Writer-director Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home) offers this new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel about author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot to research a new book, only to discover a vampire called Barlow (Alexander Ward) has settled in the community and is turning the townsfolk into bloodsuckers. (109 min.)
Glen: This is a quintessential vampire story. A European gentleman, R.T. Straker (Pilou Asbæk), moves to a quaint, sleepy town, opens an antique shop, and arranges to have a large wooden crate transported from a seafaring vessel to an eerie hilltop home, at night, straight into the cellar. Spooky. It’s such an iconic setup it feels cliché. Ben has a meet-cute moment with his love interest, Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh). We also meet the story’s real hero, brave little school kid Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter), a new kid in town who stands up to the school bully, impressing classmate Danny Glick (Nicholas Crovetti). The schoolyard brawl is broken up by teacher Matt Burke (Bill Camp). Other characters become important to the plot, including Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey); Susan’s bitchy mom, Ann Norton (Debra Christofferson); Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard); and Sheriff Gillespie (William Sadler). There’s a reason previous adaptations of King’s sprawling narrative have been three-hour miniseries. This story feels condensed and telescoped into a two-hour runtime.
Anna: This is King through and through. Sleepy villages and out-of-town strangers bringing in evil—it’s a plotline he’s used again and again, and for good reason: It’s a successful setup for a story. Sometimes King’s work can come off as hokey on-screen. His gift for weaving terrifying monsters on the page doesn’t always translate well. However, this rendition of Salem’s Lot had a lot going for it in its casting. Pullman is great as author Ben, who has returned to his childhood home after leaving years ago following the tragic loss of his parents at age 9. He’s there to find himself and maybe do a bit of escaping as well. Susan is a wonderful distraction in the small town, and the two could have had a lovely season of romance had vampires not come to burn it all to the ground. Camp was also great here as was Prescot Carter as bravehearted Mark. The film may not have the formula exactly right, but this King tale is a perfect addition to this year’s spooky season watch list.
Glen: I was entertained enough, and I too thought Pullman with his hangdog demeanor fit the character well, but holy moly, there were too many characters and too few transitions for the film to feel like anything but abbreviated and disjointed. I know you’re a huge King fan, and this novel—just his second—is considered a masterpiece of horror, but honestly, I’d rather this film version had been given the time and space it needed to fully tell the tale. I think the 1979 miniseries with David Soul as Mears did a better job of creating the slow-burning tension at the heart of King’s novel. I will say this: Dauberman’s version doesn’t give you much time to be bored. It races to its inevitable conclusion.
Anna: I don’t know that I’ve seen the early versions. If so, they’ve long since been forgotten. Like I said, King can be tough to tell on-screen. His works are sprawling, and his stories tend to have a ton of characters, especially these small-town tales. I think this one benefited from a good lead and supporting cast—it’s worth curling up on the couch for a watch.
New Times Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 17-27, 2024.