Salem’s Lot (1979)

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Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) directs this made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a writer who discovers his hometown is being overtaken by vampires. The most remarkable thing about Hooper’s work here is how genuinely scary Salem’s Lot is without ever resorting to gore or excessive violence. Scenes of vampire children floating outside bedroom windows, beckoning their next victims to let them inside, will linger in your memory. As will James Mason’s cool, snobbish performance as the head vampire’s right-hand man, and some impressive production design work in the finale.

While Mason steals the show, other cast members manage to stake their claims (no pun intended) in memorable scenes. Kenneth McMillan has a great adversarial exchange with Mason while Geoffrey Lewis gets one of the flashier supporting roles, playing a put-upon graveyard worker who succumbs to the vampire’s bite. George Dzundza gives perhaps the most moving performance as a husband who discovers his wife is cheating on him. Unfortunately, David Soul’s stoic leading performance does the movie no favors.

Salem’s Lot is simple, good old fashioned storytelling. Perhaps too simple for a three-hour run time. You know from the start there’s a creepy house where bad things have happened, and you quickly learn it’s because a vampire lives there. It’s then a matter of killing leader before he turns the whole town into vampires. While many of the characters are interesting, their combined subplots prolong the film a little too much — especially since some of the characters don’t really pay off in any meaningful way. I’d have rather sped up the first two thirds of the story to give the last third more breathing room. The story expands and becomes much more interesting in the final ten minutes, when Soul’s character teams up with a teenaged horror nerd (Lance Kerwin) to track down vampires all over the world. If only we’d ended the main story ninety minutes earlier so we could explore more of that!

Some will find Salem’s Lot quaint by today’s standards, and the pacing is a little laid back at times. But you’re bound to appreciate some of the quintessential Stephen King characters and Hooper’s careful handling of horrific moments the whole TV-watching family can enjoy. Not the least of these is the build-up and reveal of the head vampire (played by an uncredited Reggie Nalder), an achievement of makeup and performance that do not disappoint.

With Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard), Lew Ayres (All Quiet on the Western Front), and Fred Willard.