STEPHEN KING’S SALEM’S LOT REMAKE FINALLY RELEASED A TRAILER AND DEBUTS ON MAX on 10/3
by Hal Hefner
Salem’s Lot is a classic Nerd Horror novel and film, for many reasons such as the main character is a horror novelist nerd who uses his brain to outsmart a horde of vampires. Also written by the King of Nerd Horror, Stephen King, the novel is a treasured favorite by vampire loves of all ages.
Now after years of anticipation, rumors and starting and stopping, the remake of Stephen King’s Salem Lot is almost upon us. Today Max, finally dropped the very first trailer from the movie which was was first announced in 2019. Salem’s Lot was originally intended for a theatrical release in September 2022 but it was delayed and pushed back multiple times. The Discovery and Warner Brothers merger had found a new victim to sink its fangs into and for a long period of time the studio was dead silent on the film. Fans of the Stephen King best selling novel and the original movie were pissed off. But now the movie has risen from the dead and has found a home in the desecrated catacombs of Max.
Directed by Gary Dauberman directed the new adaptation of the vampire classic, after having written the scripts for the 2017 and 2019 Stephen King remakes of “It” and “It: Chapter Two.” Duaberman made his name writing several spinoffs of “The Conjuring” franchise, including“Annabelle,” “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Nun” and also wrote and directed “Annabelle Comes Home” in 2019. James Wan the creator of the “Conjuring” franchise, produced the new version of the King classic.
in 1979 King’s novel was adapted into two-part CBS miniseries starring David Soul as titular character Ben Mears. The mini series/film was nominated for three Emmy Awards and to this day is one of the most revered tv movies of the horror genre. With a horrific vampire and floating blood sucking children, the original movie scarred many Gen X children and to this day most cannot look out their window at night. The new film, also based on the 1975 novel, “Salem’s Lot” which was followed by the prequel story "Jerusalem's Lot" a short story first published in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.
"Jerusalem's Lot" is an epistolary set in the fictional town of Preacher's Corners, Cumberland County, Maine, in 1850. Told through a series of letters and diary entries, mainly those of its protagonist, aristocrat Charles Boone, and his servant Calvin McCann which sets up the damning plague of vampire rot that festers in the town for over a hundred years. Until the 1970’s, that is which is where Salem’s Lot begins.
Salem's Lot 2024
A period piece, true to the original novel Salem’s Lot follows Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) who was once a resident of the town but is now a successful writer who moves back to Jerusalem’s Lot to write his next novel. Mirroring King’s life, Mears is a horror novelist who has returned to his roots to be inspired by an experience he had in the old Marsden house, a long since abandoned eyesore and pariah of lore and legend. Ben’s arrival coincides with the purchase of the creepy old house by a mysterious man named Kurt Barlow (William Sadler). Mears soon learns the terrifying secret behind the shadowy millionaire as an ancient vampire using his human familiar Richard Straker (Pilou Asbæk) to feed off the citizens of the town and turn them into a blood thirsty vampire army. As more and more locals are transformed into vampires, Mears becomes the reluctant leader of a group of misfits human allies who are trapped in Barlow’s clawed hand and must fight for their lives or become a bloodsucker themselves.
Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears in Gary Dauberman's Salem's Lot remake coming to Max on 10/03/24
The cast is void of big names which actually adds to its appeal and in addition to Pullman, Sadler and Asbæk, the film also stars Makenzie Leigh as Susan Norton, who is Ben’s love interest as well as Bill Camp the beloved former high school teacher Matthew Burke and Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, Spencer Treat Clark as gravedigger Mike Ryerson and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan, the town priest who eventually becomes an important character in another of King’s most prolific book series “The Dark Tower.”
Father Callahan, Stephen King's Salem's Lot