Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Effective Vampire Thriller, October 16, 2000
SALEM'S LOT is without a doubt the best miniseries adaptation of a Stephen King novel, and it rivals studio films like CARRIE, CUJO and THE SHINING. While not necessarily a fan of King's fiction, I appreciate that he weaves intricate relationships between key players into the fabric of his stories and builds characters with depth instead of just presenting one-dimensional folks dealing with scares. The best film adaptations of his work, those mentioned above, preserve these little details and SALEM'S LOT is no exception. With this in mind, consider only the definitive 183-minute version available on double VHS or DVD, as nearly every second of the film is essential and alternate VHS versions rob the viewer of nearly 70 minutes of film.
SALEM'S LOT is an exceptional triumph in that it doesn't really tell a new story, but it keeps the viewer's attention for a full three hours. The plot is basically the old standard: a vampire has settled in Salem's Lot and is quickly infecting the entire town. A brave few hunt the vampire and his minions down. The final confrontation between our hero, Ben Mears and Barlow made me wonder why people always try to stake a vampire in his coffin just as sunlight is waning - why don't they do it first thing in the morning with hours of daylight to spare? The dramatic tension is the obvious answer, and it works well in this film. In addition, the vampire make-up was remarkably well-done and James Mason deserves special mention for his incredibly evil performance as Barlow's henchman, Straker. A fine supporting cast is composed of TV actors as well as Hollywood names like Elisha Cook and Marie Windsor.
As cinema, the film has a deliberate, steady pace. Tobe Hooper's direction is not particularly innovative, but he does manage to create an eerie atmosphere throughout and provide more than a few real scares, despite the limitations imposed by the television format. The only drawbacks are necessary full screen presentation and the obvious commercial breaks which sometimes disrupt climactic points in the film. These minor irritations aside, SALEM'S LOT has a true cinematic feel.
All in all, one of the better vampire films I've seen. Highly recommended for purchase on DVD - you'll not get a better vampire film for your money.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE MOST EERIE MINI-SERIES TO EVER BE SHOWN ON TV, August 20, 1999
By A Customer
First of all, don't be fooled-only watch the full length mini-series. The "cut-to-shreds" movie version is not worth the blank video it was taped on. I first watched "Salem's Lot" as a kid of about 9. I then bought the video 3 years ago and I was just as terrified watching it as a 20-year-old as I was 11 years previous.What makes "Salem's Lot" different from many horror 'classics' is that it doesn't have to rely on blood and gore to scare the wits out of the viewer. The eerie tenseness of the presence of Straker, Mears' return to THAT house and the ultimate battle with the elusive Mr.Barker results in a constant shiver down your spine. My favourire scene, though, is one that freaked me out as a kid - when Danny Glick is visited for the first time by his now vampire brother, hovering in a cloud of smoke at his bedroom window. Believe me, you'll be checking behind the curtains of every window in the house for weeks to come, especially if it's a foggy night!!! Living in Ireland, I bought the UK release of "SALEM'S LOT THE MINI-SERIES" which, I believe, contains a few additional scenes not included in the American 'full- length version.' Everyone should see this mini-series at least once in their life-time....it's something that you will never forget!!!!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Ah, yes, well, I can assure you that people will find Mr. Barlow well worth the wait." -Straker, October 3, 2006
About this time every year, I always like to think of the greatest horror movies of all-time, and watch them during the month of October, to celebrate my favorite holiday which is Halloween of course. One of the first two or three movies that always comes to my mind every single time is Tobe Hooper's adaptation of the Stephen King vampire novel called "Salem's Lot". Ironically enough, "Salem's Lot" is a made for T.V. movie, which is unique for horror movies because most people erroneously believe that you have to have all of this blood and gore in a horror movie to create a truly scary movie. Those of us sophisticated and intelligent horror movie fans that appreciate really scary movies know that this is not the case. Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot" is a perfect example of a perfect piece of cinematic horror in every sense of the term, and yet there is minimal to zero blood in it. How can this be? How is this possible? Well, the short answer is that you do not need a lot of blood and gore to make a scary movie. In other words, the special effects are not what makes a movie scary, but it is the atmosphere, mood and the story itself that creates a pure horror movie that is really scary.
Thus, the reason "Salem's Lot" is such a great horror movie is because of the atmosphere created in this movie, the setting, the mood and theme, the scary music, the terrifying looking vampires that are in this movie (whomever did the make-up job on these vampires really did do a fantastic job when you think about it), and the way the movie really draws the viewer into the world that is "Salem's Lot" and shows the audience the unspeakable evil that resides in the Marsten House. Salem's Lot is just like any other small town in America...it is small, the air is filled with petty rumors of infidelity, it has small-town people, and it has its haunted house. What a great setting for a horror movie!
"Salem's Lot" is about a writer named Ben Mears, who grew up in Salem's Lot (short for Jerusalem's Lot), who returns to his home town to write a book. Mears, played quite well by David Soul, is an accomplished writer, but he has a dark secret, a deep-seated fear, the origin of which lies in Marsten House. It is Mears' obsession with this fear and evil that resides in the Marsten House that drives Mears' character throughout the movie. The small town of Salem's Lot is not used to strangers, and Mears is not the only stranger in town. Another stranger by the name of Straker, played brilliantly by James Mason, is truly a stranger in every sense of the word. Moreover, there is something dark about Straker and his mysterious partner Mr. Barlow, something unspeakably evil.
In the interest of not giving the movie away, it is sufficient to point out that Salem's Lot is in for a rude awakening, an awakening of pure evil that grips the town with terror, and it is this same terror that captures the audience and grips the audience with fear. The audience is able to empathize and/or step into the shoes of the characters in this movie, and experience the same fears along with the characters. "Salems' Lot" is a simple yet brilliant movie about darkness versus light and good versus evil. The darkness and evil which is so inherent and rooted in the Marsten House spreads like wildfire throughout the town of Salem's Lot. The question is whether Ben Mears, Dr. Norton, Jason Burke and a boy named Mark can stop this evil from taking over Salem's Lot, and destroying life as they know it.
Tobe Hooper employs great acting, a terrifying story, a very scary atmosphere and absolutely horrifying looking vampires to draw the audience into the dark world that is "Salem's Lot". True, so much of what happens in Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot" involves what the audience does not see, and it is this method that Hooper utilizes to perfection to haunt the imaginations of his audience. There are so many great scenes in this movie that I do not even want to discuss them in this review because the viewer should see these scenes without any warning. Suffice it to say that the vampires in this movie really are quite morbid, deathly, and absolutely horrifying. The mannerisms of the vampires in this movie are absolutely as you would expect such a demon/creature of the night would have. These are not rock n' roll vampires...these vampires are creatures of death, evil, and spawns of Satan himself from the very pits of Hell. Pure evil is what we are talking about here folks, and one look at Barlow's face will impress upon you what a vampire would really look like. Barlowe is a monster, he is not interested in romance, but he is evil incarnate, an unnatural creature symbolic of evil itself. The terror that Barlowe inspires upon the audience by his mere presence is incredible and much more than you could ever hope to garner from all of the blood, gore and guts of tasteless and spiritless horror movies of today. "Salem's Lot" gets you where the fear is...it penetrates your mind and sucks you in to a realm of the unknown, a realm of darkness, and it allows the viewer's imagination to run rampart into the fear that is "Salem's Lot".
As a final note on this great movie, I would like to take time out to warn all horror movie fans to STAY AWAY from the re-make of "Salem's Lot" starring Rob Lowe. In short, the remake of "Salem's Lot" (which first aired on TNT) is the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life, and that is no exaggeration. Also, not to take anything away from Stephen King who is a great horror novelist but, like Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining", Tobe Hooper's adaptation of "Salem's Lot" is clearly superior in every way to Stephen King's novel. And, yes, I have read both of these books. While both are good, Tobe Hooper and Stanley Kubrick revise, refine and simply give "Salem's Lot" and "The Shining" something more that accentuates the horror to audience to utmost degree that the novels simply are unable to do.
The direction, acting, production values, special effects or lack thereof in Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot" are all carefully calculated and presented to the audience to bring you the ultimate in terror, the ultimate in horror, the ultimate scary movie experience. You will NOT watch this movie in an unfamiliar and dark two story house by yourself with the lights off on Halloween night. You would not be able to do it without being scared. This movie is the embodiment of what every horror movie should strive to be, a truly scary experience for the viewer, and Tobe Hooper's vampire masterpiece in "Salem's Lot" is one of the top two or three scariest movies of all-time and garners HorrorMan's HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION as one of the very greatest horror movies ever made!!
As an interesting piece of hodge-podge, Lew Ayres played Jason Burke in this film...Ayres also starred in another great horror movie called "Damien: The Omen II" and he also starred in the the 1930 World War I classic, "All Quiet on the Western Front"...interesting selection of movies there!
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