Salem's Lot - The Miniseries
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Movie Reviews of Salem's Lot - The Miniseries
Movie Review: this will make you want to read the book! very good
Summary: 4 Stars
i have to disagree with the amazon review. this did not deviate from or miss any of the vampire lore. in fact this and the book, illustrate more of what a vampire in folklore is. the tobe hooper film is on the same level, only missing out on the number one spot in that it is slightly dated. the new version has some differences from the book, but not that they make a difference. all in all, hollywood has done a better job with this novel than dracula in film adaptation. this is essentially dracula in the 20th century anyways, as king will acknowledge. rob lowe did a marvelous job. there was a few parts in the movie where the acting seemed rushed, but overall, this film was well done for tv. updated special effects and a sense of forboding for the town as a whole make this film a nice compliment to hooper's version. this film developed characters better and does not suffer from david soul's underacting and the nosferatu like barlow. r hauer is great. i get the feeling that i am watching my own town in this film, the characters are so normal and real. the cinematography almost will allow you think you can smell the crisp air or stench of mold and death. overall an excellent film. definately one of the better vampire films of recent date. this quickly became a favorite. i have watched it 10 times since it came out.Movie Review: Loved it!
Summary: 4 Stars
Ok, ok, so this wasn't a spot-on, true adaptation of King's book...but it was a lot closer than the 1979 version.
I love the '79 version - it was atmospheric, creepy and had some great character development. The Barlow vampire was very scary and lead to some wonderfully terrifying moments...BUT he was nothing like Barlow from the book.
This new adaptation stays closer to the Barlow of the book and then updates some of the other characters.
I found the jail scene between Rob Lowe's Ben Mears and the vampire in the next cell to be very creepy and the vampire kids on the bus was terrifying in my opinion.
If there is one thing we have learned over the years it is that King's work is hard to adapt well....unless you're Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile) or Rob Reiner (Misery, Stand By Me).
This is by no means the load of 'crap' it is described as by some less polite reviewers...but then again maybe they haven't seen Maximum Overdrive or Graveyard Shift.
Sit back and enjoy a great piece of entertainment for what it is...entertainment. Don't be put off by overly critical and narrow minded reviews!
However, if you want King at his best watch the films mentioned above or The Stand.
Movie Review: A chilling triumph
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephen King himself wrote of the original 1979 mini-series, ' I wouldn't have been able to follow (it) if i hadn't written the book myself' . This new version of the classic king chiller is a much more palatable affair with the cheesy dramatic shocks replaced with a wonderfully built up atmosphere of creeping dread and the feeling of a small town being taken over by all the tiny creeping doubts that we all have, in this case manifested by the vampiric plague spread by the devilish Mr.Barlow.
The principal cast are all excellent, with special note to Rob Lowe's performance which is a much more thorough examination of a troubled writer's psyche than the workday character of ben mears in the first mini-series and onscreen exposition replaced through clever usage of book-ending scenes and voice over narration.
This adaptation is far closer to the spirit of King' book, with it's central character examining his own motives, his past and who he is colliding with an entire town coming apart at the seams through an infusion o foutside evil exposing the inner turmoil that the townfolk are already facing.
Thoroughly reccommended by me.
Movie Review: Enjoyable Stephen King dramatisation
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't understand why this remake has gotten any bad reviews...and I'm not too easy to please. I remember seeing the David Soul version years ago and being disappointed that it didn't live up to the novel--no easy feat.(Maybe I need to revisit that one.) Anyhow, I thought Rob Lowe did a good job despite my not being a fan of his, as did many of the other actors;Andre Braugher's acting was stellar, although Rutger Hauer as Barlow was too big a leap for me. There are genuinely scary moments in this flick, especially the jail cell scene! Unless there has been some sudden release of superb, hi-brow horror movies on the market that I don't know about, this film well deserves to be on the shelf of every "spooky" movie fan. Given the fact that it is a TV production, I think it was particularly well produced.
Believable dialogue, believable choice of cast, nice pacing, even acceptable liberty in translating the novel...I would think Stephen King would be pleased especially given the fact that so many of his other films have been poorly handled.
Movie Review: Not the defining version....but comes close
Summary: 4 Stars
Salem's Lot is my most treasured book of all time. Not the just best horror title, but the best novel and I have reread it since I first opened it in 1979. I always dread the filmed versions of books I like because the film makers have to jam about 400 pages into 120 minutes and of course..some parts of the novel, as well as charactors are dispensed with. The original 1979 TV miniseries had some excellent chill moments but did not follow the original story whereas this 2004 version did quite well but there were some problems. Ruthie Crockett and Dud were not fully fleshed out in the novel but expanded in this film and there were story alterations which I found quite annoying! I wish in a few years, a film director will approach Stephen King and get him to adapt his own novel for a screenplay much like he did for the excellent 1994 TV version of "The Stand" It will be an adult cinema film so you can show the horror without worrying about if kids are watching. This is a wonderful novel and it deserves better cinematic treatment.