In 1975, Stephen King unleashed his second novel, ‘Salem’s Lot. After the massive success of his debut novel, Carrie, all eyes were glued to the pages of his second work. Is this weird dude from Maine a one hit wonder, or the new master of horror? The rest, as we say, is history. ‘Salem’s Lot was a sensation and set the precedent for many of King’s works, that being a small town under siege. Another icon, Tobe Hooper, brough the acclaimed novel to the small screen with a two-part miniseries in 1979. Hooper’s adaptation captured a new legion of fans and is still adored to this day. Another television adaptation from Mikael Saloman in 2004 was quickly forgotten. In 2019 it was announced that New Line Cinema would be bringing the immortal classic back to life in a straight film format. After co-writing the recent IT films, writer/director Gary Dauberman was brought in to helm the project. Shooting in 2019 with an expected theatrical release, this version went through more twists and turns than the third act of any King novel. Eventually finding its way to streaming king max, ‘Salem’s Lot once again gets the spotlight treatment, while attempting to avoid the sunlight.
Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home, Jerusalem’s Lot, in search of inspiration for his next novel. Shortly before his arrival, a wealthy man purchases the famous Marsten House under a shroud of mystery. Ben quickly makes friends, and a few enemies upon his arrival. Along with a new lover, Susan, and a teacher with intimate knowledge of the town’s past, Matt, Ben begins to suspect something more than freak deaths is plaguing the once sleepy town. Once the supposedly dead start reappearing, the trio attempt to unite what is left of the living to fight off an ancient deadly force.
This adaptation can be broken into two sets of viewers. Those that are new to the lure of the work will enjoy a well-made terror trip that takes the audience back to old world rural America. Those that are familiar with the rich history of the novel and previous adaptations will see this version as a supersonic terror train that is simply not long enough to include the elements that made it such a timeless classic. Dauberman attempts to pull it together in a two-hour runtime, but the film plays as footnotes to the intricate depths provided by the novel. The director does splash in several great horror sequences which are worth the watch on their own. Every cast member puts in good shifts with Bill Camp and the young Jordan Preston Carter standing out. Cinematographer Michael Burgess knocks it out of the park with a gorgeously creepy style that screams late 70’s during the entire film. Like most King adaptations, there is just too much material to be squeezed into even a longer film runtime. Dauberman does enough to warrant a hopeful modern day follow up, which will only be done justice by a small series format. Hopefully enough good press along with big viewership numbers is enough to raise the stakes for a return to the LOT.
Scream Score: 7.9/10