The vampiric Stephen King tale returns to the
small screen, 25 years after the first
made-for-TV Salem's Lot, a Tobe Hooper-directed
ratings hit. This time it's Rob Lowe as a
successful writer who returns to his haunted
hometown. As a kid, something awful happened to
him in the spooky mansion on the hill; now that
he's back, the mansion is once again buzzing
with evil portents. The physical production
(shot in Australia) is convincing, and it's fun
to see old pros such as Donald Sutherland,
Rutger Hauer, and James Cromwell cutting up in
juicy roles. The storytelling, however, feels
oddly disjointed, as though King's sprawl had
been arbitrarily hacked away rather than adapted
(a few big moments are bewilderingly left
offscreen). The approach misses the basic assets
of a vampire story: the disbelief, the lore, the
sex appeal. Instead, it feels like a random
collection of bits for short attention spans.
--Robert Horton
