Salem's Lot (Gary Dauberman, 2024, USA)

Salem's Lot, the third screen adaptation of Stephen King's seminal 1975 novel, was announced years ago. The film was initially greenlit during the King revival of the late 2010s which saw the massive success of the two-part adaptation of It. Director Gary Dauberman, who had a hand in the It films, was brought on board for the project. Yet it seems the film rarely saw the light of day. Between COVID delays, strike delays, and various scheduling issues, it seemed that Warner might never release the movie. The film only seems to have gotten a release due to Stephen King himself positively tweeting about the film earlier this year.

Dauberman's Lot, at around two hours, is noteworthy for being the shortest screen adaptation of King's novel (the other two adaptations were made for television). This does not necessarily do the resulting film any favors. One of the recurring critiques of Dauberman's Lot is that it feels like a film where a lot was left on the cutting room floor. Many of the characters feel lightly sketched or barely penciled in, in contrast to the often rich and detailed character development in the novel.

The resulting film is a Salem's Lot adaptation that somehow gets the beats of the book but doesn't capture the emotional resonance of the source material. While there are interesting stylistic flourishes here and there (including some interesting choices with the color and cinematography), the film often feels lifeless and stilted. It is certainly not the worst King adaptation, and perhaps the film would have been stronger had it appeared on the big screen. But the straight-to-streaming debut doesn't help matters. There has yet to be a "definitive" Salem's Lot adaptation, and unfortunately, it seems like we will have to wait another 20 years to get one.

5/10