LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (UPI) — The movie adaptation of Salem’s Lot , on Max on Oct. 3, captures the best elements of Stephen King. It’s scary and streamlined after two previous miniseries adaptations.
Late one night, Mr. Straker (Pilou Asbaek) asks shopkeeper Mr. Snow (Timothy John Smith) to pick up a crate arriving late at night. That sounds totally normal and it only gets sketchier from there.
On the next day, Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to town looking for inspiration for a new book. He meets Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), a fan, and the rest of the town, including some less-welcoming neighbors.
The small town full of distinct characters is a hallmark of King stories, especially the ones set in his fictional Castle Rock. The book Salem’s Lot predates the creation of Castle Rock but the seeds are there.
Some of those townsfolk are little kids, the Glick brothers (Cade Woodward and Nicholas Crovetti) and newcomer Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter). The kids team up like the kids in It or Stand By Me, and not all the kids live, so you know this movie has teeth, as it were.