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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The movie adaptation of Salem's Lot, on Max on Oct. 3, captures the best elements of Stephen King. It's scary and streamlined after two previous miniseries adaptations. Late one night, Mr. Straker (Pilou Asbaek) asks shopkeeper Mr. Snow (Timothy John Smith) to pick up a crate arriving late at night. That sounds totally normal and it only gets sketchier from there.
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On the next day, Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to town looking for inspiration for a new book. He meets Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), a fan, and the rest of the town, including some less-welcoming neighbors.
The small town full of distinct characters is a hallmark of King stories, especially the ones set in his fictional Castle Rock. The book Salem's Lot predates the creation of Castle Rock but the seeds are there.
Some of those townsfolk are little kids, the Glick brothers (Cade Woodward and Nicholas Crovetti) and newcomer Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter). The kids team up like the kids in It or Stand By Me, and not all the kids live, so you know this movie has teeth, as it were.
Salem's Lot is King's vampire story, and the adaptation by writer/director Gary Dauberman builds up vampires in a real world that wouldn't assume the supernatural has come to town.
So, someone comes down with a thirst for blood. Another person is bitten and doesn't understand the way they feel.
Schoolteacher Matthew Burke (Bill Camp) suspects the bite victim's symptoms sound a lot like those caused by vampires, but he also knows how that sounds when he tries to warn the others.
Dauberman also uses minute details to sell how Ben and Sue even consider believing Burke. They see the bite holes in the shirt even after the skin has healed.
When vampires become undeniable, the grown-ups, including town Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard), use what they think they know about battling them and improvise. And those vampires are relentless, like wild animals on the prowl.
For a story whose previous two adaptations ran three hours each, Dauberman contains it in a tight film with momentum. He builds up the town and the horror, and then forces the characters to band together to fight back, pretty much all in one night once the pieces are set.
Salem's Lot may not reach the upper tier of Stephen King movies that includes Misery, The Shawshank Redemption or even adaptations of Pet Sematary. But as a solid vampire tale, it holds its own alongside It and Sleepwalkers and above many of the lesser adaptations.
It would have played well in theaters, as it was intended to be released before the COVID-19 pandemic, but at least it will be available soon for people to discover on Max.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
