Salem's Lot: Stephen King adaptation is 'half-baked' thriller
The latest adaptation of this 1975 novel has left many critics feeling underwhelmed

"A fresh Stephen King adaptation should be exciting," said Christina Newland in The i Paper. "It's a shame, then, that Salem's Lot" – a small-town chiller set in 1970s Maine – has "zero new ideas or even a particularly frightening take" on the author's 1975 novel.
Directed by Gary Dauberman, the film stars Lewis Pullman ("a charisma vacuum") as a writer who returns to his home town to research his new book, and discovers that "a mysterious newcomer" (Alexander Ward), who is posing as an antiques dealer, is actually a "vampire with a burning desire to turn the entire population into fellow bloodsuckers".
'Deeply unscary'
The film has the "sense of having been cut and re-cut repeatedly, with scenes rushing into the next or characters cropping up late" with little introduction, and its weird pacing makes it "deeply unscary". Dauberman "does change the book's original conclusion to something more modern and satisfying", but "in the final analysis, this Salem's Lot is vastly inferior" to the popular 1979 miniseries.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This film was due for release back in 2022, and has gone straight to streaming in the US – which has made for rather a "shaky advance reputation", said Jonathan Romney in the Financial Times. But I'd agree with King (executive producer here), who declared on X/Twitter that the film was, "Quite good. Old-school horror filmmaking: slow build, big pay-off."
'No risk of nightmares'
I'm afraid I found Salem's Lot "half-baked and half-hearted", said Tim Robey in The Telegraph. Its vampires "send you to sleep without any risk of nightmares", and it looks abysmal, with most scenes either "ineptly underlit or horribly graded". Sure, "there have been a few worse King adaptations" – but not many.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
July 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include generational ennui, tariffs on Canada, and a conspiracy rabbit hole
-
5 unusually elusive cartoons about the Epstein files
Cartoons Artists take on Pam Bondi's vanishing desk, the Mar-a-Lago bathrooms, and more
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Oasis reunited: definitely maybe a triumph
Talking Point The reunion of a band with 'the power of Led Zeppelin' and 'the swagger of the Rolling Stones'
-
Kiefer / Van Gogh: a 'remarkable double act'
The Week Recommends Visit this 'heroic' and 'absurd' exhibition at the Royal Academy until 26 October
-
Mark Billingham shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The novelist and actor shares works by Mark Lewisohn, John Connolly and Gillian Flynn
-
Properties of the week: grand rural residences
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Wiltshire, Devon, and East Sussex
-
Heads of State: 'a perfect summer movie'
The Week Recommends John Cena and Idris Elba have odd-couple chemistry as the US president and British prime minister
-
The Red Brigades: a 'fascinating insight' into the 'most feared' extremist group of 1970s Italy
The Week Recommends A 'grimly absorbing' history of the group and their attempts to overthrow the Italian state
-
Jurassic World Rebirth: enjoyable sequel hampered by plot holes
Talking Point The latest dinosaur reboot captures the essence of the original – but leans too heavily on 'CGI-heavy set pieces'