'Salem's Lot (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Peter Filardi (teleplay)

Release Date:

20 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

In a small town, evil spreads quickly.

Plot:

Writer Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot and discovers that it is being terrorized by vampires.

Plot Keywords:

Dead Children | Catholic Priest | School Bus | City Dump | Priest

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Rob Lowe	...	Ben Mears
Andre Braugher	...	Matt Burke
Donald Sutherland	...	Richard Straker
Samantha Mathis	...	Susan Norton
Robert Mammone	...	Dr. James Cody
Dan Byrd	...	Mark Petrie (as Daniel Byrd)
Rutger Hauer	...	Kurt Barlow
James Cromwell	...	Father Donald Callahan
Andy Anderson	...	Charlie Rhodes
Robert Grubb	...	Larry Crockett
Steven Vidler	...	Sheriff Parkins (as Steve Vidler)
Penny McNamee	...	Ruth Crockett
Brendan Cowell	...	Dud Rogers
Christopher Morris	...	Mike Ryerson
Todd MacDonald	...	Floyd Tibbits

Also Known As:

Salem's Lot (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

Finland:174 min (DVD) | USA:181 min (DVD version) | Argentina:181 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | USA:TV-14 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Coote Hayes Productions

Trivia:

Approximately 300 extras were used during the production.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matt confronts Mike Ryerson in his house, Mike's autopsy scars change sides from right to left and back again.

Quotes:

Dud Rogers: I need some food, Floyd.

Movie Connections:

References Stand by Me (1986)

Soundtrack:

Salem's Lot Aria

Why the bad reviews? - this is a great movie

Just watched the DVD and was gripped from beginning to end. Why all these bad comments? King's book reaches into the well worn bag of Vampire clichés and recreates the myth. Instead of a wild, exotic location, his vampire tale happens in our own back yard - small town USA. The movie, like the book, details characters - typical types, but uniquely drawn to perk our interest - setting up ordinary and recognizable patterns of action and behavior. Enter the vampire; strange things happen, the patterns shake and change; the town goes from sunlit Americana to moonlit nightmare. This movie changes many of King's original notions, but maintains the heart and soul of his book. The first fifteen or twenty minutes, introduced by the Lowe character with a steady and pointed commentary,

brilliantly introduces the story's characters while it's signaling the movie's main conflict. For me, this was seamless storytelling; convincing, entertaining, and, with the overall dark mood reflected in the words and Lowe's voice, a foreshadowing that's all the more ironic because what we're looking at is so ordinary. Being a TV mini series, the film makers didn't have to cram the book into a two hour box. Time is taken to develop characters, relationships; action unfolds at a pace that seems steadily natural - nothing is pushed. Knowing more about the characters means we feel more for them when bad things happen. At least, I did. Rob Lowe's measured, low key performance anchors the movie. I believed he was a writer, who's guarded, repressed nature was rigidly calculated as if all things in life progressed like words in a well written sentence. I found all the Vampire stuff genuinely spooky - mainly because it all seemed so sad. With only a few misguided gestures along the way (the incest bit, for one, seemed unnecessary), this director focused the movie with care and respect. Even when "bad" characters are "changed" we feel a kind of empathy that is all but nonexistent in Horror movies these days. Maybe watching it in one sitting, as I did, with no interruptions, is why I could follow and appreciate things that others (based on the majority of these comments) seemed to miss. My opinion is firm: this is a great movie.