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Trailer released a week or two ago
I was excited when I first heard they were doing a new adaptation, since the novel is probably my second favorite vampire novel of all time. I'm maybe a bit disappointed this won't be released in theaters, but then getting to watch it in the comfort of my own home, without paying extra, is nice.
Anyway, I thought the trailer was sufficiently creepy. Look forward to watching this.
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Anyway....
To start, the movie was entirely too short to properly tell the story from the novel.
King spends a bit of time building up the townfolk and their interpersonal interactions. Many of which feed directly into the spread of the vampire plague later on. In this we barely get to know any of the characters. I thought the only ones who truly got some decent fleshing out were Ben, Susan, and Mark. Parts of Ben's own story were changed or left out altogether. Susan and Mark's storylines were limited. Father Callahan deserved better. As did Dr. Cody (a wonderful, but underused Alfre Woodard) and Matt Burke.
They changed the fates of some characters, deviating from the book in ways that didn't truly add anything to the story.
Barlow was barely in the story, even less so than he is in the book. And he was more like the Barlow from the '79 adapation, more a simple murder force, than the master vampire and tactical genuis he's shown to be in the book. In this movie, he's kind of an idiot. He does speak, at least.
They did at least get the time correct, setting the movie back in the 70s, as near as I can tell.
They changed the final confrontation in a way that I thought was a bit silly. I'm guessing someone thought it was a bit more cinematic and exciting. Which, to be honest, it probably was.
Overall, I would not recommend this to people who actually liked the novel. As a vampire movie, it's got some nice creep factor, but that's about it. There are plenty of other vampire movies out there which are far superior.
Anyway....
To start, the movie was entirely too short to properly tell the story from the novel.
King spends a bit of time building up the townfolk and their interpersonal interactions. Many of which feed directly into the spread of the vampire plague later on. In this we barely get to know any of the characters. I thought the only ones who truly got some decent fleshing out were Ben, Susan, and Mark. Parts of Ben's own story were changed or left out altogether. Susan and Mark's storylines were limited. Father Callahan deserved better. As did Dr. Cody (a wonderful, but underused Alfre Woodard) and Matt Burke.
They changed the fates of some characters, deviating from the book in ways that didn't truly add anything to the story.
Barlow was barely in the story, even less so than he is in the book. And he was more like the Barlow from the '79 adapation, more a simple murder force, than the master vampire and tactical genuis he's shown to be in the book. In this movie, he's kind of an idiot. He does speak, at least.
They did at least get the time correct, setting the movie back in the 70s, as near as I can tell.
They changed the final confrontation in a way that I thought was a bit silly. I'm guessing someone thought it was a bit more cinematic and exciting. Which, to be honest, it probably was.
Overall, I would not recommend this to people who actually liked the novel. As a vampire movie, it's got some nice creep factor, but that's about it. There are plenty of other vampire movies out there which are far superior.
ALL OF THIS. And as a huge fan of the book I don't need it to be a scene for scene adaption but some of the changes they made I dont quite understand why.
This REALLY should have been a miniseries and taken it's time to build the mystery and the dread of what was happening to the people of the Lot.
and yeah...I can see why this wasnt released theatrically.
After reading the book again I do wonder if it would have been more appropriate for Barlow to no-sell the stake attack and win. Considering the inexperience of the group and how overwhelmed they were, having the final attack succeed just seems a bit out of place. King has never been one to shy away from a downer ending.
I really really liked it.