Stephen King adaptations are always a gamble. They can run anywhere from brilliant to horrible to the ‘why did they even bother’. You just never know. But I’m not one to pass up a King story, so I rolled the dice with this latest (third, I think) adaptation of Salem’s Lot. Unfortunately, it came up craps. Although maybe that’s not quite fair. Salem’s Lot isn’t crap, it just isn’t very good.
Salem’s Lot is the story of writer Ben Mears, who returns to his small hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot. He’s there to do some research and maybe find some inspiration. But someone else has also come to town, a vampire preying on the town residents. It’s very thin as far as stories go. Of course, if you’ve read the novel, you know there’s more to it than that. But this version isn’t interested in much more than a standard vampire story.
One of the biggest issues with Salem’s Lot is with the character development, by which I mean, there is none. Sure, you learn some details about the characters: Ben is an author and used to live there; Suze wants to get her realtor’s license and move away; the priest is a drunk. There’s plenty of details, but you never truly get to know any of the characters. It’s all surface level. Stephen King novels always have compelling characters that you care about. All the best adaptations realize this. Here, you have bodies with names and characteristics, but no one you’ll be too attached to. And you can forget about any character arc.
The same applies to the town of Salem’s Lot. Another King hallmark is truly developing the world in which the story exists. With this adaptation, it’s just a small town. Initially, it starts out well with the picture it paints. The colours are subdued and there’s little vibrancy in the people or daily life. It’s a town that has seen better days. It never builds on this though. It simply becomes the place where the characters are.
The second big problem is that the story feels rushed. It’s as though the movie can’t wait to show you what happens next. There’s rarely a moment to let anything sit and digest, to feel part of the story. This is especially true in the second half where Salem’s Lot becomes a town where the sun has either just set or is currently setting (apparently sunlight is a rare commodity in Salem’s Lot). And it takes minutes to go from having just a few vampires to almost everyone in town. I’m not sure if this was an editing issue, a script issue or just general pacing problems, but if it was done to make the movie seem more thrilling, it is not successful.
And I’m just going to skip over the dialogue. It seems that everyone involved with the movie did as well. It just isn’t a great script. From what I remember, it doesn’t make a lot of changes to the novel, but never captures any of the depth. It never takes the time to build the world in which the story exists.
It’s not all bad with Salem’s Lot, but you need to keep your expectations in check. If you’re just looking for a quick vampire story to pass the time, this will do it. It’s perfectly watchable. For all its problems, there’s nothing here that made me want to turn it off or wish I had never started. There are even a few scenes that work quite well, and from time to time, it does a nice job of building some tension. It is also successful in recreating the 70s/80s vibe it seeks. It’s just remarkably inconsistent.
Stephen King stories are always hard to adapt. At least that’s how it seems given the number of failures. But Salem’s Lot never feels like it was even trying. It wanted a vampire story without having to make up something new. And here we are. A great vampire novel turned into a bland, generic, vampire movie. It has moments, but the lack of compelling characters and a rushed story make it more of a curiosity than a must-see. I think fans of the novel will be largely disappointed. If you haven’t read the novel (why not?) this may play better. So, if you’re just looking for a vampire movie, there are many worse. But if you’re hoping for the rich world that Salem’s Lot should offer, you best look elsewhere.
Have you seen <movie name.? Are you planning to? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.