Years ago, I read the book Salem's Lot. It was a good book. Recently I came across the mini series on TubiTV. It's was an okay movie. It had it moments then there were moments the film dragged. Plus it suffered from Pointless Character Syndrome.
I do suggest watching the three hour version.
Here is a breakdown:
Good:
The vampire kid floating outside his brothers window.
Barlow breaking into a family's home to confront the Priest however see bad...
James Mason as Straker. He played the character as it should be, suave and charming. He seemed to enjoy the role.
Good premise.
Bad:
David Soul's performance as Ben Mears. David wooden performance did not bring life to Ben. Ben was not interesting. He was kind of a thoughtless jerk. After killing the head vampire, he didn't run to his girlfriend's house and tell her mother to get out of town. Instead of he left her there to be turned into a vampire.
The characters in general were not very interesting expect for Straker. I wish the film was from his point of view.
Also, some characters were one dimensional.
The film left me with questions: What caused the Sheriff to get spooked that made him pack up his family and leave town. Did he have an interaction with a vampire? Did he learn something in his investigation about Straker and Barlow?
What did the lab find on Straker's suits?
Did the old school teacher die from the heart attack?
Why was the vampires chasing Ben and the kid? In the book the vampires didn't bother with them after they left town.
Some characters were spotlighted then dropped such as the Elisha Cooks character though it is later implied he was turned into a vampire.
Barlow confronting the Priest...we don't see what happened during and after the confrontation. In the book, Barlow taints the Priest causing the Priest to leave town in disgrace.
Plus the sheriff had Cook's character to spy on Ben. However that storyline was dropped.
The clumsy running around the house to get to the head vampire coffin. Granted they were in a rush and panicky however all that could have been avoided if Ben showed up earlier in the day to do away with Barlow.
The Ugly
Pointless Character Syndrome: the toxic married couple. I do believe in the book they were the early victims of the vampire plague. However, their story had no baring on the storyline. Before the vampire plague hit the town, they left and no one cared.
Finally, Barlow. I remember in the book he was in human form and had a personality. Not in this movie, he was a silly version of Nosferatu. In the book, he was the boss. In the movie, he came across as Straker's pet mutant rat.
I do suggest watching the three hour version.
Here is a breakdown:
Good:
The vampire kid floating outside his brothers window.
Barlow breaking into a family's home to confront the Priest however see bad...
James Mason as Straker. He played the character as it should be, suave and charming. He seemed to enjoy the role.
Good premise.
Bad:
David Soul's performance as Ben Mears. David wooden performance did not bring life to Ben. Ben was not interesting. He was kind of a thoughtless jerk. After killing the head vampire, he didn't run to his girlfriend's house and tell her mother to get out of town. Instead of he left her there to be turned into a vampire.
The characters in general were not very interesting expect for Straker. I wish the film was from his point of view.
Also, some characters were one dimensional.
The film left me with questions: What caused the Sheriff to get spooked that made him pack up his family and leave town. Did he have an interaction with a vampire? Did he learn something in his investigation about Straker and Barlow?
What did the lab find on Straker's suits?
Did the old school teacher die from the heart attack?
Why was the vampires chasing Ben and the kid? In the book the vampires didn't bother with them after they left town.
Some characters were spotlighted then dropped such as the Elisha Cooks character though it is later implied he was turned into a vampire.
Barlow confronting the Priest...we don't see what happened during and after the confrontation. In the book, Barlow taints the Priest causing the Priest to leave town in disgrace.
Plus the sheriff had Cook's character to spy on Ben. However that storyline was dropped.
The clumsy running around the house to get to the head vampire coffin. Granted they were in a rush and panicky however all that could have been avoided if Ben showed up earlier in the day to do away with Barlow.
The Ugly
Pointless Character Syndrome: the toxic married couple. I do believe in the book they were the early victims of the vampire plague. However, their story had no baring on the storyline. Before the vampire plague hit the town, they left and no one cared.
Finally, Barlow. I remember in the book he was in human form and had a personality. Not in this movie, he was a silly version of Nosferatu. In the book, he was the boss. In the movie, he came across as Straker's pet mutant rat.