Salem's Lot Is Out: Where to Watch New Stephen King Movie & Is It Good?
It would probably be better if it was a TV show.
The novel Salem's Lot began with another nervous thought in Stephen King's head: What if Dracula appeared in a small provincial town? Will the locals notice that something devilish is happening around them?
Formally, the main character is Ben Mears, a writer who returns to the town of his childhood to deal with the demons of the past and the fears that still live in the mansion on the hill. In fact, the protagonist is the town itself and its gradual death, and therefore the composition in the novel turned out to be quite multifaceted.
The reader gets to know the name of every real estate agent, undertaker, policeman, and gossip who form an organism of Salem's Lot. Because of the dense population, the prose can be described as, if not difficult to adapt, certainly costly in terms of time.
Salem's Lot Would Be Better if It Was a TV Show
Previous adaptations were miniseries: in the 70s, Salem's Lot came to life on TV screens thanks to Tobe Hooper, and in the 2000s under the patronage of Mikael Salomon.
This time, Gary Dauberman took on the adaptation of the novel. He wrote the screenplay for Andy Muschietti's It duology and began developing a project based on Salem's Lot in 2019. As a result, Salem's Lot inherits the retro aesthetic of It, and the color correction of Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep.
At the same time, the director of The Shining's sequel, who is rightly considered one of the most important adaptors of King's prose in cinema, was quite shrewd at the time. His Netflix series Midnight Mass is not officially an adaptation of Salem's Lot, but is unofficially considered one by anyone who has read the novel.
Midnight Mass wins in terms of the format: the main problem with Dauberman's adaptation is that it is simply impossible to fit the novel into a feature-length movie without significant dramatic losses. If the producers had been more accommodating after the rejection of a theatrical release, they could have gotten a decent looking TV series.
The Film May Be Too Confusing for Those Who Haven't Read the Novel
If you've read the novel and have a rough idea of what happened in Salem's Lot in September 1975, you might enjoy the movie. In the action sequences, which don't have the joys of a big-budget production, Salem's Lot still looks pretty lively and playful, and in some scenes it's really scary.
Viewers unfamiliar with the original may not understand much – what is going on in this town and why the crosses are burning.
The film's rather poor critical and audience reception speaks to the script's confusion. The reviews are generally fair – Salem's Lot now has a score of 49% from critics and 42% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
But for those who have a long-standing relationship with King's adaptations, Dauberman's vampire country trip will hardly seem a worthy candidate for the title of one of the worst adaptations – there are much more convincing competitors.
Where to Watch Salem's Lot?
Salem's Lot is available to stream on Max.