Rutger Hauer has played quite a few vampires in films on drastically varying tone. The character makes me think back to Max von Sydow in Needful Things, but Sutherland puts his own unsettling mark on this style of character. He walks the line between sweet, gentle old man, and shady, dangerous stranger. Rob Lowe is a remarkable leading man in this mini-series.ĭonald Sutherland is excellently creepy as Straker. By the end, you see Ben Mears’ soul break through in its purest form, and it can be heartbreaking. He’s a very real person who has his demons to confront and overcome, and the journey to defeating them is a painful one. That aspect brings more dimension to the character if he had just been a fearless, courageous protagonist. He does a fine job exploring Mears’ underlying fears. Lowe has enough subtle charm to bring levity to the right moments, but also, a haunted quality which casts a somber aura around him. It starts off the film reflecting on Mears’ nostalgia for things both pleasant and fearsome. Firstly, his voice over narrations have a perfect foreboding tone that demystifies the innocent charm of small town America. He carries the film so very well, and inhabits the Ben Mears character comfortably. What shines the brightest here is Rob Lowe. Ben Mears fights against his fears and skepticism as he and some of the locals battle to eradicate this heart-stopping force of evil that is destroying ‘Salem’s Lot. The story wraps around many of the town’s residents showing that dark secrets are abound even in the quaintest of towns, but for as much bad, there is a measure of good that can win out. They are Richard Straker (Donald Sutherland), a kindly, if slightly unsettling antiques dealer, and his partner and master Kurt Barlow (Rutger Hauer), a ancient and malevolent vampire bent on making Salem’s Lot his new home. Little does he or the townsfolk realize that a couple of other new residents have just settled in that house.
As a child, inside the ominous Marsden House, he witnessed a horrific crime and a chilling, evil presence. Writer Ben Mears (Rob Lowe), returns to his childhood home of the small Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot (also known as ‘Salem’s Lot), to research his new book, and to confront his haunted past. Most of the Stephen King film adaptations I’ve seen have not fared very well, but this one really hit the right tone and consistency to be successful, in my view. That is, when I can find three hours to sit and watch this mini-series telemovie. In 2004, the TNT cable network produced and aired this re-adaptation of Stephen King’s popular novel, and it has been an October favorite of mine ever since. I watched the original telemovie of Salem’s Lot from director Tobe Hooper a long time ago, but for whatever reason it never made a lasting impression upon me.
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