SalemsLot

Salem’s Lot (1979)

Just in case you don’t know this is a miniseries that played on network television in the late ‘70s. The miniseries is based on the book by Stephen King of the same title and the reason I mention this is that I know there is another cut of the movie that is only a couple of hours long. If you are going to watch Salem’s Lot then you really need to check out the long version, which clocks in at just around 3 hours. With that bit of information out of the way lets get to the plot synopsis.

When a writer named Ben (played by TV vet David Soul) returns to the small town where he spent some of his childhood to write a book about evil inhabiting a house he gets more then he expected. See the house’s current tenants turn out to be the undead, vampires to be specific. The locals start dying and then coming back for their neighbors. It falls to Ben and a few others to kill the master vampire before the town is overrun. If that weren’t bad enough the young lady that he has been seeing disappears into the house. Toss in a short, but interesting wrap around story with some of the characters and you have the movie.

Adaptations of Stephen King works have been a mixed bag. I won’t go into this because most genre fans are already aware of this. Here the book translates well to the screen. The plot moves along briskly and never left me looking at the clock. If you think about the fact that Salem’s Lot clocks in at more then 3 hours long that is an accomplishment. It takes a while to get the story setup, but once the vampire starts it rolls along nicely. And even the time spent establishing the town and the characters is interesting and filled with foreboding that only adds to the fun. This being a TV production from the ‘70s I was surprised and pleased that they left the killings of the children in. This also adds to some of the atmosphere of the movie, but more on that later.

I didn’t see this movie until it ran a few years later. If I had seen it on the first run I might have been traumatized. I was only nine and this can be a very scary movie. There are several memorable scenes. More then once we get a vampire sitting up in their coffin, and there are a couple of bits with a vampire kid tapping at the window. Even years later as an adult when I know they are coming I still get a chill down my spine seeing them on screen. Director Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame does a great job staging some tense scenes and tosses in a few jump scares for fun. None of this feels forced (no cats being tossed in from off camera!) and it works. The makeup effects on the vampires also helps create the tension. It is a very simple job with fangs, contacts and grey/white face paint. But sometimes simple works and it here is a perfect example.

I know that the DVD of Salem’s Lot is out of print and might be tough to dig up. But it is well worth the effort spent tracking down a copy. Not only is it a good made for TV bit of genre entertainment, one of the best King adaptations for the screen, but also it might be the second or third best thing that Hooper ever directed. I highly recommend this one, it is a must own.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer