Salem's Lot

Watching Gary Dauberman's Salem's Lot interpretation is a frustrating exercise in absolute patience to say the least. Make no mistake; this is not a particularly successful experiment after all, but the frustration comes mainly from the fact that, in glimpses, there is that dark, comfortless and empathetic Stephen King interpretation that both Dauberman and James Wan so feverishly search for.

If you're not yet familiar with the source material, Salem's Lot is one of those OG vampire stories, in fact many would consider it one of the absolute classics of the genre. Ben Mears returns to Jerusalem's Lot (get it?) in Maine to find inspiration for his next book, but at the same time the enigmatic Straker (played by Pilou Asbæk) moves in, intent on starting an antiques business. Suddenly, two brothers disappear on their way home at night, and it soon becomes pretty clear to Mears and his allies in town that it has something to do with vampires, and they quickly learn the name of the fearsome Barlow.

If you really haven't read the book or seen the 1979 film adaptation, I won't go into further detail, but whereas the novel spans 672 pages, and thus can afford to go into depth about the environment, with Salem's Lot as the location and the many residents who know each other, this Dauberman adaptation runs at 200 kilometres per hour from the start, and that's for better or worse. First and foremost, this means that none of the characters have time to breathe at any point. Alliances are formed, romance blossoms, motivations are revealed, and it all happens so fast that you rarely even have time to connect the dots before the film moves on to the next scene. This isn't only a bad thing, as Salem's Lot actually knows that it's designed to deliver the highlights, and so flicks through all the intriguing subtext and more granular examination of the immediate surroundings. But it's not quite good, there's no getting around that, and it's particularly noticeable in the film's final act that no strong relationship has really been established with either the characters who take the ticket, or events that almost masquerade as something that's supposed to... you know, affect us.

Asbæk isn't given much material to work with, but is especially a victim of this lightning-fast storytelling technique, and the same happens to the otherwise always robust Alfre Woodard and even Bill Camp. It's too fast, it's too uneven. Lewis Pullman as Mears and especially Jordan Preston Carter as Mark, the central protagonists of the film and novel, shine despite the uneven techniques.

It's not particularly well told, and the creepiness that is established quickly evaporates due to some rather strange overexposures of the central antagonists. You all know when horror films simply remove the veil of mystery and suspense too quickly, and as the saying goes; "you can't put the genie back in the bottle".

But back to the frustration, because make no mistake; there are moments, and more than that; whole scenes of Salem's Lot that really work, that really fire on all cylinders. First and foremost, you can tell that Wan is involved in the camerawork, because there are some truly great shots here. Overall, the technique from set design to costumes and effects is great most of the time, and these are often used quite masterfully. These vampires are, often, actually scary, and there are a few shots that really illustrate just how bad things are in 'the Lot', adding a thick, blood-soaked line to the bleak vibe that also permeates the novel.

But well-oiled, creative and robust technique isn't enough to salvage the intoxicating filmmaking that goes on in front of the camera, and unfortunately Salem's Lot is the essence of haste, a piece of cut and paste that doesn't really hold together as a horror story, and sadly fails to capture everything that made the novel so legendary. This film has been postponed countless times, and has previously also aimed for a cinema release. Now it's a relatively sudden Max release a week from today, and while I can recommend a look for the creative technicalities alone, this is just a disappointment.