Salem’s Lot is a spine tingling adaptation of the classic Stephen King vampire tale thanks to a great screenplay from Gary Dauberman that captures the essence of King’s story and its unsettling atmosphere in every frame, bolstered by great jump scares and a compelling lead performance from Lewis Pullman.

 

There is no questioning that Stephen King is a true master of the horror genre, as his stories have been scaring audiences for decades. Whether it be in the written form, on the big screen or small, even if you haven’t experienced King’s stories for yourself yet, you know his handy work: Pennywise the Dancing Clown terrorizing young children, Carrie drenched in pig’s blood at prom, or Cujo the killer dog. Since the success of IT (2017), King adaptations have been an almost yearly requirement since with titles like Pet Sematary, Firestarter and Doctor Sleep getting adaptations. And it was only a matter of time before King’s second novel, Salem’s Lot, got revisited and updated from the original 1979 miniseries. Gary Dauberman, who wrote the most recent IT adaptations and directed Annabelle Comes Home, has a masterful grasp on the atmosphere of dread, despair and terror that permeates throughout King’s novel, creating a classic-feeling horror film full of effective jump scares that instantly gets under your skin, creating one spooky watch just in time for Halloween.

 

Adapting novels for the screen is never easy, as there’s always going to be elements missed while translating the story, but Dauberman never for a second loses sight of King’s vision. With the novel being almost five hundred pages in length and with a run time of under two hours, the screenplay has to speed the events of the story up and trim some of the smaller subplots from the film. But the broad strokes are never missed nor is the tension that King so beautifully wrote is lost. Compared to the television miniseries, despite the miniseries having a longer runtime to spend more time developing the story, this adaptation is more faithful to the source material. While elements such as the romantic vying for Susan Norton between Ben Mears and Floyd Tibbits, the prologue and epilogue to the novel, and the buildup to Barlow’s arrival with Straker preparing the town for him are glossed over to save time, and the location of the final showdown between Ben and Barlow is changed to give a more visually exciting setting for the film’s climax, this is most faithful telling we have yet to see of King’s story. And like any good horror movie, Dauberman has sprinkled throughout the film numerous chilling moments that will have audiences gasping in fear and occasionally jumping out of their seats as he gives a new and exciting vision to King’s classic vision of terror.

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​Dauberman has assembled a talented cast for his Salem’s Lot adaptation, and even with the screenplay heavily focused on the story and jump scares, the characters initially created by King set the ground for some notable performances. As Ben Mears, Lewis Pullman possesses an intellect that gives his character the air of a well mannered bestselling author, but he also brings a ruggedness to the role that transforms him into the film’s hero that allows him to strive in the film’s darker moments. It’s a role of great change as Ben is tested and transformed into someone he does not recognize himself by the end of the film out of necessity that proves Pullman’s talents in a leading role, setting the runway for him to truly breakout after many supporting roles that will only be amplified next year with his leading role in Marvel’s Thunderbolts*. Pilou Asbæk is great as Straker, capturing the European oddity and unsettling nature of Barlow’s familiar with a truly menacing nature, even if I would have liked to see more of him in the film; while Alfre Woodard never for a second disappoints as Dr. Cody. The rest of the ensemble cast of Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, William Sadler, Spencer Treat Clark, Nicholas Crovetti and John Benjamin Hickey are all good in their roles, ensuring that performances across the entire film are solid.