The work of Stephen King has fuelled the nightmares of generations upon generations of horror fans – both from the pages of his wildly successful novels and the big-screen adaptations of his work. From Carrie to Misery, It, Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary, Children of the Corn, and The Shining, some of genre cinema’s biggest names were created in the twisted mind of King. Released in 1975, Salem’s Lot has only ever been visualised through TV – first as a three-hour miniseries in 1979, then in 2004 in yet another TV series starring Rob Lowe. Castle Rock and Chapelwaite also danced with the plot of Salem’s Lot, but we’re yet to see a big screen adventure through Jerusalem’s Lot – until now. After years of development hell and delays, the latest adaptation – and first feature film – based on Salem’s Lot has been quietly released on HBO Max just in time for Halloween.
Directed by Annabelle and The Nun director Gary Dauberman, Salem’s Lot follows the story of Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), a writer who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot to pen a book about his childhood. While there, a strange man who goes by the name Straker (Pilou Asbæk) opens an antique shop in town after moving into the infamous Marsten House, the site of several grisly murders. Soon after Ben returns, he begins to notice several locals go missing from Jerusalem’s Lot and being turned into blood-sucking vampires, plunging him and several other residents into a fight for survival.
Despite its almost two-hour runtime, the film still feels disastrously underdeveloped and lacking in direction or cohesion, which means the promising atmosphere of dread that begins to form in the first act falls flat. The film touches on many of the characters and storylines in the original book, but Salem’s Lot simply does not have enough time to flesh each of them out and explore the themes that make their plight hit home so hard, which sees the film dissolve into a lacklustre, tangled mess – featuring the odd jumpscare and vampire attack.
Where Salem’s Lot is at its best is the first act, with its slow-burn pacing and air of mystery lending itself perfectly to the dreamlike first encounters with the vampires. But while slow-burn narratives are meant to scorch towards a fiery climax, the film’s fire is quickly doused as, without much character development or time to delve into King’s powerful themes of life and death, it’s hard to develop any deep connection with the narrative. As such, it’s hard to become invested in the lives – and deaths – of the Jerusalem Lot residents, with each kill sequence blurring into the next.
For those that do find something they like within the narrative to keep them hooked, they’re sure to be put off by the messy use of CGI that takes you straight out of what should be tense, nail-biting scenes. Some of the scares have the potential to be heart-stopping with promising build-ups, but they never take the time to allow the audience to feel any unease and are over so quickly they become forgettable and unearned. Despite all of its promise, Salem’s Lot is a shell of King’s acclaimed novel, encapsulating none of the terror or devastation of the vampire tale and instead falling flat on every level.
★★
In UK cinemas now / Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Pilou Asbaek, Bill Camp, Alfre Woodard, William Sadler, Spencer Treat Clark / Dir: Gary Dauberman / Warner Bros. Pictures / 15
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