I remember feeling tempered anticipation for this miniseries when it first aired on CBS back in the late ‘70s. As a horror fan who recently discovered Stephen King, I devoured the novel it's adapted from just a few months before. However, television was a lot different back then and there was no way certain aspects of the novel would ever make it to the boob tube. Sure enough, Salem’s Lot was reasonably faithful to the book storywise, but certainly de-fanged (no pun intended) and sanitized to meet broadcast standards. Still, I enjoyed the show for what it was, and Trilogy of Terror notwithstanding, this was about as scary as TV horror ever really got back then.
The story is typical King, with author Ben Mears (a miscast David Soul) returning to his hometown to write about an old house with a dark past that terrified him as a boy. But the big local news is the opening of a classy new antique shop, run by newcomer Richard Striker (James Mason) and his partner, Kurt Barlow, whose impending arrival is highly anticipated. In reality, Barlow is actually a vampire, with Striker as his servant preparing for his arrival. Soon after, people begin dying or go missing. But of course, they don’t remain dead for long.
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| Time to go full Hutch. |
The cast is loaded with familiar faces, some who’d go on to bigger things (like Bonnie Bedelia), others who’ve been around forever. It wasn’t until re-watching it this time that I realized Elisha Cook Jr. and Marie Windsor once played together as husband and wife in the classic heist film, The Killing. They’re married in this one, too, but certainly get along better. Overall, the performances are perfunctory, save for Mason, who’s wonderfully sinister and steals the entire movie.
Salem’s Lot looks a bit quaint these days and is probably not as scary as you might remember it, but there’s a lot of nostalgic fun to be had here. Whether or not something that still plays like a ‘70s made-for-TV movie really benefits from the 4K treatment is debatable, though the picture and sound are an improvement over previous physical releases. For some fans, however, the real prize of this set might be theatrical version (originally released overseas) that’s included on a second disc along with most of the bonus features. Also rendered in 4K, it’s an hour shorter, but also includes scenes that weren’t considered suitable for American broadcast TV back in the day. I could be in the minority on this, but it's the version I prefer.
EXTRA KIBBLES
NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.
ORIGINAL MINISERIES & THEATRICAL VERSION - The miniseries version features two viewing options, presented as the original two-parter or as a single movie.
INTERVIEWS - New individual interviews with Stephen King biographer Douglas Winter and frequent King adaptation director Mick Garris.
FEATURETTES - Fear Lives Here visits Salem’s Lot locations as they look today; We Can All Be Heroes features film critic Heather Wixson; Second Coming is an video essay by critic Grady Hendrix; A Gold Standard for Small Screen Screams features podcasters Joe Lipsett and Trace Truman.
2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By critics Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes (NEW); 2) By director Tobe Hooper.
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