Twenty-five years after the original, we are treated to this glossy remake of one of Stephen King’s better known works.
Rob Lowe stars as Ben Mears, a small town writer who returns home to find inspiration for his next novel, and soon discovers that the small town of Jerusalem’s Lot has a vampire problem.
I can’t remember much about the original Tobe Hooper version, but I do remember that I wasn’t as scared as everyone had expected me to be.
Thankfully this beautifully shot remake had a real creepy vibe going for it, and the scenery and locations were a joy to look at.
A good cast do great jobs, with Rob Lowe’s much more rugged and leather clad take on the character working well, and Donald Sutherland was especially well cast in the creepy role of Richard Straker. It was also nice to see some familiar faces in the form of some ex Neighbours and Home and Away stars from the bygone era when everyone watched them whilst they were having their tea.
The effects work was good, and there were a number of unsettling and genuinely shocking moments, such as a deadly booby trap and an attack in a kitchen, which I’m sure was a play on one of the more memorable sequences in the original.
I enjoyed this adaptation, and never felt as though it was dragging throughout it’s three hour running time, but there were moments I would have to re-watch in order to get a better grasp of, as a lot of stuff happened to the townspeople during the running time, and the ending was a tad disappointing too.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Fans of the original should be thankful for a remake that doesn’t piss all over its predecessor, and it’s certainly funky enough to attract a new legion of fans.
