Salem's Lot
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Driven by inner forces even he cannot understand, novelist Ben Mears (David Soul) returns to his hometown to write about a mysterious mansion that has intrigued him since childhood. But he discovers a horrifying secret: The community is slowly becoming a village of vampires.
When vampires invade a small New England resort, one man must face his worst fears to stop the blood-sucking creatures' plan to take over the innocent town of Salem's Lot.
Cast: David Soul, James Mason, Bonnie Bedelia
Member Reviews
This is pretty charming for the first half. The sizable TV movie budget and real director at the helm had me thinking of Twin Peaks at first. But then it keeps going for two hours and every scare is fully lit with big studio lights. So never delivers where it should. Watched it right after finishing the book, which never helps.
I'm sure the book explained it better. While I didn't hate this movie, there were moments that were kinda fun and it's clear both Hooper and King have a solid grasp on horror, it's mostly disjointed, hokey, and painfully slow. Several times the film just jumps around from character to character, especially in the middle, which makes it difficult to understand the flow of consciousness from one scene to the next. That paired with the over 3 hour running time makes for a rough watch. Props to the actors and set designers, but overall you're not missing much in Salem's Lot.
It’s a fun watch, but for me it will never be the classic that it is for other people. I suspect there’s a lot of rose-colored glasses for their youth here, when it terrified them.
This movie is what turned me on as a kid to Stephen King . That alone is worth five skulls.
Classic vampire flick still has the scares. Quite a lot of changes from the book but many of them were good fits. Well acted. Good SFX>