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Horror Movies,
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Salem's Lot (1979 Mini-Series Version) - Tobe Hooper
Stephen King's best selling vampire novel was turned into a
two-part mini-series that aired ages ago on the ABC network. Ben
Mears, wandering for two years after the death of his wife in a
vehicular accident, finds himself back in the town he was born in,
Salem's Lot. His family moved away when he was only eleven. Even
then he seemed destined to be an author. Now he has two books
published and he is going to write his third about the sinister Marsten
house up on the hill overlooking town. Ben believes that evil can
inhabit an object like a house and that the Marsten house has always
drawn evil men to own it. Now a suave antiques dealer named
Richard Straker is living in the house and all does not seem normal
with this man, and more especially his business partner, the enigmatic
Kurt Barlow. A boy goes missing and soon one by one there is an
epidemic running through the town of sudden anaemia, mysterious loss of
blood. It's up to Ben and whomever he can find to help him to
discover what is going on and how to bring an end it before it's too
late.
This is the first Stephen King TV mini-series. It is
directed by horror master Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
Poltergeist). The locations are excellent and the sets,
particularly the Marsten house, are amazing. They add a real
depth to the film as well as playing parts as almost characters within
the film. The direction is top notch with a lot of mood and
atmosphere. The musical score is good and accentuates many scenes
nicely. The pacing is a little slow at times and can be a drag
sometimes through re-watching the film. The lighting is good and
used to accentuate some of the scenes giving them much more oomph than
they might have otherwise. Most complaints regarding the film
stem from the decision to turn the speaking Dracula-like head vampire
of the novel into the hissing Nosferatu-type vampire that he is in the
mini-series. That aside the film is pretty faithful to the novel.
Overall this is a good mini-series and a great bit of Stephen
King on film.
(
Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)
All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer
and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators
and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.