Stephen King had already written the first draft of what became ‘Salem’s Lot when his first novel, Carrie, was published 50 years ago. Originally titled Second Coming, it was changed to Jeruslam’s Lot, which is the real name of the town in the book. Then, it was shortened to just ‘Salem’s Lot, which is the best because it conjures up the notion of the Salem With Trials even though the novel is set in Maine as are many of King’s works.
You can tell King really gave a lot of time and love to this novel as he was also working as a teacher and do other odd jobs to make more money. Carrie seems like something King quickly assembled on his editor’s recommendations to get published. ‘Salem’s Lot is the work of a writer who has devoted his time more fully to the work. The novel had the good fortune to be released the same year The Stepford Wives was released in theaters to break down the myths of small-town Americana especially in New England.
But King’s novel was more like Peyton Place with vampires. It showed us a town where people are already hiding sordid secrets before two new people come to town to shake it up even more. In 1979, Tobe Hooper directed a two-part miniseries that is great in tone but feels dated and hindered by the basic censorships of standards and practices of the era.
In 2004, TNT updated the novel for the 21st Century and finally allowed Kurt Barlow the opportunity to speak as Reggie Nalder played him as a Nosferatu-type character in the 1979 miniseries. However, Rob Lowe who played Ben Mears said Rutger Hauer, who plays Barlow, was difficult on set. Some fans haven’t liked the miniseries, but compared to the latest adaptation, it’s brilliant.
Trying to squeeze King’s massive 440 page novel into a mere two-hour movie is a difficult job. Unfortunately, Gary Dauberman isn’t up to the task. But it’s not entirely his fault. Dauberman is known for writing the Annabelle movies. But this is a product of studio interference. The movie has been written and reported since it was first announced in 2020.
And it was almost released in 2022. But some people blame it’s delay on the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery which has proven to be one of the worst business mergers in recent times if not ever. I’m surprised David Zaslav, CEO of the company, didn’t destroy this movie as a write-off as well.
Dauberman returns the movie back to 1975 as Lewis Pullman plays Ben but skims over the reasons he’s returned to the town where he used to live as a child. There’s the rub. Because most of this movie has skimmed, condensed, or just left out characters and subplots that made the book such a pleasure, you really are just left with another basic vampire movie.
Barlow has been turned back into the Nosferatu-type character but he is given little screen time as is Richard Straker (Pilou Asbaek), his Renfield. Both James Mason and Donald Sutherland played Straker in the 1979 and 2004 miniseries respectively. They were both good at showing someone who had willingly devoted his life to serving Barlow. Here Straker is mainly just an ancillary character as are other characters who pop up only to be victims.
King, himself, acts as an executive producer but I think that’s just an honorary title. He also has been cheering on the movie and was wondering if it would ever released. Some people have said that you should take it on its own merit. However, you get the sense that Dauberman submitted a rough cut that was over two hours. Reports indicate it was nearly three. Yet there’s been so much criticism over the length of movies lately, this has been cut apart which can be seen in its pace and design.
The whole reason Ben has returned to the town is lost during a small scene of him looking over newspaper articles about the Marsten House which also gets less screen time. The late Geoffrey Lewis played local handyman Mike Ryerson and made the character go from a simpleton to creepy character once he turns. Here Spencer Treat Clark pops up as him for a few scenes but never gets the right feel.
There was nice build-up in the miniseries but here it literally seems overnight most of the town has turned. By the time town constable Parkins Gillespie (William Sadler) says he’s leaving town, not much has happened for him to leave. There have been some changes as Dr. Cody is now a black woman played by Alfre Woodward and Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter) is also black, possibly to combat the criticism of racism in some of King’s earlier works.
And Dauberman has changed the climax and I did see some thrills during this scene. I won’t give it away but I must admit it does add a nice, creative touch. It seems that Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh) is beefed up some but I just had to laugh at how her mom, Anne (Debra Christofferson), goes nutso with firearms.
Bill Camp is nicely cast as Matt Burke, a teacher, who helps Ben and Mark yet his role seems also to be part of the massive cuts. I’m not really sure fans of King’s classic will ask for a release of the original cut, seeing how uneven it seems. There are great scenes of terror when Matt notices Mike in a bar and two young brothers are followed by Straker.
The sad part is the 1979 miniseries is on HBO Max at the same time. It’s almost like the people at Warner Bros. just didn’t care and realized fans would stop watching and switch over to the miniseries. Dropping the movie on the streaming service seems more like a contractual obligation to avoid a lawsuit. And to avoid criticism because Zaslav probably was already debating how much millions he could get for a tax write-off if only there wasn’t much of an outcry earlier this year over Coyote vs. Acme.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 