Title: Salem’s Lot (2004)
Stars: Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald
Sutherland, Samantha Mathis, Robert Mammone, Dan Byrd, Rutger Hauer, and James
Cromwell
Writer: Peter Filardi
Based on the Novel by: Stephen King
Director: Mikael Salomon
Executive Producers: Jeffrey Hayes and
Mark M. Wolper
Part One Running Time: 93 minutes without
commercials
Part Two Running Time: 91 minutes without
commercials
Media: TNT Original Television Miniseries
(NTSC VHS Screeners)
Premiere – Part One: Sunday, June 20,
2004, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Premiere – Part Two: Monday, June 21,
2004, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Network: Turner Network Television (Check
your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: 14 L, V
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
Over the weekend I got the chance to screen the upcoming Turner Network Television remake of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot.” The book was previously adapted into a television miniseries directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) in 1979. I have never read the book so I cannot comment on whether or not this new version is more faithful to Stephen King’s text than the previous adaptation and none of the literature that I have been provided indicates this to be the case. “Salem’s Lot” proved to be a good candidate for a remake if only to take advantage of the technology and update the story for the twenty-first century. I had no problems with the 1979 original though. When I was a kid it really scared me. As an adult I found this new dramatization to be a bit disturbing at times, but not enough to revolt me. Rob Lowe, who had appeared in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Stand,” does a very good job narrating the story and as a leading man for the film. Lowe plays an author who returns to his small town to face his fear that lies within a sinister house with a history of evil. At the same time he arrives, the team of Straker and Barlow, (Donald Sutherland) and (Rutger Hauer) set up an antiques shop in town and move into the house that has terrified generations of town folk. Soon people begin to fall ill and disappear as if a mysterious plague has infected the town, but the reality is far worse than anyone can imagine.
Donald Sutherland plays his role as Straker with a touch of sadism and wickedness that adds to his character’s ominous persona and yet he can suddenly change with a smile and seem like the nicest guy you’d ever meet and that ability to switch gears is what makes him all the more menacing. Rutger Hauer brings a great sense of seductiveness to his role as Mr. Barlow, which is extremely important since his character has to charm his way from time to time when need be. Samantha Mathis brings a sense of pathos to her character, as does James Cromwell as Father Callahan. Young Dan Byrd is a standout as the resilient Mark Petrie and Robert Mammone plays an all too human Dr. Cody while Robert Grubb offers a supporting role viewers will truly boo and hiss at as he heads toward his own fate.
While there are a few dramatic differences between the 1979 miniseries and this 2004 adaptation, the new “Salem’s Lot” covers much of the same ground using different cinematic techniques that are more a matter of staging than special effects. The vampires are truly frightening. Not only can they defy gravity, but they also move in a bizarre fashion that likens them more to an insect than a bat. There is one scene where the vampires are just coming out of the woodworks of the town from everywhere imaginable like roaches infesting a kitchen. They can also contort and travel through crawl spaces not even a child would be able to fit through. Strangely some vampires behave more like zombies with the stilted slow trance like motion while others can move faster than the human eye can follow. There is no reason given for this in the film, but one character is literally eaten alive in one scene so perhaps there is not too much of a difference here. One wishes that the miniseries were extended a bit to three nights since three hours without commercials just doesn’t seem to satisfactory resolve the fates for all the characters that inhabit the town of Salem’s Lot.
Some of the vampire effects, particularly when they get staked, looks like something out of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” but that small caveat aside I’d say these vampires are simply freaky to behold. I watched the entire miniseries twice because I had a few concerns regarding plot elements that are never fully explained. After viewing it a second time I found the miniseries as a whole flowed much better, but do not expect to have all your questions answered. Some elements are kept deliberately vague as if to suggest certain things. One of my favorite scenes from the film is actually right at the beginning where we see the town completely neglected and almost devoid of any life save for a stray dog. It looks almost post apocalyptic and creates a lot of interest since viewers will get to see the transition of Jerusalem’s Lot AKA Salem’s Lot from a quaint little hamlet to a ghost town.
After watching the
miniseries I was left with one more conclusion, which was if a vampire that
could be a thousand years old as one scene suggests enters a town, one would
think that he would be a bit more careful about whom he infects and whom he
kills. I mean when the population drops with little to no explanation in a
matter of weeks and people begin reporting sightings, that doesn’t exactly
promote an environment where he can feast slowly and draw far less suspicion. By
turning all his victims into vampires who go off and create more vampires he
essentially creates an environment that ecologically cannot sustain one vampire
for long let alone many vampires. I mean the guy could not have lived as long as
he has without learning a few tricks so why roll in and make your sinister
presence so obvious and why cut your food supply by creating too many predators?
The new miniseries
version of “Salem’s Lot” is at least equal to the 1979 version and if
anything it has made me curious enough to consider reading the book so I guess
that’s a good thing in itself. “Salem’s Lot” will debut on TNT with Part
One airing on Sunday, June 20, 2004, at 8pm (ET/PT) and Part Two debuting on
Monday, June 21, 2004, at 8pm (ET/PT). Encores for both parts are as follows:
Part
One (All Times ET/PT)
Sunday,
June 20, 2004, at 10pm
Monday,
June 21, 2004, at 12am
Friday,
June 25, 2004, at 8pm
Saturday,
June 26, 2004, at 2pm
Sunday,
June 27, 2004, at 10am
Part
Two (All Times ET/PT)
Monday,
June 21, 2004, at 10pm
Tuesday,
June 22, 2004, at 12am
Friday,
June 25, 2004, at 10pm
Saturday,
June 26, 2004, at 4pm
Sunday,
June 27, 2004, at 12pm
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.