After years of unexplained delays, WB’s version of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot has finally released its first trailer. And, like all King adaptations, it’s absolutely insane.
Successful writer Ben (Lewis Pullman) returns to his childhood home in the small town of Jerusalem’s Lot to find inspiration for his next book. Soon, Ben realizes the scary stories he heard as a child may be more than just tall tales.
Local townsfolk seem to be catching a disease, that bring the dead back to life under an evil occult power. The trailer depicts more and more of Salem’s Lot slowly succumbing to the disease, turning into brainless zombies repelled by crosses. And soon, Ben will have to use all his wits to escape Salem’s Lot with his life.
This film was shot in 2021, prepped for a theatrical release, then….. apparently forgotten about. There was radio silence for several years beyond rumblings of a move to MAX. It got to the point where even director Gary Dauberman and Stephen King were publicly asking what happened. Given that long delays usually result in flops, the film’s discourse feels doomed to be swallowed up by its continual pushbacks.
The 1st trailer further muddies the waters, because it looks…. Pretty good. The film’s scale meshes B-movie horror imagery with an impressive blockbuster-sized scope. The setting and characters have a lived-in quality beyond the cookie-cutter fodder seen in most studio horror. And, given King’s other work, the plot looks suitably pulpy and insane. Lead actor Pullman plays the everyman to perfection, but his aw-shucks demeanor grounds the film in just enough relatability to keep audiences hooked.
The trailer doesn’t display any of the tells commonly seen in bad movies. If anything, there’s a sense of rapid escalation in the pacing that hints at a balls-to-the-wall creature feature that should (from the 1st trailer) be a decent hit this spooky season.
Directed by Gary Dauberman, Salem’s Lot will release on MAX on October 3, 2024. The series stars an ensemble cast led by Lewis Pullman.
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