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Title: Salem's Lot (TV Movie 1979)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| David Soul | ... | Ben Mears | |
| James Mason | ... | Richard K. Straker | |
| Lance Kerwin | ... | Mark Petrie | |
| Bonnie Bedelia | ... | Susan Norton | |
| Lew Ayres | ... | Jason Burke | |
| Julie Cobb | ... | Bonnie Sawyer | |
| Elisha Cook Jr. | ... | Gordon 'Weasel' Phillips (as Elisha Cook) | |
| George Dzundza | ... | Cully Sawyer | |
| Ed Flanders | ... | Dr. Bill Norton | |
| Clarissa Kaye-Mason | ... | Majorie Glick (as Clarissa Kaye) | |
| Geoffrey Lewis | ... | Mike Ryerson | |
 |
Barney McFadden | ... | Ned Tebbets |
| Kenneth McMillan | ... | Constable Parkins Gillespie | |
| Fred Willard | ... | Larry Crockett | |
| Marie Windsor | ... | Eva Miller | |
The successful writer Benjamin "Ben" Mears returns to his hometown Salem's Lot, Maine, expecting to write a new novel about the Marsten House. Ben believes that the manor is an evil house that attracts evil men since the place has many tragic stories and Ben saw a ghostly creature inside the house when he was ten. Ben finds that the Marsten House has just been rented to the antique dealers Richard K. Straker and his partner Kurt Barlow that is permanently traveling. Ben meets the divorced teacher Susan Norton that is living with her parents and they have a love affair. Ben also gets close to her father Dr. Bill Norton and his former school teacher Jason Burke. When people start to die anemic, Ben believes that Straker's partner is a vampire. But how to convince his friends that he is not crazy and that is the truth? Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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I was fourteen years old when this film was released, and it was really a shocker for its time. Although I can see the points raised by detractors of this film, nevertheless, it is, in my opinion, one of the most truly terrifying movies I have ever seen. The scenes in which first Ralphie and then Danny Glick appear in windows at night, scratching to be let in, were utterly horrifying, as were the scenes with Mike Ryerson in Jason Burke's guest bedroom ("Looooook at me ... I will see you sleep like the dead, teacher") and Marjorie Glick in the mortuary. Along with the original "Halloween," this is a film that really, really scared me, and I feel that a key element was the lack of gore (which is probably a disappointment to younger viewers used to explicit splatter). The nonverbal dialogue of expressions and actions, the music, and the significantly occurring silences resulted in the suspense which makes a film truly frightening in my opinion.
Having said this, I do feel that the book was much, much better than the movie, and I would recommend it as one of the best vampire stories ever written (sorry, Anne Rice, but it's true). But let's be fair and realistic. It's a rare film that excels the book on which it was based. Not one of Stephen King's wonderfully (and horribly) imaginative works has EVER been committed to film in a way that has equaled the written work. Never, ever, EVER. That is something that will just never happen. If it were possible, then nobody would bother to read his books, he would become a screenwriter, and that would be a real loss for the horror genre.