SALEM'S LOT
MINI-SERIES

Released: October 12th
Amazon Price: $15.98
MSRP Price: $19.98
Costco Price: NA

Overall Rating for Salem's Lot: "B"

Number of Discs: 1
Region: 1
Run Time: 181 minutes
Widescreen 
Studio: Warner Bros.

Stars:  Rob Lowe, Donald Sutherland, Samantha Mathis, Robert Mammone, Rutger Hauer and Dan Byrd. 

The fresh mini-series arrives 25 years after the original film and it kicks some serious butt for a film created for television.  It was less the actors than the storytelling by director Michael Salomon. 

Stephen King novels have become the standard for mini-series projects. If the guy puts it to paper it's coming to a television screen near you. 

The film has some wonderfully chilling scenes thanks to a quality production and state of the art television special effects. The best scenes in the mini were from the character actors who played the townspeople. Their performances made Salem's Lot an excellent mini. What left me surprised is how small the co-starring roles were for the likes of Samantha Mathis and Rutger Hauer. They were in and out of the film before you had the chance to enjoy whatever they were suppose to bring to the film. 

The ending fell short of what I was expecting and wanted to see, but this is generally the case with a Stephen King production. The intense build-up with the assimilation of the townspeople was just dispersed as unimportant with the jump to the city and Rob Lowe's character in the hospital ward. I was also put out a bit by the narration from Rob Lowe throughout the mini-series.

PACKAGING: 
The packaging is the same crap as the Teen Titans using the cardboard material with plastic tabs and locks. This is another one that had the brittle dvd locking mechanism that was broken.

VIDEO: 
Wow. The mini-series has a great look on dvd. It's crystal clear with deep blacks that make the limited use of colors shine. The transfer is exceptional.

AUDIO: 
The sound is very nice. There aren't any effects that will be kicking the shit out of your 5.1, but it does rock. The vocal coming through the center channel are sharp and crisp. 

BONUS FEATURES: 
Due to the running time of 181 minutes and Warners desire to keep the dvd feature to just one disc there are no extras with Salem's Lot. 

SUMMARY: 
Salem's Lot has a lot in common with the original mini but features a nice change to the story that's more in line with the original novel. There's so much character development in the first ninety minutes that the film doesn't really get started until what was part-two of the mini-series.  It's not the Stand, or Tommyknockers but it's good. 

Salem's Lot Rating: "B"

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