After a number of lengthy delays, it was recently announced that Warner Bros. and New Line's re-adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot will debut on the Max streaming service on October 3rd, and the first reviews and reactions are now online following the movie's world premiere at Beyond Fest last night.
Expectations were not very high after the film was pulled from its original theatrical debut and placed on the shelf for such a long time, but a lot of critics seem to have been won over by this new take on King's seminal vampire tale.
However, quite a few others were not nearly as impressed, and are not at all surprised that it's heading straight to streaming.
While the movie is said to feature some effective jolts, it sounds like director Gary Dauberman has taken a much lighter approach to the deadly serious novel than the well-regarded Tobe Hooper adaptation, with some describing the movie as "more comedy than horror."
Even so, the movie is currently sitting at a "fresh" 62% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Have a read through the reviews and reactions at the links below.
Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp, John Benjamin Hickey, Nicholas Crovetti, Jordan Preston Carter, William Sadler, Spencer Treat Clark, Cade Woodward, Debra Christofferson, and Pilou Asbæ star in New Line Cinema’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 bestselling novel Salem’s Lot.
The movie reunites the producing teams behind the record-breaking horror franchises The Conjuring universe and the It films. Gary Dauberman writes, directs, and executive produces the film. Producers are James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster; Roy Lee for Vertigo; and Mark Wolper.
"Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant."