Salem's Lot

It’s dated but still a classic of the genre. Scared the living hell out of me as a kid..

Great film. 2nd one was terrible, but this is great horror classic from Steven king

Out of all the vampire out to current date, this film still one of the best. It still inspires everything a vampire film needs, to be ! Great horror flick that still holds up

Old skool horror love it

I was about 12 when I first saw this and certain images remain in my memory to this day almost 40 years later. It’s lost non of its impact watching it now.No CGI necessary, just good old fashioned shock jumps, make up like we had never seen previously (oh I shudder at the thought of a CGI Barlow) a nice unsettling performance from Mr Mason and David Soul giving us a believable performance as writer turned hunter and hunted. The floating scenes are iconic of course. Folks, we had never seen anything quite like it 40 years ago but don’t think any modern remake could do it better, this is still a great example of a horror film and delivers genuine terror with a proper storyline.

GTF

As a 10 year old first time round this gave me nightmares for months. 40 years later it still impresses. Brilliant film that has a flawless, tense fear and foreboding. Goes to show Hutch doesn’t need Starsky!

I remember watching this at age 5, i have been hooked on horror ever since. A really great horror from the ‘Master’ of horrors!

Long movie but every minute is just great. Best looking vampire in a movie. Great parts played by great names Recommend

At last! The wait is over! I've been waiting for Salem's Lot to appear on iTunes for years! I read the novel as a fevered teenager in the 70's before I saw this TV adaptation. And I was surprised at how genuinely scary it was and still is. The ensemble cast is an impressive line up of some the best character actors of the 70's. Not forgetting James Mason doing an excellent turn as Straker, the 'watch-dog'. Straker's fear of his Master is fully the equal of the hapless victims living or, rather dying in Jerusalem's Lot. Props must go to David Soul and Lance Kerwin, who spend most of the 3 hours being terrified and terrorised. If the intention was to distance himself from Detective Ken Hutchinson - it worked. A deviation from the book is the appearance and manner of our main antagonist - Kurt Barlow (played for creeps by Reg Nalder). In the book he lacked the now classic Nosferatu image (Murnau). In fact, he was written as almost a victim himself, albeit a willing one, to his own nocturnal proclivities. But in this adaptation there is no sense of that. Hooper chose to represent the King Vampire as being devoid of any empathy. If ever he was human, it's a long forgotten dream. Barlow's heavy presence is thoroughly pervasive - but his screen time is used deliberately sparingly. There's little opportunity available or taken for multi dimensional character building. He's used for scares - and it works very effectively. Hooper does an excellent job of building tension and supplying dread and genuine fear. Some 'jumps' will likely stay with you. I still cast a withering eye to my bedroom window on cold, dark nights - fearful of catching sight of the mask of pallid death grinning behind the glass, asking to be 'let in'. But then I just have to remind myself. There's no such thing as Vampires. Is there?