Horror Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot

[DarkKnight88]

I still think it’s funny that (IMO) the best King movie and one of the greatest classics of all time (The Shining) is the one he hates. I never read the book so I can’t say how close the movie stuck to it but regardless, that movie is 100 times better than the crappy adaptations he recently shilled for.

The Shining is a very personal story to Stephen King and his sobriety. Jack Torrance represented his struggle with alcoholism. The Stanley Kubrick movie kind of forgoes all that and has Jack Torrance homicidal off the top. Now, the movie is great, don’t get me wrong. But I can see why King hates it as it completely removes the “heart” of his book.

Luckily for us, Mike Flanagan managed to honor both the Kubrick movie and King’s novel when he adapted Doctor Sleep.

 

[Babillygunn]

This definitely wasn’t good. I don’t regret watching it, but I’d say it was a disappointment for sure.

The actors were really pretty solid in it. I loved Lewis Pulliam. Mackenzie Leigh was terrific. I also appreciated the job that Bill Camp did as well as the kid who played Mark. Alfre Woodard was good as well as the doctor.

This had some huge shoes to fill as far as I’m concerned. The 1979 Tobe Hooper miniseries is such a classic. My brother and I watched it on VHS every year during the Halloween season. The scene in which Barlowe first pops up in Mark’s house is still one of the greatest jump scares of all time. And the kid floating at the window is flat out unsettling.
Even though this one is well cast, it didn’t even come close to matching that original version.

 

[chintai80]

i thought this was decent.
if you liked stuff like the fright night remake, you would probably like this.

it's been been more than 20 years since i watched the 1970s adaption, but that one was more atmospheric and creepier, from what i remember.

the way the kid here was trying to go after the vampires and consulting his comic books for info, made this feel like a serious version of the monster squad at times.
this felt very much like a throwback to those 1980s horror flicks.

i haven't read the novel, but from what i know about it, this is probably not a "good" adaption of it.
doesn't bring anything new to the genre, but was just a simple fun vampire movie.
all the actors did a generally good job but bill camp stood out to me as the school teacher.
and alfre woodard's reaction to what was happening around her was funny at times.

there were moments in the film, where it sort of reminded me of john carpenter's the fog...and it made me think what a masterpiece this would have been if 1980s john carpenter had directed an adaption of salem's lot.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I just finished it finally, and I didn't hate this at all. It's a fine movie. It wasn't great and it sort of felt like stuff was cut and it's a little rushed, but as a whole....it's okay. My biggest gripe would be Barlow lacked presence in the movie, and this didn't feel like a character or threat. Barlow could essentially have been any vampire with minimal change to the story. Truth be told, it's rushed so make payoffs lack the impact they deserve. Outside that, its fun, cliche Stephen King stuff. I think Salem's Lot deserves a more proper major motion picture than this. But it could have been worse.