Salem's Lot - DVD ( - Dir: )

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Customer Reviews of Salem's Lot

~FuSioN~
UK, N. Scotland
25th August 2008

An Under-Rated Classic..
We all know the scenes. Little boy, floating, scratching at his friend's bedroom window. Woman rising from the autopsy table. We all know Reggie Nalder's amazin Barlow make-up (and it IS amazing, even now). What most people don't know is that between these scenes is where the magic really lies. Tobe Hooper has crafted such an atmospheric, tense, dark film, and all without reverting to excessive gore and coarse language. The whole film appears to be set at night, despite half of it taking place during the day. James Mason is amazing, Bonnie Bedelia is amazing and David Soul is.. amazing, for once. Even the support players (George Dzundza and.. Weasel) steal my two favourite scenes ("What's He Done?" and "Hold it steady, Larry"). Sure, it's 3 hours long, and maybe 'vampire movies' aren't your 'thing' but this is more about an outside force's effect on a community than anything supernatural. Check this film out. It is, after all, an 'unknown' classic..

Marcus74
Yorkshire, England
12th March 2008

"You'll enjoy Mr Barlow, and he'll enjoy you..."
Salem's Lot is that rare thing - a made-for-TV movie that is better than it should have been. It's almost and probably is Tobe Hooper's finest work by far, and one of the best vampire films ever made. The use of gore is almost non existant, so slasher movie lovers will be left feeling thirsty for more.
The film here is shown in its entirety. This is the 2 part, 3 hour TV movie. I myself remember the VHS copy which was the cinema version of the film, with an hours worth of cuts and edits. However, the cinema version was slightly more 'extreme' than the TV version, but was missing some vital elements of the story in order to keep the running time to just under 2 hours.
It's very well made, and still maintains the element of suprise shocks with the over-use of mist and fog effects, garish make-up, and traditional horror movie sounds. Of course, this is part of its charm, and the deliberate over-use of the elements is what makes this a proper horror film. Horror doesn't mean gore. It's the ability to scare and to shock, and Salem's Lot does just that. It's an assault on the senses.

I won't mention the story because all the other reviews have already covered that. I will say that it is different from Stephen King's story in lots of ways, and the more recent Salem's Lot with Rob Lowe is more accurate in telling the original story.
I have fond memories of this film from when i was a child. I first watched this in the mid eighties when i was about 8 or 9, and this became one of my favourite films of all time. Those who have never seen this film and are viewing it for the first time, i can't help but think may be disappointed because people sometimes expect too much. If you've never seen it, bare in mind it was made in 1979 primerily for TV. It is well above average for a TV movie, like i said earlier, and if you're happy with the fact that this is very low indeed on gore, and slightly camp in its approach, you'll be just about ready to watch one of the greatest slices of television that America has ever produced.

Just don't open the window if you hear someone scratching on the glass...

Ponums
UK
27th December 2007

Old horror
Where do all these reviewers come from? This film is still kind of scary, but it is a very old movie. The vampire thing is having less and less effect especially from a film as old as this one. Respect to King, but this film is way past its sell by date. Only buy if you want a movie that is made in around the 70s which contain horror effects that don't work as well as they used to..and script that seems cheesy. I can imagine this movie being scary when it first come out on the cinema. But for today...save your money. Check out my other reviews..bye

Rich
Birmingham, UK
27th November 2007

My favourite horror
Work this out then. I detest vampire films, yet Salems lot is my favourite horror film as its not a blood in your face type film. Its creepy, with a typical 70's-80's horror film feel to it. James Maison is just sublime in character. The Marston house is the scariest house of all scary houses yet we only get to see its inside on small occassions. The music is top drawer and maintains itself throughout the film in an creepy atmospheric way.
Excellent.

SRW
uk
16th November 2007

CREEPY FOR IT'S DAY
This was a pretty creepy film and as an impressionable teenager,. i started going to bed with onions (didn't have garlic) strung round my neck.

It's a predictable 'vampires move to small town' storyline but was a darn good watch at the time.