LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Andre Braugher says the well-drawn, flawed human characters in his new miniseries "Salem's Lot" are what set it above other vampire flicks.
"One of the things that allows it to rise above the typical sort of spooky tales that we see on TV and the typical horror movies that only go, 'Boo!' and make us jump is that these are real people," the former "Gideon's Crossing" star told United Press International.
"These are not joke people. They're us," Braugher explained. "When you think about the vampire hunters of 'Salem's Lot,' they're a motley crew. They're misfits. There's a high-school teacher, a scandalous writer, a waitress, a blackmailed doctor, a drunken priest, a high-school student. ... And what makes the tale so compelling and what makes Stephen King such a fine writer is that we're genuinely scared because it's us. It's not 'Van Helsing.' ... You're not talking about super-hero characters."
The first part of "Salem's Lot," based on King's best-selling novel, premieres Sunday on TNT.
