BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Dr.William Russo Conspicuous by his absence.Salem's Lot in Life & Death When in 1979 we heard James Mason was doing a Stephen King TV movie, we were appalled. We refused to watch one of our perennial favorites demean his career in its last years.Today we eagerly watch it and devour his every screen moment.Who would have guessed that James Mason slumming on TV could be so delightful? With Tobe Hooper directing like he is doing an imitation of Vera Miles approaching Hitchcock's Bates mansion, you throw in some performers we always liked: Lance Kerwin, Ed Flanders, Elisha Cook, Lew Ayres, Marie Windsor, Kenneth MacMillan and Fred Willard!! What a juicy little horror-just a tad silly around the edges.It's a little perverse too. James Mason is the procurer for some kind of Nosferatu in Maine, finding little boys for him to devour. Lance Kerwin seems ripe, but he has eyes only for David Soul. Their smoldering subtext is off the charts in its own way. Did anyone making the movie understand the word 'latent'?James Mason and Lance Kerwin share only a couple of glances in their scenes, but it may be that they saw something utterly disdainful in the other. With an uncut three-hour version of the old TV miniseries now available on streaming, you can sit back and wallow in low-rent horror that remains top-drawer compared to the junk of today. There is no needless blood and/or off-the-computer special effects. Here actors rely on their wiles, not on the blue screen.James Mason is the full show here, delivering lines with an inimitable throwaway snobbery. Wait till you hear him pronounce, "expertise."Most of the movie he is either entering or exiting doorways and looking askance. He clearly enjoyed making a movie with his wife, Clarissa Kaye, and chewing the scenery. You will enjoy it too.

Nigel P Way back on Monday 7th September 1981, amidst the police and hospital dramas, the light entertainment comedy shows and wildlife documentaries, the BBC transmitted the first of a two-part American TV Movie based on a story by Stephen King. I don't know what its viewing figures were like, I am not aware of how critically acclaimed it was, but the following day, virtually everyone I knew was talking about it and how frightening it was. Two days later, after the final part aired, it was the only thing people were talking about. It was, as I remember, a phenomenon.The story: The Marsten House, reputed to be haunted, has long been a source of morbid fascination for writer Ben Mears (an intense David Soul). It is based on the outskirts of the small town of Salem's Lot, where Mears has returned after many years to write his latest book. Immediately he strikes up a closeness with Susan Norton (Bonnie Bedelia) and gets to know the characters who frequent the community, their relationships with one another and the stories they have to tell. Their lives are so meticulously intertwined that we are easily allowed into their world, into which enters Richard Straker, who is about to open an Antiques Shop there. Straker is played by James Mason, an actor of immense power. Charming, affable, elegant and capable of great evil, Straker is played to perfection. His partner, Mr Barlow, is spoken of in hushed tones, but never seen. Straker observes the peccadillos of the townsfolk from an amused distance, for he has bigger plans.The first part of 'Salem's Lot' puts the pieces into place. In the second, most of the characters die in a series of expertly handled horror set-pieces. The outbreak of vampirism results in wild-eyed, fanged children floating outside the window begging to be let in; a sick hollow-eyed gravedigger, Mike Ryerson (an incredibly sinister Geoffrey Lewis) falling from an upper story window and never hitting the ground; people rising from their graves with a familiar sickly pallor. It is difficult to imagine any of these set-pieces being handled better. Director Tobe Hooper keeps things sinister and uneasy, taking the situations from King's book and transferring them seamlessly to screen.When we eventually meet Mr Barlow, actor Reggie Nalder's cadaverous features are well and truly plastered under whitening contact lenses, vampire teeth and Nosferatu-like prosthetics. He is a snarling, inhuman monster, used sparingly – perhaps too sparingly – but never without great effect.'Salem's Lot' is a triumph on every level and still packs a punch today. Only Marc Petrie (Lance Kerwin) threatens initially to irritate – but then, he is something of an outcast, a bowl-haired horror 'nerd' and monster-kid academic. Really, that should endear him, but it doesn't somehow. Yet his swottish leanings are essential in battling what becomes a town of slavering undead, which he does with considerable expertise.Barlow's major scene, where he and Straker gate-crash a Priest's visitation on the Petrie family, where he rises from a black cloak to about 7 feet tall, is one of many highlights. Straker's patronising name-calling of 'holy man' and 'shaman', faith against Barlow's blue-skinned, heavily-veined face, with crucifix proving frighteningly ineffective – all add up to a set-piece of immense proportions, which, like Barlow's involvement, is over far too soon.

gavin6942 Vampires are invading a small New England town. It is up to a novelist and a young horror fan to save it.Producer Richard Koblitz said, "We went back to the old German Nosferatu concept where he is the essence of evil, and not anything romantic or smarmy, or, you know, the rouge-cheeked, widow-peaked Dracula. I wanted nothing suave or sexual, because I just didn't think it'd work." "Salem's Lot" had a significant impact on the vampire genre, as it inspired horror films such as "Fright Night" (1985) and the scenes of vampire boys floating outside windows would be referenced in "The Lost Boys" (1987). Not to mention the antler impalement which was in both "Lost Boys" and later in "Hannibal".Sadly ,the film seems to be hard to come by. Despite being a modern classic, my library system did not have it, so I had to purchase the DVD for $15. And, frankly, that is way too much for a DVD with no special features -- not even a menu! This movie is in desperate need of a blu-ray upgrade.

nlangella1 This was an excellent miniseries. I use to own the full length miniseries on VHS as a kid. Idk why so many fans had a problem with making Barlow look more like Nosferatu? Honestly, I preferred this version over the 2004 one and the novel written by Stephen King himself. It just makes more sense. Barlow's appearance in the novel and in the 2004 version wasn't scary. I don't find a vampire with a more human like appearance like Dracula to be frightening. David Soul portrayed a better Ben Mears than Rob Lowe. I also liked the actor who played Mark. I found this version satisfying. Sure, it's not exactly like the novel. But then again it's Hollywood.