Salem

All,

Sad but true, Stephen King novels cannot be turned into movies without losing some of the authors original intent. The 2004 attempt to bring 'Salems Lot to the "little screen" suceeded in some aspects, but failed miserably in others. Where as the 1979 version of the film scared the living be-Jesus out of us (I still cannot sleep with the shades open at night), I can truthfully say that I don't think I ever read our 18th century or earlier vampire villain Barlow screeching something like a person who has had one to many Macnonalds cheese burger at 4:00 in the morning (wheeeee). I don't know about the rest of the known universe, but I've always envisioned Barlow as a blood thirsty sophisticant. An individual of unspeakable evil, yet a person cultured and refined. I don't think Rutger was able to achieve that definition. It seemed to me that he carried his role from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Donald Sutherland????) over to this production. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed most of Rutgers' work, Blade Runner especially, but I really think he kinda missed the mark with this role. As far as meeting in the middle. I think the 2004 version of the film somewhat stayed true to the original book, but lacked the overall psychological punch of the 1979 version. Which leads you to the question...Can we ever achieve a fine balance with regards to a Stephen King novel brought to the big or small screen.....

I loved this book so much and watched the original movie on t.v. When it aired as a kid. The original has always been one of my favorite vampire movies and i was totally jacked up to see this remake. God did it suck! Donald Sutherland was very good as crazed a Straker, but overall this was half the quality of the original. VERY Disappointing! I always thought the original was special because it was actually frightening for a t.v. movie. I wish so much that HBO had remade this film. The story is incredibly spooky and could have been sculpted into a fine remake, but i was thoroughly disappointed in the cheesy way they ended up making this film. It just has that "made for TV" feel to it. The casting was one of the many things i had a huge problem with. It seemed that the character's were all too young. Why make Matt Burke a gay man? That certainly wasn't in the book at all. ugh! Well, at least the star wars trilogy will be out soon on DVD. I sure hope that lives up to expectations...

Salem's Lot, the miniseries SUCKED big time...and not just in a vampire sort of way.

When is TV going to get this book right?

Where should I start with what is wrong with this series? So little of it was good or done properly.

First of all, the series is TOTALLY different from the book, even more so than the '79 miniseries. I really enjoyed the book and was disappointed by this series.

The characters and story line are different from the book, and unfortunately not nearly as interesting or engaging.

Also this miniseries is NOT scary. They screwed up the two most scary parts of the book; when Matt Burke finds Mike Ryerson in his bedroom, and when Sue Norton and Mark Petrie go into the Marsten house.

Also why did they make Matt Burke a gay black? In the book he's an elderly White heterosexual. Changing this character hurt the story IMO.

I'd give this miniseries a "D" , which is a shame because it could have, and SHOULD have been so much better.

THIS is why. As much as I enjoyed the '79 version(having gobbled the novel down in one, rather creepy afternoon in Maine of all places!) and I continue to enjoy the miniseries although I do have some arguments about Tobe Hooper's handling of the material (For instance,The Marston House is in effect, another character in the tale and all it does in this one is sort of sit there and look creepy. Not so,in this,intelligent,well-done remake,brought sharply up to date and with a more adult bent (although some of the characters,Eva Miller for one,didn't deserve to be messed with so much) but that aside, it was well done and I'm surprised at the nay-saying,but then again,to each his own taste. The atmosphere of a sleepy New England town slowly rotting from the inside was well handled as were the specially effects which I found worlds away from the original. Here, the house itself is a character in every respect and some of the changes rung on the novel were not too diverse (except for the incest angle which was unnecessary). But all in all, I waited for it to be offered on DVD to add it to my collection and would recommend it (as I have often)to those unfamiliar with King's work (yes, I'm a shill)

I'm just gonna tell it like I feel it is: This re-make of Stephen King's well-known tale of vampires deserves the same rating as the original '79 made-for TV version. A lot of people say stuff like "It's not as scary as the original...", but they forget that they saw the original when they were kids. I'm pretty sure that when you show the scene were Rutger Hauer (with fangs & contact lenses) is crawling around on the ceiling (in this new version) to any kid, it will scare the living daylights out of it. The story moves at an okay pace and is actually constructed like one big flashback. Decent performances from the whole cast (Donald Shutterland is pretty evil in this one) and characters with enough background to make them interesting. I also had the feeling that near the end, there were a lot more vampires than in the original '79 version. The whole town seemed to be infected. A solid three-hour movie, worthy of your time.