Welcome one and all to part 40 of my weekly blog, The 52 In 52. The concept is simple, each week I take a DVD or Blu Ray that I have left to gather dust on my shelves and review it. Last week I watched the fantastic The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot.
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This week I will be writing about the 1979 Stephen King adaptation, Salem's Lot. I must admit I didn't really know much about Salem's Lot before I read the novel but, after watching this once miniseries I must admit I think this is one of the better adaptations of King's work from this era. Adapted in 1979 as a miniseries, Salem's Lot follows the story of writer Ben Mears (David Soul), a writer preparing his new novel, arrives back to his home town to come face to face with an evil from his past. As the story unfolds Mears discovers not only love but, something far more sinister unfolding in front of his eyes.
I really felt that this way in which Salem's Lot was told was entertaining and highly effective. Like King's other work Salem's Lot is more a character study of the residents of small town New England rather than a straight horror story. As the film progresses I liked the way I loved seeing how this fantastical occurrence effected the normal people of a small town. Whilst I found the story and film a little long I felt that a shorter version would have felt rushed. I loved that the big reveal of the creature terrorising the town wasn't fully revealed until over half way through the film.
I loved the score throughout the film. Harry Sukman created such an atmospheric score that really helped drive the story along. From the opening strings until the credit crawl the music fit perfectly and gave Salem's Lot a much grander tone.
David Soul is fantastic, if a little melodramatic at times as Ben Mears. James Mason is sinister as Richard Straker. One glance or action is enough to make Straker appear as menacing as he is without ever threatening a character. The only issue I had was that of the appearance of Kurt Barlow. Tobe Hooper stated that he wanted to make Barlow appear as a Nosferatu style character but, I felt that this cheapened the character a little bit. I would have much rather had a suave Dracula style vampire rather than a monster.
Overall Salem's Lot is a fantastic adaptation that is told at a great pace and whilst I feel it could do with a remake I really enjoyed the acting and out of date effects. I would highly recommend this for anyone, Stephen King fan or not.
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