank breaks Royal out of the trance, telling him that they must go. As the door to the basement closes, Barlow briefly lights up a candle, showing his face.
Later, two brothers named Ralph and Daniel "Danny" Glick wonder in the woods. Richard Straker, knowing that there needs to be a sacrifice before his master can attack the town, kidnaps the younger brother Ralphie and takes him to the Marsten House. Setting up candles, Straker calls out to his master, who walks down the stairs of the Marsten House and brutally rips apart and devours Ralphie Glick offscreen. In the wake of the events of Ralphie's disappearance, the whole town searched in vain for weeks for him, and finally gave up. One night, however, Danny hears the harmonica that his brother used to play outside of the house. Once Danny is outside, Barlow attacks Danny and bites him.
Danny Glick would eventually go to the hospital; sick. Danny would be the first of Barlow's victims to reawaken as a vampire, and began to spread an infection of vampirism that would slowly bleed it's way to the townsfolk. After an attack from a vampire Danny, a boy named Mark Petrie, a friend of Ralphie and Danny, an expert at monsters and the supernatural, speculates he should kill Barlow, the head vampire. Once Mark arrives at the Marsten House, one of the local town's school teachers, Matthew "Matt" Burke, coincidently enters the Marsten House as well.
When the two find each other in the basement of the house, Straker was aware of their presence. Straker locked the exit of the room, trapping the two in the darkness of the basement. Matt lights up a candle, but it goes out. When Mark went up to light up the light bulb, Barlow appears, attacks Matt Burke, and turns off the bulb while Straker kidnaps Mark. Mark was eventually able to escape, however, and killed Straker in the process. At some point, Barlow recruited Ann Norton as his new human familiar, promising her that if she protects him during the day, he will make sure her daughter Susan Norton never leaves town.
Mark would go to Father Callahan, the local town church priest, to get holy water. He would be joined by Dr. Cody, Susan Norton, and Susan's boyfriend Ben Mears to attempt to kill Barlow at his house. When the gang arrived, however, they were not attacked by Barlow but rather a now vampire Matt Burke. After staking Matt Burke, the gang realized that Barlow knew of their arrival, and moved his coffin somewhere else. That night, when Father Callahan talks to Mark Petrie's parents about vampirism happening in the town, Barlow knocks at the Petrie's door. When Mr. Petrie answers, he gets slashed in the throat by Barlow and dies. Barlow then proceeded to bite Mrs. Petrie in the neck, killing her as well. Father Callahan uses his glowing crucifix to fend off Mark, telling him to run.
Callahan shouts out to Barlow, with Barlow replying if he truly is a priest. The statement by Barlow made Callahan's faith falter, and his cross stopped glowing. Barlow mocks Callahan for not relying on his faith, before proceeding to bite Callahan in the neck, ending his life. Afterwards, all that was left in the town were Dr. Cody, Ben Mears, and Mark Petrie. Ben Mears discovers Barlow and the rest of the vampires hideout; the town's local drive-in theater. The survivors fight off the vampires, which resulted in Dr. Cody being killed by Ann Norton in the process. Ann would be killed by Mark, and all of the vampires would be exposed to sunlight, catching on fire and disintegrating.
Ben and Mark would afterwards find Barlow's coffin, hidden in a truck, and pull it out. When Mears tries to open the coffin with a wrench, the wrench gets pulled into the coffin by Barlow, who then uses telekinesis to open the coffin. As Ben Mears fights a now vampire Susan Norton, Mark is chased by Barlow, who attempts to bite him. However, as Barlow grabbed Mark and was luring his face towards his mouth; laughing maniacally, Barlow would be speared in the mouth by a wooden stake by Ben Mears. Barlow, who flipped onto the ground, gets stabbed in the heart by Ben Mear's wooden stake, and the light in his eyes shut down. Barlow was no more.
Personality[]
Kurt Barlow is a bloodthirsty vampire whose only goal is to spread chaos and make many humans become his vampire slaves. He has no standards on killing children, and even enjoys in it as brutally kills Ralphie Glick. He also has great sadism in killing and/or infecting his victims. Despite his bestial and brutal nature, Barlow is shown to be calculating and smart, as he lied and persuaded Ann Norton to become his new familiar with the promise that her daughter would never leave her. He also was aware of Mark coming back for him in the Marsten House, and so had Ann move him and all of the vampires into the drive in theater for hiding.
Appearance[]
Kurt Barlow is a bald vampire with yellow eyes, long claw-like black fingernails and partially long, slender fingers, with pale white skin, along with bulging veins on the back of his head along with pointy ears. He sports a black sleeve and black and red clothing. He almost always has blood smeared around his mouth.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This version of Barlow is based off of the Tobe Hooper depiction of Barlow more than the book version, though unlike the Hooper version, this iteration of Barlow does speak some lines, albeit little.
External Links[]
- Kurt Barlow on the Pure Evil Wiki