MovieChat Forums > Salem's Lot (1979) Discussion > Should Ben have burned down The Marsten ...

Should Ben have burned down The Marsten House at the start of the movie?

posted 8 years ago by elmadman_99
9 replies | jump to latest

That might seem a little bit arbitrary, I know, but don't you think it could have saved a lot of trouble later?

OK, I personally have never had reason to burn any house down, so maybe it would have been thought of as a bit of an over-reaction, but it would certainly have helped Ben confront - and resolve - his childhood trauma issues.

Obviously if it had happened like that there wouldn't be the movie today that we all respect and love, so the topic is in fact a little silly...

That being said - let's discuss.

Cheers for now.

[–] gary_overman 8 years ago

That might seem a little bit arbitrary, I know, but don't you think it could have saved a lot of trouble later?

OK, I personally have never had reason to burn any house down, so maybe it would have been thought of as a bit of an over-reaction, but it would certainly have helped Ben confront - and resolve - his childhood trauma issues.

Obviously if it had happened like that there wouldn't be the movie today that we all respect and love, so the topic is in fact a little silly...

That being said - let's discuss.

It is, but what the heck?? Everyone is entitled to be silly once in a while. I've done it, and what's more, I'll even bet that Stones has as well.

In addition to what you said here, about there being no movie and indeed no story, without the Marsten House, there is the litle problem of the law. Doing so is under most circumstances, arson. And if he were caught, how would he have explained it to the sheriff? "Well, you see, Sheriff, the Marsten House is going to be the abode of a vampire and so I burned it down to save the town."

How well do you think that explanation would go over? Yeah; me too.

I speak from experience, as I once burned a house down and did it deliberately. And got away with it as well.

[–] elmadman_99 8 years ago

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the response, and also thanks for adding a little levity to the board here!

From your post:

'I speak from experience, as I once burned a house down and did it deliberately. And got away with it as well.'

Would you care to provide any details on the story?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cheers for now.

[–] gary_overman 8 years ago

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the response, and also thanks for adding a little levity to the board here!

From your post:

'I speak from experience, as I once burned a house down and did it deliberately. And got away with it as well.'

Would you care to provide any details on the story?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cheers for now.

So, inquiring minds want to know do they? Well then, here's the story.

When I bought the farm 16 years ago, it had an old house that was completely uninhabitable, and quite unsafe to even enter. I had a chap I knew from work to dig a deep trench with his bulldozer, and shove the house right into the trench. I then poured diesel oil on the wood and let it soak in then added a bit of gasoline (the folks in the UK call it petrol) set a match to a roll of newspaper and tossed it on the oil-soaked house. Ka-FLUMPPPFFFF!! While it was burning away merrily we stood around with spray cans of water.

Then once we were satisfied it had died down enough, we left to go back home.

Thus, I deliberately burned a house down and got away with it. Now, how many guys do you know that can make that claim? Not many, I'd wager.

[–] stones78 8 years ago

I always ask "what if?", but in this case, I wouldn't think Ben would consider burning it down. I think he even thought of renting/buying the old house.

[–] allenm-01050 8 years ago

Ben would have gone to jail for arson. It's illegal to just walk up and burn houses down.
Plus, he didn't know what was going to happen in the near future so why would he burn it down? Just because it scared him as a kid? I think Ben is a little more emotionally stable than that.

[–] elmadman_99 8 years ago

Re: Burning down a house

Hi Gary,

That was a great - not to mention fairly singular - story you were able to tell! Obviously, under the circumstances you were indeed able to 'get away with it'.

I bet that's something that doesn't happen every day! It is good enough that you should work it into one of your novels someplace. Picture the scene - four characters sitting around in a bar drinking beer, discussing movie plot-lines, and how they could have been brought to a premature end i.e. The Maltese Falcon is discovered to be lead at the start of the movie, Bilbo never finds the ring at the start of The Lord of the Rings, Ben burns down the Marsten House at the beginning of Salem's Lot.

That's followed by a bet that none of the characters in the novel (where the discussion is taking place) has ever burned a house down in 'real-life' (in the context of the story.)

But, of course, one characters can make that claim, under a specific set of circumstances...

Now, there's an interesting thought.

Cheers for now.

[–] gary_overman 8 years ago

That was a great - not to mention fairly singular - story you were able to tell! Obviously, under the circumstances you were indeed able to 'get away with it'.

I bet that's something that doesn't happen every day! It is good enough that you should work it into one of your novels someplace.

Actually, I have in The Pale Horse; not just a house but a whole town.

[–] vestdennis 8 years ago

At the beginning Ben had no idea of the evil that would eminate from the house, or it's inhabitats. Burning it down would have landed him in prison for arson, perhaps murder. He felt there was evil present but he wasn't sure of the extent. Once the constable fled town, along with many others he knew he could torch it.

[–] elmadman_99 8 years ago

Admittedly, it would have made for a short movie...