'Salem's Lot

[subie09lega]

I just reread 'Salem's Lot and rewatched the original TV miniseries; it's been years since I read/watched them. Very interesting some of the things they changed from book to movie. For instance, the name of Matt Burke in the novel but Jason Burke in the miniseries. Too confusing to have a Matt and Mark? And I believe Floyd Tibbets was changed to Ned Tebbetts. Minor changes compared to other changes like the differences in Barlow.

[bsaenz24]

I still love the miniseries. I think they did a great job.

[srboone]

The original miniseries, that is. I remember when it was originally on, my parents forbid me to watch it; they even checked the tv rooms to make sure I hadn't snuck downstairs for clandestne viewing (I had an 8 o'clock bedtime). It wasn't until I was in college that I saw it in a rerun on TV.

[subie09lega]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty well done, one of the better adaptations. I watched the Rob Lowe version a few years ago and remember not being too impressed.
I sent my sister a couple links from the original, the one with Ralphie Glick in Danny's room and Danny trying to enter Mark's room. She refused to watch them, reading the book back in the 70s freaked her out so bad she still won't watch them. LOL

[TerryE]

That mini-series was my introduction to Stephen King. I loved it! Mark had the kind of bedroom I would have killed for. When I first read the book, it was the movie tie-in paperback with photos in the middle. There was one shot that did not make it to the screen. If you remember the Marsten house had an upstairs wall with a bunch of horns and antlers. Straker picked up someone (I'm thinking the sherriff) and walked him toward that wall. The photo showed him impaled up there, the movie didn't show that.

[srboone]

The DVD does...I remember that picture, tho.

[subie09lega]

That mini-series was my introduction to Stephen King. I loved it! Mark had the kind of bedroom I would have killed for. When I first read the book, it was the movie tie-in paperback with photos in the middle. There was one shot that did not make it to the screen. If you remember the Marsten house had an upstairs wall with a bunch of horns and antlers. Straker picked up someone (I'm thinking the sherriff) and walked him toward that wall. The photo showed him impaled up there, the movie didn't show that.

Yes, I believe it was Susan's father, Dr Norton (replacing Jimmy Cody from the book at the resident physician), that was impaled.
My first try at King was Cujo when I was about nine, but couldn't follow it at that age so I saw the movie before I ever got through the book later on.

[TerryE]

Okay, I have to ask. Since you saw the movie Cujo first, what did you think of the ending of the movie, and the book. I remember finishing the book and being so upset about Tad, that I swore I would never read another Stephen King book again. That lasted until the next book came out.

[srboone]

I thought that King was very brave to end the book like he did. I never saw the movie til I was in college and thought that it was a change that needed to be made for it to succeed as a movie. As the book ending grew to "legendary" in my own mind, and I learned that King was doing some heavy...stuff.. during those years, I thought that ending the book that way was a mistake. But when I read it again about a year ago, I really liked it. (Cujo is now one of my favorite King books).

[subie09lega]

Okay, I have to ask. Since you saw the movie Cujo first, what did you think of the ending of the movie, and the book. I remember finishing the book and being so upset about Tad, that I swore I would never read another Stephen King book again. That lasted until the next book came out.

I knew before I read/watched it how they both ended, my sister spilled the beans so neither was a surprise. I remember thinking how bleak the end of the book was when I finished reading it. I watched the movie a year or so ago and enjoyed it more than I thought I would, the end is more hopeful. I don't mind bleak endings, sometimes when a story ends too brightly compared to the rest of the story I feel cheated because it feels forced. With Cujo it could have gone either way and with the book we get one and the movie the other. Pet Sematary was another the ended darkly and I didn't mind it, the ending just worked. Can't say that I cared much for the movie though.

[TerryE]

I thought they did a pretty good job with the movie. But I didn't like the actor (or maybe the characterization) of Tad and was hoping for the book ending. I was so disappointed that it was changed.

[subie09lega]

I thought they did a pretty good job with the movie. But I didn't like the actor (or maybe the characterization) of Tad and was hoping for the book ending. I was so disappointed that it was changed.

I think that I agree with srboone, that ending on a movie probably would have tanked it, unfortunately. I know a lot of people that don't like tragedy in a movie, they want to be entertained and leave the theater feeling upbeat. The plot could be nonexistent, they don't care, they just want to sit and not have to think. I prefer movies that draw me in emotionally, a mental/emotional roller coaster ride. Same with books, I want the happy with the sad.

[subie09lega]

I thought they did a pretty good job with the movie. But I didn't like the actor (or maybe the characterization) of Tad and was hoping for the book ending. I was so disappointed that it was changed.

I've been listening to this speech from long ago this morning and in part 6 (of 8) he addresses the death of Tad. It's brief but interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqqV-...6C357A&index=3

[subie09lega]

Also, in parts 6 & 7, he talks about Pet Sematary (prepublication) and the inspiration of the death of Gage. This was the first SK book I got through, I was about 12, and it freaked me out. That's another that I need to reread.