Salem's Lot (1979 franchise)
Salem's Lot (1979), AKA Blood Thirst, Vampires of Salem, and Salem's Lot: the Miniseries and Salem's Lot: the Movie (a cut version of the miniseries, with additional footage added); a poorly-received sequel was made as Return to Salem's Lot (1987), AKA Salem's Lot 2 and Salem 2; a miniseries remake was also made as Salem's Lot (2004).
Based on the Stephen King novel Salem's Lot, with its prequel short story "Jerusalem's Lot" and sequel short story "One for the Road".
Summary
"Do you believe in vampires?" Writer Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot and discovers that it is being terrorized by vampires.
Details
- Release Date: 1979, 1987, 2004
- Country/Language: US, English
- Genres/Technical: Horror
- Setting: Jerusalem's Lot, Maine USA, 1970s
- Starring: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin (1979); Michael Moriarty, Samuel Fuller, Ricky Addison Reed (1987); Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald Sutherland (2004)
- Director: Tobe Hooper (1979); Larry Cohen (1987); Mikael Salomon (2004)
- Writer: Stephen King (story)
- Producer/Production Co: CBS, Warner Bros. Television
- View Trailer: (1979), (1987), (2004)
- TVTropes: (link)
- IMDB Page: (link), (link), (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: TV-PG (Violence, Adult Content); sequel rated R and remake rated TV-14
The 1979 TV-movie and its theatrical version were rated PG, but would probably be a bit intense for some younger viewers. The 1987 sequel is rated 'R' for Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations, Adult Content, and Profanity. The 2004 miniseries is rated TV-14 for Violence, Profanity, and Adult Content.
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
The films themselves have little explicitly in common with Lovecraft's work, but Stephen King's novel (and especially the short story "Jerusalem's Lot") make numerous nods to "Lovecraftian" lore - the vampire cult truly began when a member of a weird Protestant sect introduces the small backwoods town full of cultists to De Vermis Mysteriis and the sinister influence of The Worm that Doth Corrupt, followed by a mass disappearance of the townsfolk, leaving the haunted remnants of the town to settle into decay and evil reputation of witchcraft, vampirism, and "devil-worship" among its neighbors. "Jerusalem's Lot" can is an obvious pastiche of Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls", "The Dunwich Horror", The Shadow Over Innsmouth", and similar tales of discovery of small-town horrors, told in epistolary form through letters, newspaper clippings, and the like.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- (review needed)
Synopsis (SPOILERS)
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
- Salem's Lot - Writer Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot and discovers that it is being terrorized by vampires.
- Return to Salem's Lot - A man and his son vacation in the quiet town of Salem's Lot, where vampirism is a hidden but normal, every-day part of life.
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
Associated Mythos Elements
- fiction: Stephen King stories, including the novel Salem's Lot, and its prequel "Jerusalem's Lot" and sequel "One for the Road"
- tome: De Vermis Mysteriis
- race: Vampires
- deity: The Worm that Doth Corrupt
- location: Jerusalem's Lot, Maine
Keeper Notes
