Return To Salem's Lot fits into a select category of films I like to label ONE A.M. HBO Specials. These were the films HBO showed to death between 11pm and 6am during the mid-to-late 80s, when there weren't 500 other movie channels to choose from. HBO never showed Casablanca or other TCM-type classics, so their stable was somewhat limited. Some were cheap teen-sex comedies (Summer Job, Bikini Car Wash Company), while others were cheapie underground horror flicks (Clownhouse, Student Bodies, Night of the Creeps). RTSL falls into the latter category. If you watch this film the way it was likely intended to be seen (as a campy drive-in special, worth viewing at 2am simply because it beats watching Sha-Na-Na), then it can be quite entertaining in its way. Many of these 1am cheesefests also featured unknown up-and-coming stars (Clownhouse had Sam Rockwell, RTSL has Tara Reid), as well as established actors at the tail-ends of their careers (Andrew Duggan is downright wonderful in RTSL).
Granted, not every horror film is The Shining. But movies like RTSL definitely have their place.
Granted, not every horror film is The Shining. But movies like RTSL definitely have their place.