At the beginning, Ben Mears returns home to the small Maine town of Salem's Lot only to discover that the comfortable location of his childhood has become a feeding ground for vampires. Ben Mears was not the only one to return to Salem's Lot- I just rewatched this for the first time in over fifteen years, after having recently read the novel... and Mr. Mears, you are not alone in your horror and disappointment.
It's hard to honestly comment on this without mentioning how far it differs from the book- and such comments are largely unfair. A book is a book, and a TV mini-series is something else entirely- but even so...
As a fourteen year old, 'Salem's Lot' held enough scares and truly creepy bits to make me eagre to see it again. As an adult, its shortcomings were so painfully and laughably obvious that it became nothing short of torture. for a start, all the substance of King's novel has been diluted or removed completely. Salem's Lot isn't a lovingly rendered honest portrayl of small town life- it's a bland canvass populated by a small number of uninteresting people. Too many of the book's characters are merged, and as a result, whole sub plots are excised, and all the colour drains away. The death of the town, in the novel, is horrible- a culling of the people that honestly frightens the reader. Here... well, there aren't enough people for it really to matter- and towards the end, it seems only Ben Mears and his close friends are in any way affected by the vampire plague.
One of the novel's central images- the terrifying Marsten House is reduced to a feintly dubious looking mansion, no scarier than any of the others in the town- and most ridiculously, it's interior resembles something from a fairground. Some kind of 'haunted house' experience, as hokey and cliched as can be. The house of the novel was riddled with evil- and while in disrepair, was liveable enough for Mears to consider renting it for his stay. If he'd have rented the house of the TV show, he'd have spent three years renovating before it was off the condemned list. For most of the show, though, the house is out of the picture, and, baring a line or two, receives very little comment.
The biggest mistake of all comes with the depiction of Barlow himself- ironically the scariest aspect of my viewing as a child. Reggie Nalder looks terrifying, and my problem is not with the makeup- which is great- but with his bestial nature. This stupid thing was behind the assault? Don't make me laugh- it's an animal. And that changes the whole emphasis of the story.
If any of King's stories need remaking (and please god not as another miniseries, but as a big, scary movie) then this is it. But please- whoever gets the job... read the book before you start.
Steev
It's hard to honestly comment on this without mentioning how far it differs from the book- and such comments are largely unfair. A book is a book, and a TV mini-series is something else entirely- but even so...
As a fourteen year old, 'Salem's Lot' held enough scares and truly creepy bits to make me eagre to see it again. As an adult, its shortcomings were so painfully and laughably obvious that it became nothing short of torture. for a start, all the substance of King's novel has been diluted or removed completely. Salem's Lot isn't a lovingly rendered honest portrayl of small town life- it's a bland canvass populated by a small number of uninteresting people. Too many of the book's characters are merged, and as a result, whole sub plots are excised, and all the colour drains away. The death of the town, in the novel, is horrible- a culling of the people that honestly frightens the reader. Here... well, there aren't enough people for it really to matter- and towards the end, it seems only Ben Mears and his close friends are in any way affected by the vampire plague.
One of the novel's central images- the terrifying Marsten House is reduced to a feintly dubious looking mansion, no scarier than any of the others in the town- and most ridiculously, it's interior resembles something from a fairground. Some kind of 'haunted house' experience, as hokey and cliched as can be. The house of the novel was riddled with evil- and while in disrepair, was liveable enough for Mears to consider renting it for his stay. If he'd have rented the house of the TV show, he'd have spent three years renovating before it was off the condemned list. For most of the show, though, the house is out of the picture, and, baring a line or two, receives very little comment.
The biggest mistake of all comes with the depiction of Barlow himself- ironically the scariest aspect of my viewing as a child. Reggie Nalder looks terrifying, and my problem is not with the makeup- which is great- but with his bestial nature. This stupid thing was behind the assault? Don't make me laugh- it's an animal. And that changes the whole emphasis of the story.
If any of King's stories need remaking (and please god not as another miniseries, but as a big, scary movie) then this is it. But please- whoever gets the job... read the book before you start.
Steev