Gary Dauberman directs Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh and Alfre Woodard in this feature length adaptation of the Stephen King vampire horror classic.

Having just finished reading King’s second official novel, and first of many door stopper sized bestsellers, I was excited for this. The Tobe Hooper miniseries from back in the day isn’t half as good as people make out, give or take one or two childhood shattering moments of creaky terror. Yet a lot of people have cried foul of condensing King’s first big ensemble work into a mere two hour adventure. The book’s key strength is getting to know a very human cross section of a small town’s population and then suffering the loss of just about every single one of them systematically. This truncated take swaps some fates around, makes the casting more diverse and only gives certain supporting characters briefly glimpsed cameos. It is also fair to say much of the sadness and cynicism over fighting a foe in a world without faith in the supernatural is fully jettisoned. Pullman maybe isn’t quite manly enough for his lead role but all in all the casting is very pleasing. There are surprises, neat set-pieces (faithful and freshly invented) and even a few laughs. I know Egger’s Nosferatu is imminent but this is a very beautiful, classically framed and lit modern gothic horror flick. Some of the best straight faced genre visuals in a good while. Crucifixes become blindingly iridescent, doomed walks in the woods resemble elaborate shadow puppetry and Seventies nostalgia becomes a tactile cage.

7

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