I have yet to watch Salem’s Lot, but apparently the vampire in the movie looks more like the vampire from Nosferatu than the version that Stephen King describes in his book.
The inspiration for the vampire design came from the classic 1979 miniseries adaptation, which was insanely creepy! I love that vampire design. The film’s producer, Michael Clear, recently offered some insight into the vampire design.
Clear told SFX Magazine: “Tobe Hooper’s Barlow had haunted all of us. When something like that is in your nightmares you would be doing a disservice to the movie by not bringing to life the thing that was terrifying to you.”
For those of you who have seen the original Salem’s Lot adaptation, Barlow looks a lot like Count Orlak from Nosferatu, with a pale bald head, sharp claws, and pointed teeth. But, King’s version of the character was different.
In the book, Barlow is a centuries-old, powerful vampire who arrives in the small town of Jerusalem’s Lot, or ‘Salem’s Lot, with the intent to spread his vampiric influence and turn the town’s residents into his undead minions.
Barlow is portrayed as a cultured, charming, and human-looking man with an aristocratic demeanor and commanding presence. His intelligence, cruelty, and manipulative nature is what made him terrifying.
The creative team behind the film wanted to capture the terrifying visual from the original mini-series and I don’t blame them.
The movie also takes inspiration from another chilling moment we remember all too well from the miniseries. Clear says: “It’s similar to the Danny at the window scene where we wanted to capture the essence of the thing that has stuck inside of our brains for so long.”
He goes on to say how the film’s VFX team was able to capture elements from Hooper’s version “while allowing us to put a little bit of our own spin on it.”
Lewis Pullman (Bad Times at the El Royale, Top Gun: Maverick) stars in Salem’s Lot, and he will take on the role of author Ben Mears, “a man who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a vampire, leading him to band together with a ragtag group that will fight the evil presence.”
Salem’s Lot will be released on Max on October 3rd.
