Now as many of you may know, the 1979 Tobe Hooper-helmed mini Series of Stephen King's Salem's Lot aired on CBS is near and dear to my heart. That's all spelled out here. So here we are with this new Warner Brothers updating. I skipped the 2004 mini-series because as much as I love Rutger Hauer (who played Barlow), the idea of Rob Lowe as Ben Mears makes me feel nauseous.
So I went into this with massive reservations. Due to my love of Tobe Hooper's film, I thought there was no way I'd enjoy this.
Fuckin' A, was I wrong.
This version of Salem's Lot is downright scary. It hits all the right notes. The casting is wonderful. I was really impressed with the casting of Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears, I really like our new Matt Burke and Mark Petrie. They all carried the weight of this movie that has top flight special effects, but the chill-inducing moments are really more organic through the entire film. Like when Matt Burke puts two and two together and realizes that Mike Ryerson may in effect be a vampire crashed out in his upstairs bedroom. That realization on his face is sold with major pathos, and is chill-inducing.
This one has an eerier score that puts pressure on the viewer as much as what's happening in the plot. I would have liked to have seen Pullman deliver his take on David Soul's Marsten House monologue, but the film is just a couple moments shy of 2 hours as it stands. I've seen critics complain about the lack of development in the case of Salem's Lot's residents, but they seem to forget the first two takes on the story were 2 night mini-series. This was meant to be screened theatrically in wide release. Time is a factor. Also, why it sat on a shelf for damn near 2 years is beyond me.
I couldn't have been more impressed with how this turned out. And really when you look at the folks who were involved, they just happened to be James Wan as producer, and talents who were behind Andy Muschietti's IT, it should come as a surprise to no one the quality that winds up on display here.
And I'm not the only one who thinks so, as this person below is far more qualified to pass judgment than me.
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