MovieChat Forums > Salem's Lot (2024) Discussion > Eh, This Was Ok.

Eh, This Was Ok.

posted 2 months ago by Jeepster (1145)
10 replies | jump to latest

What this lacked was the presence of the original adaption. You can’t beat the characters in that who were better by a country mile but I appreciated what this tried to do.

The crosses “glowing” effect was a nice touch I thought.

One thing I didn’t get, in the David Soul version when the vampires were let it in, they wasted no time in attacking. If they got you to unlatch the window or door than that was a wrap, they were lightning quick. This? They were content to stare at you for awhile after coming in which made no sense. What’s stupid is Mears got treated as a suspect as a newbie in town but Straker OR Barlow weren’t? That makes sense.

I’m only sorry that Susan’s mother didn’t have a worse death after what she did to her own daughter. Best thing she did was shoot Alfre Woodard’s character who I felt seriously wasn’t needed in this.

Don’t know if any of you ever thought of this but the most unsual thing in this film is the death of the sheriff. Was it the sheriff? That they threw in the church window from the ceiling? So they straight up “killed” him without biting and turning him? I mean he had split town earlier in the day. How did they find and track him? Heck why did they even care to go after him is another question. He should’ve been some considerable distance away but ok, it’s the movies.

[–] AnthonySocksss (445) 2 months ago

It’s too bad none of the versions adapted the book properly. They all completely changed some things and left out subplots from the book.

[–] elmacho (979) 2 months ago

unfortunately it would take at least 5-6 hours to do the book justice. the best part of the book and maybe even in any SK book is that chapter where he discusses the towns people and their secrets.

[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

Yeah, so I decided to watch it. It was just okay. It had creepy and eerie parts which are things I like in vampire movies. But, I wouldn’t call this Salem’s Lot. It’s definitely not like the 1979’s version. I wonder what it would’ve been liked if Brian De Palma, Jordan Peele, Guillermo Del Toro, or John Carpenter directed it.

[–] diezman (2097) 2 months ago

It had some great atmosphere in parts. I liked the cinematography and the lighting.

Didn't really care about any of the characters because I really didn't "know" them. It seems as if they wanted to jam in as much as they could from the book.

The ending was stupid in my opinion. Give me a break with the drive-in!

[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

I agree. I’m glad you liked certain parts, though.

[–] thingmakersback (1369) a month ago

Yeah... This is a watchable mediocrity. It picks up in the last half hour after blundering through what should have been a much lengthier and more believable buildup. Once it gets going, it's just a reasonably decent minor league horror film. I'm not wild about the original minseries and I haven't seen the other one but this one is truly nothing special and not worth comparing to the novel.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8706) a month ago

Weird, I think it was in the third act that it really starts to fall apart. I enjoyed it early on, but the more it went on, the more I lost interest. The climax at the drive-in struck me as very, very stupid. The ending in the '79 mini-series in the super-creepy house was much better than the action-horror ending these screenwriters came up with.

[–] thingmakersback (1369) a month ago

I would agree that the ending of the miniseries was potentially better... But to me it didn't ever really feel intense or involving. What we got in this is a gimmicky ending that was well enough executed that I enjoyed it more.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8706) a month ago

The problem, as I see it, is that in this film the house hardly comes into play as a character unto itself. Sure, we can see it sitting on the hill from a distance and it's occasionally referenced, but just from a storytelling perspective the climax needs to draw us into the house for a final showdown. The way the interior of the house is portrayed in the '79 mini-series is amazing. It's like A+ production design. We do see the interior of the house here, briefly, but it is not nearly as compelling as that of the '79 mini-series, nor do we return to the house at the end.

It just seems like poor storytelling to me. Ultimately the house, which is supposed to be this womb of evil that spans generations, is of little consequence.

[–] thingmakersback (1369) a month ago

That is an essential flaw in this version. They sacrificed a central element of the novel in order to have a different ending. I've just never really found the miniseries compelling, so while I rate it higher than this, I don't find either of great value.