By Toby Symonds
ORDERED hot on the heels of Andy Muschietti’s It, Chapters One and Two, Salem’s Lot has long since lost any wave in demand for Stephen King adaptations the doublet might have inspired. While the film itself was shot back in 2019, reshoots and delays have held the release in the back lot for five long years.
Oftentimes, so lengthy a holdback might signal a flop of seismic proportions. That’s not quite the case here. Salem’s Lot is no Shining but neither is it 2019’s Pet Cemetery, the Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer directed drear-fest. In King’s own words, when querying the hold ups, it’s "not like it’s embarrassing".
Having penned the two Muschietti adaptations, Gary Dauberman upgrades his credit here. His is both the script and directorial eye of Salem’s Lot, only for the second time after his helming of the third in James Wan’s Annabel trilogy. If Dauberman has yet to find specificity in his directing vision, Salem’s Lot convinces of a sturdiness in approach.
Dauberman’s effort marks the first time Salem’s Lot has been translated to film, following two adaptations for television. Very much as was the case with It, albeit from a text half the length. Salem’s Lot is not one of King’s door stop tomes.
Originally published in 1975, King’s book drew both on the author’s interest in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and his personal disillusionment with the corruption he saw in contemporary politics. In a post-2020 world, it’s all too easy to finds hints of modern day resonance.
The story takes place in Jerusalem’s Lot, the fictional Maine setting of many a King tale. A native of the town, Ben Mears, who is played by Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman, returns from a 25-year separation when in urgent need of inspiration. He’s a writer caught in throngs of block.
What Mears does not expect to find on his homecoming is a town besieged by fear. The people of Jerusalem’s Lot are under attack. A vampire haunts the streets at night.
Alongside Pullman, an ensemble cast finds room for Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodward, John Benjamin Hickey and Bill Camp. Watch too for a particularly nice turn from newcomer Jordan Preston Carter.
In execution, the film is all very familiar. The tropes lean heavily into King’s common themes, while Dauberman does little to rock the boat. It’s not bad.
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