8 ways I would fix the disappointing new Stephen King movie

The long-awaited new adaptation of Stephen King ‘Salem’s place Arrived, and it is safe to say long-term regular readers as we are deeply disappointed by the results, with some weaknesses I would fix to make it a better movie. it And It: Chapter Two Writer Gary Dauberman was in the director’s chair for the ‘Salem’s place adaptation, tasked with the unenviable task of Wrangling King’s original sprawling ‘Salem’s place story in a 2-hour runtime according to the order of studio exercises. The results are mixed, at best.

I have to give Dauberman credit for skillfully recreating iconic scenes from the book, especially the scene of Danny Glick hovering in front of Mark Petri’s window, and also including many Stephen King Easter eggs in ‘Salem’s place. He also did a good job of doing what he could to make a fast-paced, action-forward horror movie out of the much longer film he envisioned. Still, the end result left a lot to be desired, especially for fans of the book or 1979 ‘Salem’s place Miniseries. The potential was there, but, frustratingly, you could see the limitations. If I had unlimited time and money, I would fix some key issues with the adaptation (and I suspect Gary Dauberman would want to too).

1

Develop the capital letters

The actors don’t have much to work with

First and foremost, the biggest problem with the new ‘Salem’s place is that it cuts so much of its runtime that the characters emerge not as fully realized people but as short sketches of people. They are all Wikipedia page intros, no grace notes. The actors are all great – that’s not a slight on them, because I thought they were all well cast. They undoubtedly did the best they could with what they had to work with, and there were flashes of every character of much deeper and richer development that was clearly cut. I also appreciate the update to Susan’s personality from the book to make her a little more sarcastic and a lot more worldly.

That said, it doesn’t matter how much the actors give if key threads of character development are snipped. It’s really unfortunate, like ‘Salem’s place is as much a character study as it is a vampire novel, and some of the main characters in the original book undergo fascinating evolutions. Unfortunately, the new movie catches this completely, and we never really see what the characters are, despite the frustrating depth.

2

Make it a miniseries instead of a movie

‘Salem’s Room was never meant to be a 2-hour movie

To be honest, I don’t blame Gary Dauberman for that ‘Salem’s placeIt’s truncated feel. The director always gets the blame when a movie bombs, but considering the problems of getting ‘Salem’s place To the screen—first the Covid-19 pandemic, then the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger that threw everything into chaos, and WBD exists waffling on whether to delete it, then the writers’ and actors’ strikes—I’d say Dauberman could hardly Be held responsible for the result. This is a miracle ‘Salem’s place It even made it to the screen at all, even after Dauberman submitted to studio demands and sacrificed an entire hour of his original cut and Stephen King publicly challenged the studio.

That said, this ‘Salem’s place Proves why the story works better as a miniseries. I suspect that Dauberman’s 3-hour cut was much, much better, but WBD required him to cut so much of it that he was only left with the ability to move from plot point to plot point, sacrificing all of the story. Be it a scrapped 3-hour movie or a miniseries, ‘Salem’s place has always been a story that requires time to tell to work. The next time it’s remodeled—because it almost certainly will be remodeled in a few years or decades—I hope the practitioners who founded it will remember that.

3

Tell the story of the Marsten House (and Ben’s relationship to it)

The Marsten house is its own character in the book

Although it is not necessarily the most important part of the book, it is a shame that ‘Salem’s place 2024 cuts the entire story of the Marsten house from the movie, including Ben Mears’ terrifying childhood encounter there. In the original novel, the Marsten House was a character of its own, a Haunting of Hill House-like building that exhibited an evil type of near-sentence in time.

The house had a terrible history, being the home of former Mahl-hitman-turned-problematic child serial killer Hubert “Hubie” Marsten, who later settled in the Marsten house with his wife Birdie. During their years there, multiple children went missing and were never found; It is strongly implied and believed that Hubie kidnapped and killed them. Their story came to an explosive end when he murdered Birdie before killing himself. The Marsten House is filled with blood, and it is witness to so many evil acts that has turned it into a conduit for greater evil, which is exactly why Kurt Barlow and Richard Straker decide to settle there; Barlow and Marsten corresponded for years before the latter’s death.

The new one ‘Salem’s place Also cut off Ben Mers’ connection to the Martian house and why he was so drawn to it. When he was nine years old, he broke into the Marsten house and saw a vision of Hubie Marsten’s body hanging from the rafters in the place where he had killed himself. The image haunted Ben for the rest of his life and was the driving force behind his return to Jerusalem’s Lot as he intended to write a book about the Marsten House, a detail that the film omits. Although none of this is absolutely critical to making a good one ‘Salem’s place Adaptation, it certainly helps to set the scene and add necessary color to the story.

4

Stop the death of characters from the book

The character deaths are robbed of impact

‘Salem’s place Changed almost every major character’s death in the book, something I understood but didn’t love. Of course, the only deaths that remained mostly the same were the ones that didn’t matter that much, like Mark Petris’ parents or Danny Glick being turned away. The rest simply did not have the same punch as in the book. While some of this is definitely due to the aforementioned lack of character development, I would argue that the changes go too far.

I understand why it happened: some of the books of death simply did not work in the adaptation. Matt Burke being turned by Kurt Barlow and allowing Mark Petrie to escape, for example, is a much nobler end than the one he got in the book of suffering a heart attack and dying in a hospital bed. Dr. Cody’s death in ‘Salem’s place But is the most brutal and memorable in the book, and it should be kept. I understand the optics of having the race- and gender-flipped character die by falling from a rigged ladder onto knives may have been a step too far for UBD execs. Still, Alfre Woodard’s character being unceremoniously killed by a shotgun blast is insulting. Dr. Cuddy deserved a worse, safer death than this.

5

Give Father Callahan his storyline and ending from the same book

Father Callahan’s story was one of the most compelling in the book

The death that tore me the most was Father Callahan. Of all the letters that got shortened in the ‘Salem’s place Adaptation, it’s arguably Father Callahan. In the book, he doesn’t die at all. Instead, a much worse fate befell him. In the showdown at the Petrie House, Kurt Barlow force-feeds the conflicted priest his blood, rendering him forever “unclean” and ensuring that Father Callahan can no longer enter his church, or any holy site or hallowed ground. It has a crueler, more tragic end in it ‘Salem’s place Like Death to Father Callahan, especially as it ties into the themes in Father Callahan’s story.

Part of the richness of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s place is how deeply it explores the concepts of good versus evil, and faith versus disbelief. Barlow is able to overpower the priest because Father Callahan’s faith has been wavering for years, and, in the end, it is not strong enough to protect him from the legendary evil creature. When Barlow inks him forever, it removes the priest’s future choices. Even if he were to regain his faith, he is forever barred from sacred spaces. Ironically, this act is a terrible way to restore the damned priest’s belief in God. For a man who is no longer sure about the priesthood, the cruelest end is for him to find out how much worse it can get when he cannot come to the call at all.

6

Better develop Ben & Susan’s romance

She may as well have been killed by any character

The circumstances of Susan’s story and death remained largely intact in the novel ‘Salem’s placeEven if the place and events surrounding it are changed from the book. Just like in the book, Ben is the one who has to kill her after she turns, and I believe he should always be the one who has to kill her, no matter the adaptation. This is a pivotal moment in the book and for Ben’s character, and, considering their romantic relationship, no other character ending her undead life would have as much of an impact.

Unfortunately, there may have been no character in the new one ‘Salem’s place To stake newly-turned-vampire Susan, seeing as her romance with Ben is barely formed on screen. Ben was the one to do it, but it could have been Dr. Cody, or her mother, or Matt Burke, or even Mark Petrie—in fact, it could have been even more impressive and frightening for the child to end this Life of his bond. We simply did not get enough of their love story, so wonderfully built in the book, for their connection to feel especially deep. The lack of build-up robbed Susan of any emotional weight The feeling that she and Ben are in love.

7

Make the townspeople of Jerusalem’s site more prominent characters

The townspeople became named NPCs in the movie

The main characters aren’t the only ones suffering from a lack of development in the new one ‘Salem’s place. They may be underdeveloped, but at least they get some screen time. One of the many elements that were sacrificed for the sake of a shorter time, in the new film, the many colorful inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem get either a single scene or are completely cut out.

It’s a real shame, because they are the supporting backbone of the story in this book. Getting to know their faults, their little rivals, their challenges and their joys, their secrets in the town, is exactly what makes the takeover of Jerusalem Lot so heartwarming. When they are turned or killed, it hurts; They were real people with real lives. Unfortunately, the movie reduces them to non-entities, NPCs who are only there to create an army of glowing-eyed vampires.

8

Fix the wonky CGI

The other glaring problems made it stand out more

The last thing I would fix in the new one ‘Salem’s place Movie is the CGI. It’s not a dealbreaker – the story and characters of a movie will always be remarkable in any wonky CGI – but when the rest is lacking, it makes bad CGI more noticeable. Some shot in ‘Salem’s place They are really gorgeous, and the production design and set decoration of the mid-’70s are almost impeccable. Truly, I was impressed. It’s about as natural and immersive as any period piece we’ve seen in years. The cinematography was also ubiquitous; Certain pictures could be a painting.

All this visual excellence made the sometimes really shoddy CGI stand out, especially towards the end. Scenes with the Marsten House in the background, and the sunset shots in the third act of the movie are particularly bad. The movie also relied way too much on CGI to tweak Kurt Barlow’s appearance and make him more monstrous where it would have been better served with practical effects. Although, again, it wasn’t a dealbreaker, it was noticeable enough to take me out ‘Salem’s place At a time when it is already struggling to overcome the rest of its problems.