'Salem's Lot (TV 2004)

Writer Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot and discovers that it is being terrorized by vampires.

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Peter Filardi (teleplay)

Stars:

Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald Sutherland

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rob Lowe	...	Ben Mears
Andre Braugher	...	Matt Burke
Donald Sutherland	...	Richard Straker
Samantha Mathis	...	Susan Norton
Robert Mammone	...	Dr. James Cody
Dan Byrd	...	Mark Petrie (as Daniel Byrd)
Rutger Hauer	...	Kurt Barlow
James Cromwell	...	Father Donald Callahan
Andy Anderson	...	Charlie Rhodes
Robert Grubb	...	Larry Crockett
Steven Vidler	...	Sheriff Parkins (as Steve Vidler)
Penny McNamee	...	Ruth Crockett
Brendan Cowell	...	Dud Rogers
Christopher Morris	...	Mike Ryerson
Todd MacDonald	...	Floyd Tibbits

Storyline

Ben Mears, a writer returns to the small Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot (also known as Salem's Lot), where he spent the first few years of his life, to write a book. Little does he or the townfolk realize that a couple of other new residents are coming...Straker, a antiques dealer, and his partner and master Barlow, a ancient and malevolent vampire bent on making Salem's Lot his new home.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | writer | priest | hospital | maine | 

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Taglines:

In a small town, evil spreads quickly.

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Genres:

Horror | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

TNT

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

20 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Salem's Lot

Filming Locations:

Creswick, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coote Hayes Productions, Mark M. Wolper Production, Turner Network Television (TNT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

181 min 181 min (DVD) 174 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the dogs in the movie is named "Cujo", Which is the name of another Stephen King novel about a killer dog.

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Goofs

When Richard Straker confronts Susan Norton and Mark Petrie in Straker's house for the first time, Straker takes Norton's gun with his left hand, then Petrie's stake with his right hand. The stake then disappears and reappears in Straker's hand between shots.

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Quotes

Floyd Tibbits: Crockett's paying us a hundred bucks to deliver this crate. If I said to you, Mike, I'd pay you two hundred bucks to come into the Marsten House, alone, at night, would you do it?
Mike Ryerson: Hell no.
Floyd Tibbits: Me neither. I find that humorous.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemania: Stephen King: O vasilias tou tromou (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Salem's Lot Aria"
Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy

User Reviews

It sucks.

****WARNING: CONTAINS LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!**** I've been a fan of the novel and the 1979 movie version of "Salem's Lot" for years so when I heard they were doing a remake I got excited. Then I heard that Rob Lowe was going to star in it. Rob Lowe? Well, he appeared in "The Stand" a decade earlier and that managed not to suck. Maybe there can still be hope for this yet.

Boy, was I wrong. And Rob Lowe can hardly shoulder all of the blame.

It seems the fellow who adapted the novel, Peter Filardi, took the concept of "updating" and "adapting for television" (let's not forget the book was written and published in the early 1970's) and went hog-wild with it. The end result is that the only the movie characters have in common with their book counterparts are the names. Ben Mears was once held captive by the Taliban? Matt Burke is gay? Susan Norton is a waitress? Did Filardi even read the novel? Then there is the problem of the very minor characters getting way, way, waaayyyy more screen time than they deserve, as in, they shouldn't have been in the movie at all. Sandy McDougall, Dud Rogers, Charlie Rhodes and Ruthie Crockett are all very minor throw-away characters who don't deserve a place in the movie. Ruthie didn't even have any dialogue in the book for crying out loud!!! What is so special about these characters that they managed to get on screen and take away precious time from the real characters? This is reason why Barlow is reduced to a cameo, because Peter Filardi felt the inexplicable need to cram in as many characters as possible.

My biggest complaint is the way they handled the scene where a vampire Mike Ryerson comes back to Matt Burke's house. Instead of being a terrifying encounter with the undead it winds up a truly bizarre homo-erotic/necrophiliac encounter so completely drained of any suspense that left me scratching my head and wondering 'what the hell was that about'? Hey people, if it ain't broke don't fix it! If you had $25 million to spend on this movie why didn't you hire a writer who could actually write a suspenseful scene!! Stephen King should sue! Excuse me, I'm going to watch the 1979 version and try to put this slop out of my memory for good.