GiantApe67
06-04-2008, 02:56 PM
Small back-story to my review: When I was 13, a friend told me I should read a book called Night Shift by a relatively new (and local) author named Stephen King. Being a horror fan, I took to his work with an almost addicting fix, practically devouring everything the man put out for many years to come. Flash forward to the now and here I am, 41 years old with a son the exact same age who just finished reading his first "adult" novel named 'Salem's Lot. To everything, turn, turn, turn...you know the rest. Having told him how much the miniseries scared the crap out me in 7th grade (a grade he's about to complete), I felt compelled to seek out the DVD and play it for an hour over 3 nights time.
Which, in retrospect, wasn't that bad of an idea. See, in the early days of cable TV, I was aware of a version that ran in what we'd call "movie length", which was just about 90 minutes. Then I remember the VHS copy being longer (122 minutes?) and then a full-blown feature being close to three hours long. The DVD I ordered was the entire miniseries, which is both a blessing an a curse.
The scares are solid and very memorable. Most fans of late-70's horror will be able to tell you where they were when they first saw Fats the Dummy show up to deliver his chilling little preview to Magic. They can also recall the famous "under the bed" scene from Phantasm and, no doubt will uneasily remember how disturbing it was to see little Ralphie Glick floating just outside his still-alive brother's window. The idea of a small New England town (I live in one myself, and could easily see this happening) being taken over, little by little, is strangely believable. We're seeing real estate agents, inn-keepers, housewives, children and town employees all succumbing to the vampire threat while a mildly successful writer returning to town tries to stem the tide. He's got some allies, too.
Not being a Starsky & Hutch fan probably didn't help my disliking of David Soul as Ben Mears. Not that it's the first time Hollywood has gone against casting type, but he just comes off as a colossal turd, in my opinion. Lance Kerwin as Mark Petrie was a little better and the ever-reliable Geoffrey Lewis as Mike Ryerson was entertaining. Bonnie Bedelia played Susan Norton well enough and James Mason was perfect (even with a full head of hair) as the urbane and sinister Straker. You really have to go back and see how different a time it was, too. This is a world when a fully grown adult can still catch flack from his girlfriends father about not being discreet enough while making out in a park after sundown. The same Doctor (which was a blend of Dr. Cody and Susan's Father from the novel) warns against the dangers of caffeine and fast driving. The CSI team would also have a chuckle on just how involved the testing of Straker's black suit matched up under police scrutiny. You are also treated to timeless scenes of school plays, jealous boyfriends, defective Jeep doors, cheating' wives and some of the worlds ugliest wallpaper I've ever seen.
So yeah, if you've got 3 hours to spare and want to see what an undead invasion looked like close to 30 years ago, spend some time in 'Salem's Lot.
Just don't go there after dark.
Which, in retrospect, wasn't that bad of an idea. See, in the early days of cable TV, I was aware of a version that ran in what we'd call "movie length", which was just about 90 minutes. Then I remember the VHS copy being longer (122 minutes?) and then a full-blown feature being close to three hours long. The DVD I ordered was the entire miniseries, which is both a blessing an a curse.
The scares are solid and very memorable. Most fans of late-70's horror will be able to tell you where they were when they first saw Fats the Dummy show up to deliver his chilling little preview to Magic. They can also recall the famous "under the bed" scene from Phantasm and, no doubt will uneasily remember how disturbing it was to see little Ralphie Glick floating just outside his still-alive brother's window. The idea of a small New England town (I live in one myself, and could easily see this happening) being taken over, little by little, is strangely believable. We're seeing real estate agents, inn-keepers, housewives, children and town employees all succumbing to the vampire threat while a mildly successful writer returning to town tries to stem the tide. He's got some allies, too.
Not being a Starsky & Hutch fan probably didn't help my disliking of David Soul as Ben Mears. Not that it's the first time Hollywood has gone against casting type, but he just comes off as a colossal turd, in my opinion. Lance Kerwin as Mark Petrie was a little better and the ever-reliable Geoffrey Lewis as Mike Ryerson was entertaining. Bonnie Bedelia played Susan Norton well enough and James Mason was perfect (even with a full head of hair) as the urbane and sinister Straker. You really have to go back and see how different a time it was, too. This is a world when a fully grown adult can still catch flack from his girlfriends father about not being discreet enough while making out in a park after sundown. The same Doctor (which was a blend of Dr. Cody and Susan's Father from the novel) warns against the dangers of caffeine and fast driving. The CSI team would also have a chuckle on just how involved the testing of Straker's black suit matched up under police scrutiny. You are also treated to timeless scenes of school plays, jealous boyfriends, defective Jeep doors, cheating' wives and some of the worlds ugliest wallpaper I've ever seen.
So yeah, if you've got 3 hours to spare and want to see what an undead invasion looked like close to 30 years ago, spend some time in 'Salem's Lot.
Just don't go there after dark.