Stephen King vampire horror Salem’s Lot falls flat

Film review: Salem’s Lot (15) - seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech

Stars: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Jordan Preston Carter and Bill Camp

Director: Gary Dauberman Run time: One hour, 54 minutes

I’ve spent years telling everyone what a wonderful author Stephen King is. I’ve read everything he has written since first picking up Needful Things back in the early Nineties.

His books draw you into his world, usually centring on close-knit neighbourhoods and warm relatable characters. The reader is thoroughly invested in the whole community before the bad stuff starts to happen… and the novels often run up to 700 pages or so.

And that’s the problem when his books are translated into films. They seem too rushed, relationships are not given the time to develop and the plot does not run at an even pace. It’s no coincidence that Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption are among his most successful films - they are both novellas.

Anyway, back to the film. Author Ben Mears (Pullman) returns to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover that the townspeople are being attacked by a bloodthirsty vampire.

The young author becomes romantically involved with local girl Susan Norton (Leigh) and together with school teacher Matt Burke (Camp) and 11-year-old student Mark Petrie (Carter) they bid to tackle the vampire and most of the townspeople who eventually join the ‘undead’.

The film is set at the date of the book’s release -1975 - and although the fashions, street scenes etc are spot on for that era, it seems a conscious decision was made to film it in a Seventies style too, and that doesn’t work for me.

Another problem with this film is that it was shot in 2021 amid Covid restrictions - and it shows, with the town’s streets being sparsely populated - even before the vampire wreaks its terror.

The plot is formulaic, the ending rushed and even a super performance from young Jordan Preston Carter fails to save this film from mediocrity.

For a really well-done, gripping vampire story, read the original book - or watch Mike Flanagan’s seven-part series Midnight Mass on Netflix. It’s heavily influenced by Stephen King and much better than this film.

Rating: 5/10

By Jeremy Ransome