Salem's Lot (2024)

[Hedji]

Originally Posted by L.J.

Have always liked the 79 version. Has great pacing and like how it made the Marsten house a character. What a great design on the house to. Never really cared for the version with Rob Lowe, it didn't capture the feel of the book.

It has so much going for it that doesn't get discussed much, like the score. Which reworks the Dies Irae into a pulsating, driving ostinato. And the theme for the Marsten house, which really builds a sense of dread while using classic horror movie sounds. The pizzicato strings for the Glick window scenes. Very underrated and underappreciated.

I've watched the Rob Lowe version at least 3 times, each time hoping it'll impress me, because I'm such a fan of the book and Tobe Hoooper version, but I just can barely recall the tone of that one.

I suppose the one thing I'd like to see done better is the assembly and effort of the team of vampire hunters... ordinary people from different walks of life forced to collaborate under extraordinary circumstances.

[Zombo]

Absolutely adored the 70's mini-series. The film, not quite as much.

There are a few truly iconic scenes that I will always love and were extremely creepy back in the 70s.

The little brother floating outside of the window and scratching the glass...
The older brother's grave being opened...
The old man in the rocking chair...
The crypt in the house at the end with all of the vampires crawling around...

I would love to see a big screen adaptation of this, so I'm all for it.

I didn't care for the Rob Lowe film version...

[Zivouhr]

1979 Salem's Lot Window Scene - YouTube

This one is very surreal and horrific.

Mr. Barlow - SALEM'S LOT (1979) - YouTube

This one really scared the hell out of me as a tiny kid.

The demonic vampire kid tapping at the window gave me nightmares growing up, but the very demonic looking Nosferatu, holy crap that is one of the most evil looking monster villains I've ever seen to this day. And the scene also with the guy on the rocking chair, saying "Teacher, teacher."

If this new film can capture that look in some way, instead of possibly going for a "natural look" where there's hardly any difference between living or the undead, then I'll probably see this in theaters, as the look of the vampires is really important to making it horrific. I'll try to keep an open mind even so, but I really hope they go for something evil looking to add to the horror theme. The glowing eyes with the dark pupils in the middle really were key.

Salem's Lot ( 1979 ) Trailer - YouTube

[cynatnite]

I remember at school some kids were totally freaked out by the window scenes. We all were trying to figure out how they did that, too.

Plus, the vampire was so Nosferatu.

Love this movie.

[MJD64]

My fellow members have conjured up the best and most iconic scary moments from the '79 version to which I'll add...

Marjorie Glick's resurrection as a vampire in the morgue; slowly sitting up and pulling down that sheet was one creepy reveal...and the jump-scare reveal of Barlow in the prison cell was damn effective as well.

It'll probably come down to the director and cast for me, but I'm eager to finally see a big-screen adaptation of SALEM'S LOT. Screenwriter Dauberman elicits no more than a "meh" from me, so I'm hoping he won't gum up excellent source material...though his physical resemblance to a young Rob Bottin is kinda cool.

[EvaDK]

Originally Posted by JEDGAR1000

Sigh, always get so excited when I hear Wan's name, but being honest, it only means anything worthwhile if he's directing.

Yep, same.

I've only seen the James Mason version, which was creepy as hell.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Didn't really like the 79 version when I first saw it sometime last year so a new version would be great. Glad to hear Wan is producing, wish he was also directing.

Originally Posted by s2mikey

Yeah, the original is a bad film/show, IMO. Im fine with a redo of this. Why not.

I was going to say something mean but instead I'm just sad....

[Zivouhr]

What's cool about the TV mini series version of Salem's Lot, is that Tobe Hooper, the director of the classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre, directed it. For me, both of those are two of my top horror movies.

[Shingster]

Hooper's Salem's Lot is an absolute classic! It's obviously creaky by today's standards, but by the standards of TV in 1979? Man that was a damn good horror show!

The book imo is King's best after IT and is crying out for a more faithful adaptation that captures the setting and that small town america "behind closed doors" community/character study. In other words it needs a proper high-budget Netflix/HBO style mini-series from a serious filmmaker, not a new film adaptation unless they are planning to go the two-film or trilogy route.

This actually would have been perfect material for a Mike Flanagan mini-series once he's done with Hill House.

[GRD43L]

Originally Posted by s2mikey

Yeah, the original is a bad film/show, IMO. Im fine with a redo of this. Why not.

I agree as well! Wan can only make it better.

'79's flying boy scene, however, haunted me for years.

And I can see 2 hr version of Salem's Lot. The '79 3 hour version stretched it out needlessly to make it into a 2 part mini series.

Don't do the Hobbit,
Keep it tidy and neat!

[Shingster]

Obviously you've never read the book. The 79 mini-series didn't stretch anything out, they had to cut a shitload out just to make a 3hr adaptation!

[El Rey]

Growing up the original creeped me out but hasn't aged well so I could appreciate an update, just wish Wan was directing.

Don't think I ever knew there was a 2004 version. Is there anywhere to watch that?

[thecooldud]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

I was going to say something mean but instead I'm just sad....

Sadly this is the result of today's education system and piss-poor excuse for media... No comprehension or appreciation for actual class.

[dallywhitty]

Meh, not sure how I feel about this. Hooper's Salem's Lot is great as it is.

[BobSimms]

Originally Posted by thecooldud

Sadly this is the result of today's education system and piss-poor excuse for media... No comprehension or appreciation for actual class.

I was gonna say the same.

The sensibilities of Seventies filmmaking are sorely missing in every new horror movie that comes out. It’s almost intangible, and hard to explain, and it’s nowhere to be found in the vast majority of contemporary American horror/thriller movies.

I would rather watch forgotten and mostly forgettable made-for-TV movies from the Seventies on YouTube (or blu-ray!) than go to the movie theater to see a new horror movie by some young filmmaker, aimed at a Millennial/Generation Z audience. I don’t care about the supposed pedigree of the writer/director/producer—I’m consistently disappointed.

The original SALEM’S LOT is a classic, even with David Soul’s hammy acting. Accept no substitutes!

[Shingster]

I would also add that I would bet a million bucks that Hooper's Salem's Lot has one BIG jump scene that is about a gajillion times more effective than the five billion jump scenes you've had to sit through in Hollywood horror films so far this decade. Less is more.

It really depresses me as a regular cinemagoer (over a hundred films a year on the big screen) to see how the trailers for horror films coming out of Hollywood have completely devolved into rudiementary go quiet... quiet... quiter... silent... JUMP SCARE!!!... showreels that do nothing to sell the film at all to anyone with even a ****ing shred of interest in actual storytelling. This is what horror as become in the 21st century and it sucks.

There's a filmmaker who is particularly guilty of making empty, loud, jumpscare showreel horror films that are devoid of any sense of atmosphere, quality writing, or any palpable sense of fear. He's been extremely successful though and really has taken over from the likes of Carptenter and Craven as the "big name" of terror coming out of Hollywood. I think his name might have been mentioned a couple of times already though...

[KMR]

I can't remember much at all about the 2004 version, but I intensely disliked the way they styled Barlow after Nosferatu in the 1979 version. (I can only assume they went that route because of the Herzog film). The most effective horror in King's books is not the gore and "scary monsters". For me, the Nosferatu-styled vampire in the 1979 Salem's Lot only distracted from the horror, instead of enhancing it in any way.

[Michael24]

I've never read the book but I saw the original Salem's Lot for the first time last year, and I thought it was terrific. My brother and I rented it from iTunes and enjoyed it so much that a day or two later we drove out to the second-furthest Best Buy from us in order to get the Steelbook.

I remember watching the remake mini-series in 2004 and, other than the cast, thinking it was really bad. I'm not that familiar with James Wan's work (I've only seen Furious 7), so I don't really have an opinion one way or another on this project right now. But I think the original is great.

[Cremildo]

Gary Dauberman to direct.

[Demented D]

Originally Posted by Hedji

They can do whatever they darn well please, and try as hard as they might...

And yet nothing they present will scar an entire generation of kids the way the 1979 Barlow and Glick Boys at the window did.