Having both read Stephen King's novel and watched the original made-for-TV Salem's Lot, I must say that the book is better, though the film made from it is pretty good. "Barlow" in the book is not the skull-faced nightmare he is in the film (wonderful Reggie Nalder, who didn't look much different as himself as he did as Barlow! Stephen King, in his book, "Danse Macabre," refers to actors like Reggie Nalder as "nonentities about to become full-fledged nobodies"--ouch!) Barlow in the book could speak very well for himself, thank you, but, if you have to have somebody do your talking for you, who better than James Mason? Unfortunately, probably my favorite character in the book did not make the transition to this film--Dud Rogers, the hunchbacked dump keeper, whose head bobbled around on his neck as though, King wrote, God had given it an extra twist at Dud's birth. Dud amused himself by distressing old furniture and selling it to gullible antiques collectors as the real thing, shooting the rats that infested the dump, and lusting after Ruthie Crockett, "who wore no bra." I feel his absence-- This Barlow is a throwback to the good old "Nosferatu" days, and, despite its flaws, Salem's Lot is a cracking good view for this Hallowe'en season. It has its startling moments, especially the final staking, but it doesn't scare me. However, one of my best friends, after watching Salem's Lot the first time, vowed that she will NEVER watch it again, she found it that frightening. Oh, well, rent it and see for yourself--it's well worth your time!
Review of Salem's Lot
