This review was originally published on Facebook (Oct 8, 2024).
Spoiler-Free Review of Salem’s Lot (2024)
I enjoyed the new Salem’s Lot (2024) much more than the original 1979 Tobe Hooper miniseries adaptation.
This era of fixing Stephen King stories to remove the parts he undoubtedly wrote while coked out of his mind has largely been successful, if not always financially. I did not enjoy SL (2024) as much as I did Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023), but it deserves to be in the Top 5 at this point because of Dauberman’s screen adaptation and directoral choices.
What I most appreciate is that David Soul is not in this film being all creepy with his straw peroxide-burned hair. Honestly, every single actor in the new film was a superior casting decision compared to the originals, minus Fred Ward (RIP).
Similarly, Lance Kerwin’s performance in the original was painful and wooden. He evokes virtually no pathos–he’s annoying. But Mark, the character, is a kid you are supposed to root for or identify with. Jordan Preston Carter brings that Mark to the screen and he’s a child actor I think we should keep on the “Up & Coming” radar.
Finally, as much as I hate Hooper, I respected Dauberman’s re-creation of notable scenes from the original. I also liked that the vampire design stayed true to the book, but actually looked scary rather than like a Spirit Halloween Nosferatu animatronic. He even kept a few key lines like, “let the machine take over.” Pretty cool.
Hooper’s gravest sin committed in SL (1979) was that it’s god-awful boring. Dauberman’s approach reminded me of the famous Chekov anecdote about writing short fiction–he took Hooper’s manuscript and ripped it in half so we are left with a more coherent narrative, actual suspense, and less fluff.
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