Salem’s Lot is one of the few higher-profile Stephen King adaptations never to see the big screen, and this new direct-to- Max movie isn’t breaking the mold. Originally slotted for a 2022 release, the film, written and directed by Gary Dauberman (who directed and/or wrote a number of Conjuring -adjacent movies, and penned screenplays for both It films), was delayed and delayed again before being somewhat unceremoniously dropped on the streaming service. But hey, at least it hits during Spooky Season, and should get some eyeballs, right? Whether it deserves the attention is debatable – it’s a sprawling narrative that was previously adapted for two TV miniseries, in 1979 and 2004, and may be a better fit for the longer-form format.
SALEM’S LOT : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? The Gist: A couple of grunts are hired by antique dealer Straker (Pilou Asbaek) to pick up a big, heavy crate with something very old inside, and then deliver it to the dingy dusty poorly lit cellar in the old mansion in town. This, I probably don’t have to tell you, is not a job you want. Something inside that box is moving and the guys vamoose before they can see what we can see: the fanged and pale face of some sort of terrifying ’feratu emerging from the darkness.
The place is Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, and if you chop off the first four letters you go from biblical to occult implications real quick, which makes sense considering the aforementioned man-creature has just arrived in town. At this poi.