More often than not, movie remakes are resigned to the fate of forever being compared to the originals. Perhaps movie-makers seek only to capitalize on creating a remake that will appeal to original audiences and elicit nostalgia. Or, perhaps, remakes are created with the greater intention of eclipsing the original altogether. Assuming this is the case, many remakes have been successful; so successful, in fact, that they are often falsely hailed as the original. For instance, Al Pacino’s Scarface is actually the remake of a 1932 film of the same name, a fact I otherwise would have probably never discovered. In many ways, Scarface can be considered an excellent stand-alone movie and remake. Most remakes, however, can not lay claim to such an achievement.
Salem’s Lot, a horror novel by bestselling author Stephen King, produced an original film (1979) and a remake released just this October. In terms of ratings, the remake earned a meager Rotten Tomatoes score of 46%. The shocking (yet not unexpected) feedback propelled me to watch and cultivate my own opinion of the remake:
Salem’s Lot (2024) was mediocre at best. Disregarding the original entirely, the remake consisted of gorgeous cinematography and feelings of small-town nostalgia that beautifully worked to emphasize the 70’s setting. Despite this, the characters were two-dimensional and lacked the signature essence of character development and realism that King incorporates into his novels. Additionally, scenes often felt disconnected, and character dialogue seemed to compensate for what could have otherwise been important plot points.
In the context of a remake, however, it became evident to me that the film was an attempt at innovating rather than “one-upping” the original. Yet while the film did change elements of the book and the original movie, the remake did not seem to reach the level of innovation that could set it apart from the original as a stand-alone. Additionally, The film’s failures were enough to eclipse any shred of nostalgia original fans may have had.
Ultimately, the film’s shortcomings fail at allowing it to leave an impression on wider audiences, yet Stephen King fans (I, myself, included) don’t like it much, either. As such, Salem’s Lot fails as both a remake — being compared to the original– and as a stand-alone: a movie that forms a separate identity from the original, much like Scarface.
