Monster of the Day #3652

Updated on December 30, 2024 By Ken Begg 10 Comments

The 1979 Salem’s Lot telemovie also featured a Nosferatu-like vampire, entirely different from the novel’s urbane master vampire. I think they’ve adapted Salem’s Lot a couple of times since, but they disappeared without a trace. The novel was very ’70s, being sort of a Peyton’s Place with vampires, and it could be that you’re never going to recreate the magic that version had.

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  • Gamera977

    I keep hearing both the novel and original telemovie are good but haven't read/seen either since I'm not much of a King fan.

  • I haven't liked King since the mid-90s, but Salem's Lot is the real deal. One of the only (maybe the only) books to ever keep me up nights. And I mean months. I still don't like to have the windows open at night.

    I saw the original miniseries for the first time this Halloween. Had been putting it off for years because for many years all you could find was the 90 minute overseas theatrical cut. I was really impressed with how well it holds up, genuine horror rather than all jump scares, ending a bit cheesy because they were hoping to get a series (ala Kolchak) out of it, but still true to the spirit of the novel. There is a scene in the basement of the Marston mansion near the end that still gives me the heebie jeebies.

  • Gamera977

    Thanks!!! I'll have to see if I can catch of copy of this!

  • Eric Hinkle

    That original miniseries of Salem's Lot is probably my favorite movie/TV adaptation of King's work.

  • It's on Prime. That's where I finally watched it. They took out the middle credits/recap between the episodes, but it's the whole thing in a single 3 hour block.

  • Gamera977

    Thanks! I was going to look this weekend when I have a little more time, hopefully to break it into two viewings and not a three-hour epic run.

  • Gamera977

    Thanks GJ and Eric! Watched the 3 hour complete version on Amazon over the weekend and yeah it was friggin' great! Only real issues I had was yeah the framing story was unnecessary, I can see where they were aiming toward a series there, and the subplot with the cheating wife doesn't seem to go anywhere and seems there only to bloat up the running time.

    But the rest is great stuff! I'd always heard about the Glick boys scratching at the window. And it doesn't disappoint! If I'd watched this as a kid it'd have given me nightmares for at least a week, maybe a month! And the vampires with the weird yellow contacts are creepy as hell!

  • Glad you enjoyed it. The cheating wife plot is from the novel, part of the whole "Peyton Place" vibe the story was going for, but yeah, it only pays off in the sense that (in the movie) it ironically saves her life by getting them out of town before the vampires get to everybody.

  • Gamera977

    Thanks! I guess I need to read the novel sometime to get a complete understanding of the story. Lol, getting a black eye is quite preferable to being cursed with vampirism…

  • Ken_Begg

    This is why we still do these things. All of us have seen a ton of media, but none of us have seen everything. Glad to have inspired a watch.