2024 VERSION: FIRST VIEWING REVIEW

2024 VERSION: FIRST VIEWING REVIEW

October 3, 2024 – Welshampton, UK

So, here I am after my first viewing of the ‘new’ Salem’s Lot film.

Was it worth the wait? Well, based on my first and only impression (so far) I have to say a resounding ‘YES’.

Of course, there were differences to my favourite1979 version (and that, of course, was quite different to the 1975 novel by Stephen King that it was based on).

Some characters are new to us on screen (Mabel Werts, for instance), and some have disappeared from the narrative (Boom Boom Bonnie), thus making it vital to mix and match the ones left behind (Susan Norton is now Larry Crockett’s ‘secretary’, for instance, with Larry himself only playing a minor role).

Happily, to make up for the lack of Richard Straker action, this 1979-esque blue Barlow can talk. Well, just about. He puts up a bit more of a battle than old ’79 does, by the way.

The runtime is shorter, not quite two-thirds the length of Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece, so the story is truncated, too. No slow burn here, I’m afraid.

But, despite (or, maybe, because of) those differences, I applaud it. If a two-hour movie feels like it passed in only a quarter of that time, then it must be doing something good. I felt the suspense, and the dark scared me for not knowing what would come out of it (but also knowing what would).

All in all, I can’t wait to see it again, and I really want to see it on the big screen when it opens here in the UK.

Thanks for reading.

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