Few authors capture the feeling of horror as effectively as Stephen King. However, his stories don’t always work well as movies. Though several incredible films, such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, Stand By Me, and Misery, are based on his celebrated novels, there have also been some truly awful adaptations (does anyone recall The Mangler?). Stephen King seems to be experiencing a resurgence in cinema, with The Long Walk gaining attention, but one of his more controversial recent films is unexpectedly finding success on streaming platforms.
I’ve been diving into the 2024 adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, which is now available to stream on HBO Max. It’s had a really mixed reception, with critics and audiences pretty divided, but surprisingly, it’s clawed its way up to become the 9th most popular movie on the platform as of today. Gary Dauberman directed, and the cast includes Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, and Bill Camp. Here’s what the story is all about, according to the official synopsis:
A writer goes back to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot hoping to find ideas for a new book, but he soon realizes the town is under attack by a vampire with a thirst for blood.
I was really excited for Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot – he both directed and wrote the script, adapting Stephen King’s famous novel. Everyone considers this book one of King’s very best, and it has a dedicated fanbase, myself included! But honestly, I didn’t think the movie quite lived up to the source material. Critics were all over the place with it; some thought it was okay as a film, even if it didn’t *feel* like a true Stephen King adaptation, while others just didn’t like it at all. That’s reflected in its 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes. And audiences were even harsher, giving it a surprisingly low 38% rating.
Why ‘Salem’s Lot’ Failed
New Line Cinema
It’s difficult not to enjoy the Salem’s Lot novel. While it may not be the best starting point for someone new to Stephen King, the combination of King’s writing and vampires is a perfect pairing (or perhaps a pairing for hell, given the subject matter!). Vampires also appear in One for the Road and in several books within the Dark Tower series, but Salem’s Lot remains King’s most iconic vampire story.
Because of all this, expectations were high for the movie. The story had been adapted before – as a TV miniseries in 1979 and again in 2004, and with a very different take in 1987 called A Return to Salem’s Lot. However, fans really wanted the 2024 version to be a true and accurate adaptation. Many consider the film to be one of the most faithful adaptations of a Stephen King novel (which is good, because we’ll probably never see a truly accurate IT movie). Still, even though it followed the book’s plot closely, it missed the emotional core that people loved, and ultimately felt somewhat superficial.
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2025-10-02 14:59