An author returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover that the townspeople are being attacked by a bloodthirsty vampire. (IMDB)

Writer Gary Dauberman intended to make vampires frightening again. He wanted to get away from the sexier, more romanticized undead that have infested pop culture for much of the past quarter century. Even if we enjoy Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, it felt good to see the return of ugly and purely evil vampires.

Salem’s Lot is a two hours long fantastic movie, stuffed with terrific actors who create memorable characters. The dialogues are great, some of it made us genuinely laugh. The effects are top notch and there was a real tension in some scenes.

This is not the first adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Previously, it was adapted for television: the 1979 mini series Salem’s Lot (1979). A follow up in 1987 called A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987) was created for the big screen, and a TV mini series Salem’s Lot (2004) in 2004.

We haven’t seen the other versions and we didn’t read the book. However, we enjoyed this adaptation very much and I would recommend the movie to any vampire fan.

We had two movies for that Saturday evening and we wanted to keep The Colour out of Space for another time because we were tired and afraid to fall asleep before the end. Since we’re not really fans of Stephen King, we thought that Doctor Sleep would be a safe choice.

We got very surprised by the movie. While it’s not really the advertised sequel to The Shining because, let’s face it, there can’t be a sequel to such a classic, it felt like a great spin-off.

What made it so good is that there was a real sense of danger. It may come down to a personal preference but I find a bunch of children-killing-carnies scarier than a children-eating-clown. Also, Rebecca Ferguson was frightful as Rose the Hat.

We had a great evening with the doctor and he didn’t put us to sleep. (I just couldn’t help myself)

Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home – IMDb

Soforah

This remake of the 1989 classic, wasn’t bad, but not good either. The thing that disappointed me in this movie is that it wasn’t creepy. I kept expecting jump scares, and something more evil to surface throughout the entire movie, but it never came. The idea behind the story was great, but they could have done so much more with it. After all, it’s a Stephen King story, but to be honest, I’ve never even managed to finish reading one of his books, just too boring.

Anyway, it was a fun little thriller, but don’t expect the ultimate horror experience because you’ll be disappointed.

Sardoken

I don’t remember much from the original movie, except that it was average at best. This one is a bit the same… When the movie was over, I thought “ok, not bad”.

With such an idea, it could have been much more intense, but too many scenes ended up being soft, I even wondered if it was purposely done to satisfy a wider public.

The feeling I have with most Stephen King stories is that they are written for the people who want to read something a bit darker than the usual supermarket thriller, but it’s too soft for the real horror public.

Pet Sematary didn’t scare me, it didn’t shock me, but it didn’t bore me either, just like most Stephen King stories.

Sardoken

A rainy Sunday afternon, candelights, my wife, me… And a Netflix movie.

I was afraid to have seen most of the story in the trailer, but there’s more in this Stephen King inspired movie than just a few people getting lost in tall grass.

There are so many ways that this movie could have turned bad, but it didn’t. Instead of going non-sensical and heavy, the movie managed to keep moving in the same direction and led us to a satisying ending.

The casting was good, but Patrick Wilson, by showing another face than the mister nice guy from The Conjuring, was excellent. Even though, his acting skills were not able to top the real vilain of the movie: the monolith. Never a piece of rock had felt as threatening.

Certainly not my horror movie of the year, but probably part of my top list of 2019.

Soforah

And the award for best performance goes to: the tall grass… No seriously, the movie was pretty good, better than I expected after having read the bad reviews.

It was dark, cold and rainy last Sunday, we (my husband and I) had no game installed and felt like watching some TV. I remembered having seen the trailer for “In the Tall Grass” on Netflix and, thought why not watch this? So, a Stephen King story it was.

We lit up some candles and snuggled in the couch while the rain was tapping on the window, and people were getting lost in tall grass on our screen. The reason why I speak so few about this movie is that it’s more about the entire moment. It’s one of my favourites, and no matter the quality of the movie, it will always be bound to an unforgettable Sunday afternoon.