Studios: Max/New Line Cinema/Atomic Monster/Vertigo Entertainment
Tagline: Be careful what you invite inside
Plot: Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lost in search for inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a blood thirsty vampire.
Cast
Lewis Pullman - Ben Mears
Pilou Asback - Richard Straker
Spencer Treat Clark - Mike Ryerson
Alexander Ward - Kurt Barlow
Bill Camp - Mathew Burke
Alfre Woodard - Susan Norton
William Sadler - Officer Parkins Gillespie
Nicholas Croveth - Danny Glick
John Benjamin Hickey - Father Callahan
Rebecca Gibel - Mabel Wartz
Cade Woodward - Ralph Glick
Debra Christofferson - Anne Norton
Jordan Preston Cartar - Mark Petrie
Danielle Perry - Marjorie Glick
Kellan Rhude - Flloyd Tibbits
Avery Bederman - Ruthie Crockett
Writer/director: Gary Dauberman (It: Chapter Two; Annabelle Comes Home)
Rated R for bloody violence and language (113 minutes)
With how many delays and release date changes this film adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot had, I really didn't think we would ever get to see it. In fact, over time, I thought the studio would eventually cancel it and do a tax write off.
And now that we can finally get to stream the movie on the Max streaming service just in time for the spooky season, I can say that it was an OK watch.
Now, I can't say whether it's a close adaptation to either the original TV movie or book since I haven't gotten to either one. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed about this movie is that this iteration of Salem's Lot made vampires scary again. Earlier this year, we also had Abigail, which also had some great vampire action that;s also a good watch.
The Barlow vampire character is both quite mysterious and scary at times. There are several great vampire moments that can leave you at the edge of your seat and can get a little tense. There are also some scenes that look really amazing, such as when we see some vampires stalking from the rooftops and the decent, yet kinda rushed ending.
Now, even though Salem's Lot does have some decent vampire fun, there really isn't a whole lot of character development and there are portions of the movie that do seemed a little rushed. There's a certain moment in the ending that really felt rushed, but not going into spoiler territory. One thing is for sure - the ending did seem to end rather abruptly.
One thing they could've done was turn this into a limited mini-series, so that way the filmmakers didn't have to really rush and cut stuff out. But, overall, the new Salem's Lot is still fairly entertaining despite its flaws.
Writer/director Gary Dauberman told Den of Greek in June 2019 that his goal with the new version is to make vampires frightening again. He wants to get away from the sexier, more romanticized undead that have infested pop culture for much of the past quarter century.
Among a survey of its users, Fandango ranked this adaptation as one of the most anticipated horror movies.
In March 2024, Variety reported that the movie will now released exclusively on Max, on a then-unspecified date.
The move from theatrical to streaming isn't a reflection of its quality but due to the fact that the then-ongoing strikes had created a growing need for Max content.
This will be the second feature film adaptation of the novel. Previously, it was adapted for TV - a 1979 mini series directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, a follow up in 1987 called A Return to Salem's Lot was created for the big screen, and another mini series in 2004.
It was initially set to be released theatrically on September 9, 2022, but was delayed to April 21, 2023, before losing that release date to Evil Dead Rise.
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