Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Lewis Pullman, Mackenzie Leigh, Jordan Preston Carter, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp, John Benjamin Hickey, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, Pilou Asbæk, Alexander Ward, Danielle Perry, Debra Christofferson, William Sadler, Timothy John Smith, Mike Kaz, Cade Woodward, Joseph Marrella, Declan Lemerande, Oliver Dauberman, Rebecca Gibel, James Milord, Fedna Jacquet, Marilyn Busch, Michelle Steven Costello, Avery Bederman, Derek Mears, Jim Patton, Kellan Rhude, Sage Rudnick, Anna Rizzo, Celeste Oliva, Fred Robbins.

Cinematic vampires have become, for the most part, startingly bland and obnoxiously cool, they have been taken from their folklore beginnings, through the period of gothic literature where the sheer poetic beauty of Bram Stoker’s imagination was perfectly at odds with the sense of disease, of the sickness, the blight that such creatures of the night bring on humanity, and cinema needs, it demands to be seen as taking the phenomenon seriously, not to portray them as heroic, erotic sexual beings, but as an infection, as a virus that needs to be stamped out if horror is to continue as one of the true mirrors of society.

To entrust the vampire lore in a remake seems a fairly safe bet for the viewer, the fan, and perhaps the studio alike, but as Salem’s Lot finds itself the target for a new audience some 45 years after the original, questions require answering, subtleties should be assessed, and the reasoning behind remaking a classic without expanding upon the central themes, so then the question would be why set a course for such an endeavour, especially when unfortunately the vampire at the very heart of the story is less formidable then its predecessor, that its human familiar does not have the same presence as James Mason, and the protagonist of the film does not live up to the terrific standard that was first framed by original lead, David Soul.

Salem’s Lot is a film based on trust for fans of Stephen King, it is lauded by many as an arguably stand out creation that befits the genre, one that captures the seismic grove that was laid down with precision as Bram Stoker set Victorian Gothic literature alight, and yet with modern day advances, with ways to further enhance the situation that once local writer Ben Mears finds himself in, it feels with only a few minor variations it instead is the same tale retold with no additional sense of drama or threat.

Indeed, it is the lack of threat that makes the film average, sincere, but lacking an artistry of depth, and one that asks one very pertinent question pertaining to modern adaptions; why renew when there is nothing to add?

One of the finest books on the genre deserves to be thrilling when on screen, the curses of vampirism should be explored in depth, and Salem’s Lot should be given great care in the same way that was afforded its television sequel based on the short story, Chapelwaite.

A good diversion from everyday life, but one that does not push the boundaries that were expected.

Ian D. Hall