“I don’t want to be a vampire. I’m a *day* person”
Mark Kendall-Once Bitten
I’m a massive fan of the original Salem’s Lot. I remember watching it with my dad as a kid, scared to death to go to sleep afterward. Even today, when I rewatch it, the slightest noise makes me jump. While Return to Salem’s Lot was a disaster, and I haven’t seen the Rob Lowe remake, which won some awards, I approached this new version with cautious excitement.
Salem’s Lot, based on Stephen King’s novel, follows writer Ben Mears as he returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem’s Lot, only to discover that vampires are overrunning it. As mysterious deaths and disappearances occur, Mears teams up with a small group of townspeople to confront the ancient vampire Kurt Barlow and his servant, Richard Straker.
This remake sticks a little closer to King’s book than the original film but makes some fun changes along the way. Gary Dauberman is obviously a fan of the film and book because he carefully handles the story. Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears was an excellent choice, and Pilou Asbæk as Straker is phenomenal. The real star of the film is Jordan Preston Carter. He plays the young boy Mark Petrie who loses friends and family to the evil bloodsucker.
The cinematography is incredible, and I applaud Dauberman’s direction. The filmmaking is next level. The creepiness of the vampire’s eyes and his use of light are great touches. Where the film falters is the pacing. The sprawling nature of Salem’s Lot feels too compressed for a two-hour runtime, leaving little room for character development. This is a story that requires the slow-burn tension and time to breathe, much like the original miniseries. As a result, while the film succeeds in delivering scares, the emotional stakes feel diminished because we don’t spend enough time getting to know the characters.
Salem’s Lot offers strong performances and atmospheric visuals but struggles to condense such a sprawling story into a two-hour runtime. The pacing issues and lack of character development hold it back from reaching its full potential, especially when compared to the deeper, more fleshed-out original miniseries. That said, Gary Dauberman’s direction and Jordan Preston Carter’s standout performance as Mark Petrie breathe new life into the tale. For fans of the original and Stephen King’s novel, this remake is worth watching, but it leaves you wishing it had more room to truly do justice to the story.
Rating: 6.5/10
