2023-07-04 10:30:00
Ideal adaptation of a Stephen King novel, Salem’s Vampires directed by Tobe Hooper has traumatized entire generations. And it is fully justified.
Horror master Stephen King is arguably one of the most suitable authors for film and television. However, apart from a handful of great successes, his work has all too often been distorted and caricatured (yes, he hates the adaptation of Shining by Kubrick). These countless failures have helped create a popular belief that the author would simply be unsuitable. And it’s not with The Croque-Mitaine that the fans will be reassured.
There is, however, an almost perfect adaptation of one of Stephen King’s greatest masterpieces. The mini-series The Vampires of Salem directed by Tobe Hooper traumatized an entire generation when it first aired in 1979. One year before Shiningthe father of Chainsaw Massacre signed a true model who condenses everything an adaptation of King should bring together. It’s high time to revisit this classic.
Starsky and the other
THE LIGHT CHILD
The Stephen King style has many codes that are rarely respected in cinema. First of all, the author is passionate regarding long stories. His river novels multiply the characters, the sub-plots and are teeming with details. Generally, the directors who tackle his works prefer to go straight to the point and focus only on a handful of protagonists. An obvious error, which does not take into account the importance of this narrative bias in the creation of the author’s universe.
With The Vampires of Salem, Tobe Hooper seems to have fully understood the original novel. Thanks to the serial format, he can afford a story that stretches over three hours and thus retains a large part of the plots. In order to come and arouse fear and anguish, the small town of Jerusalem’s Lot must be real to the beholder. Hooper takes the time to familiarize us with each inhabitant, each shop. You can almost find your bearings in the middle of the town as the filmmaker manages to set a precise and immersive frame.
An almost perfect neighbor
The miniseries also captures a crucial issue in the writing of its characters. The protagonists in Stephen King are rarely models of benevolence. The author has the art of creating imperfect, complex, sometimes unlovable heroes. Rather than presenting a smooth and exemplary Ben Mears, Tobe Hooper chooses to stage a troubled, even disturbing man. So our hero will often contradict himself, change his mind. His attraction to the cursed house lays the foundations for a reflection on absolute Evil and its magnetic power.
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