Excellent horror flick from Tobe Hooper who gave us Poltergeist (that's Poltergeist 1, the GOOD one)...Lifeforce, Nightmares, The Mangler, Dark Skies, The Others, and so many more!

Written for TV by Paul Monash, screenwriter who adapted the marvelous TV series, "V," and directed by one of the Masters of Horror, Tobe Hooper, this movie (in the extended version) closely follows Stephen King's original literary work much better than expected.

While there are campy moments, and the effects could have been much, MUCH better (it WAS post-Star Wars, after all),there are edgy, frightening moments; moments where you literally hold your breath, if you've allowed yourself to be drawn into the movie. Riddled with "scare you" and "edge of the seat" moments, this film, while a bit dated, is still scary.

I previously owned the "cut" version which aired on cable in 1979.

In writing this review, I purchased the full-length version and I must say that I was delightfully surprised. This version was so much better, followed the original work more closely, and added the depth of character development which the "short" version completely obliterated.

In the wake of the remake to be aired in 2004, I thought a fresh viewing of this movie was in order, and so it was. If you have never seen "Salem's Lot" in its 184 minute presentation, please do. It's a classic in the horror genre and will enrich your perspective of the plot by 100%.

Suspenseful and actually scares you from time to time.

It rates an 8.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

When I read through the reviews for "Salem's Lot", I saw that many, many people loved this television movie...so much that I knew I had to see it as well. Sadly, however, my reaction wasn't nearly so positive...and much of it has to do with the glacial pacing and heavy need for editing. When it ran on TV, it was 200 minutes long. Later, they edited down the film to 120 minutes for European release....and I assume that perhaps this shorter version is better when it comes to pace.

The story begins with Ben Mears (David Soul) coming to the town where he lived when he was a small child. He's very interested in an old haunted looking house and is surprised when he learns that it was just sold...after being on the market for 20 years! Something is up in town...and what, exactly, is something you don't really see for some time.

For me, one of the best things about classic horror films of the 1930s and 40s is that you didn't see a lot of the monsters, as the film kept teasing the audience and building suspense. But these movies were on average about 70 minutes long....and you might wait an hour or so until the monster appears...at most. Here, however, here in "Salem's Lot" you see almost nothing of the vampire Barlow until well over two hours into the film! Then, you really don't see that much of the hideous guy. It's just too long and too drawn out for my taste...and I wanted more vampire!

Overall, an interesting film but one that really needed faster pacing and more vampire scenes. Worth seeing, but it's just not a 9 or 10 like I see others say. My explanation is that perhaps many have reviewed the film many, many years after seeing it. When seen today, it just lacks pacing.

By the way, if you get the DVD you might also find that the film's volume keeps changing. Sometimes it's very loud, other times you'll find yourself turning the volume up because it's so soft. My advice is use the closed captions....that does help.

While I personally would put Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me and Misery above Salem's Lot, I cannot deny how truly great this is. And I also think out of the made-for-TV Stephen King movies, Salem's Lot is the best.

What makes the film work is its atmosphere. So many scenes are genuinely unnerving, because the atmosphere is so good. Salem's Lot is not reliant on fake blood/gore and cheap special effects to make its point. The atmosphere amongst other things takes good care to do its job well, and well it does, and the build-ups are also quite suspenseful.

The look of Salem's Lot is suitably Gothic. It doesn't look cheap, the sets are creepy-looking and the costumes are grandiose. The music is also very chilling and just adds to the unnerving atmosphere of each crucial scene. The special effects are decent, the pace doesn't hurt Salem's Lot as much as it could have done and it is a good length. The dialogue is also less clunky than it is in a Stephen King adaptation like TommyKnockers, and the story is coherent.

The acting is good. David Soul is appealing and gets into his character well enough and Reggie Nalder delves into Barlow very effectively with his entrance one of Salem's Lot best scenes, but the show belongs to James Mason who is beyond terrifying and is simply born for the role. Tobe Hooper's direction ties things up very well too.

Overall, a very impressive, atmospheric and genuinely frightening Stephen King adaptation. First time I saw it, it affected me so much I couldn't sleep with the light off for a couple of nights. 9/10 Bethany Cox