[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Salem’s Lot.]

The Big Picture

‘Salem’s Lot’ is a 2024 film adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel, with a unique take on vampires in the town of Jerusalem’s Lot.
Director Gary Dauberman discusses challenges in adapting classic vampire stories for film.
The film’s focus on traditional vampire lore and maintaining the ’70s setting sets it apart from more modern tales.

The Max original film Salem’s Lot, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel, follows author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) as he returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, drawn home for inspiration for his next book. After the arrival of master vampire Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward) and his human familiar Richard Straker (Pilou Asbæk), Ben realizes something isn’t right. As the townspeople are preyed upon and turned into vampires, the author teams up with longtime resident Susan (Makenzie Leigh), high school English teacher Matthew Burke (Bill Camp), Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard), local priest Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey) and a young boy (Jordan Preston Carter) determined to stop the vampires, in the hopes of stopping it all before it’s too late.

The work of Stephen King is often adapted, and this is not even the first take on Salem’s Lot. Whether it’s the 1979 version starring David Soul and directed by Tobe Hooper, the 2004 take with Rob Lowe, or this the latest approach from Gary Dauberman, each has its own look, take and feel for the source material. During this one-on-one interview with Collider, writer/director Dauberman talked about the long, strange journey to finally getting the film released, the importance of King’s support, his first introduction to this story, telling a classic vampire tale, whether he shot more of the Ben and Susan relationship, why it was important not to modernize the story, what made Pullman his Ben Mears, and that cool final staking shot. He also talked what he’s got coming up next and why it can be terrifying to take on such well-known properties.

It Was a Long, Strange Journey to Finally Getting ‘Salem’s Lot’ Released

Collider: It took a while to get here with this film finally coming out. How hard was that for you, as a filmmaker, after you made the film, and then you don’t know what’s going on with the release of it? What’s it like to finally have it out in the world?

GARY DAUBERMAN: It’s a little strange. And I’ve been living with it a lot longer than it was publicly out there. During post, it was like, “What the fuck is going on?” It was during the transition and I think everybody was feeling that way, company wide, because there were new owners coming in and there’s been enough headlines about all that stuff. Getting a front row seat to all that was an interesting time. I’ve been living with this a lot longer than I would care to. It was really hard. It was hard when people who worked hard on the movie were reaching out, and I couldn’t give them any answers. Crew would reach out or cast. When we shot in town, people would reach out because we used a location, and not knowing and not giving an answer was hard. It was hard to not be able to provide them with some sense of security or assurance. It’s been two years, but it feels like a lifetime ago. It’s interesting to be talking about it now and looking at it from a different perspective.

It has to at least be a little bit disheartening to finish the film and have it ready to go, but then not get a release date. Was it that much more meaningful to get very clear support from Stephen King? What was it like to see how publicly he was supporting your work?

DAUBERMAN: That was the light in a lot of darkness. It helped provide some sense of an answer for people. At least he was coming out and [talking about it]. I’m not on social media. Even if I was, there’s no way I’d have any kind of following like he does. It was nice that he was talking into his bullhorn and saying what he wanted to say. That really meant the world to me and provided some amount of relief. At the end of the day, he’s the first person I think of when I do these things.

Salem’s Lot is my favorite Stephen King book, and like many people who love that book, I’ve not been completely satisfied with previous adaptations. So, why take it on? Were you attracted to that challenge? What made you feel like you could pull it off?

DAUBERMAN: The book is so emotional and so sincere, which I love. The first introduction I had to the book really was through the miniseries, as a young kid. I wish I had read the book first before I’d seen that, but when I saw it, I was six or seven at the time, so that wasn’t gonna be the case. I just thought it had been a long time since more of a classically told vampire movie had been out there. I feel like there’s been a lot of reinventions and subversions, and all that stuff, all of which are great, but I wanted to go back to the roots. I knew it was over at Warner Bros., and I think they were gonna do it for TV, at first, but that’s when we started talking about making it into a movie. It had its challenges of whittling down a lot of the subplots and trying to capture the core story. I thought, “Okay, perhaps I can do that with Salem’s Lot and still retain those core relationships that are important to the story.” It was definitely a challenge, but it was a fun challenge to try to pull off.

‘Salem’s Lot’s Director Gary Da uberman Shot More of the Ben and Susan Relationship Than Is in Film
Image via Max

The first time I read the book, it devastated me, primarily because of the love story, what happened with Susan, and what Ben had to do, as a result. Did you shoot more of their love story and just weren’t able to include it because of time constraints, or did that not feel like where you wanted to focus as much?

DAUBERMAN: Did I shoot more? Yes. Did I have to leave some out? Yes. It’s an interesting balance because in the book, they fall pretty quickly. I love Susan in the book, but I wanted Susan to think beyond Ben a little bit. She wants to get out. She’s stayed home because of her mom, and she feels a little bit trapped. I didn’t want it to feel just as if Ben was gonna be her lifeline. She had an agenda before Ben came into it, and she falls for him in there. I wanted her to have a little bit more drive before he shows up. It was a challenge trying to get everything in when you’re trying to serve a whole bunch of different characters. There’s a lot there. With most Stephen King books, it’s tough to decide what to jettison, in order to make the other stuff work. As a fan of the book, you’re also trying to appease other fans of the book and everybody’s got their opinions on it. You have to put your blinders on a little bit and go, “Okay, what’s gonna serve some of the main press of the story?”

Why was it important not to modernize the story?

DAUBERMAN: I think that would bring in a whole host of problems. I wanted Ben at the library doing research. I didn’t want him just pulling up his phone and doing research. In a lot of modern-day horror movies, especially when it’s a small town and it feels like something dark is taking over the town, it’s challenging to build up suspense when it feels like there’s a lifeline in your pocket, which is your iPhone or your cell phone. I wanted this to feel like a corner of the world where it does still feel remote and where something like this could happen, and not spend a whole lot of real estate trying to justify why they’re not going, “Oh, no, we’re not getting service.” And also, it’s the book. I love the texture of the seventies. It’s a great vibe. There’s great music. That was important to me, too.

It also feels like there’s more of an innocence to the kids because they’re not as modern.

DAUBERMAN: Yes, that’s a big thing, too. They’re not looking to post this on TikTok.

Lewis Pullman Brings a Jimmy Stewart Vibe to His ‘Salem’s Lot’ Character Bean Mears
Image via Max

What made Lewis Pullman your Ben Mears? What did you see in him that embodied that character?

DAUBERMAN: Looking at the ’79 version, you have David Soul come in, and he’s so cool, and he’s got his Jeep and all that stuff. I love the David Soul version of Ben Mears too. I wanted someone where, even though he’s an author, he’s a little bit more of an everyman. I think Lewis Pullman has a Jimmy Stewart vibe to him. Even though he’s an author and he’s got New York Times reviews, I still wanted this to feel like an ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance. I wanted somebody who comes into town and you don’t immediately feel confident that this guy is gonna be able to eradicate vampires. I wanted a more grounded, less confident Ben Mears. Lewis has a real vulnerability to him that I really like.

When Ben stakes Barlow through the mouth, that shot through the mouth where you can see Ben through the back of his head was pretty gnarly. How did that come about? What inspired that?

DAUBERMAN: There have been so many vampire movies, so you want to figure out what you can do a little bit different. I hadn’t seen a shot like that before. I mean, I’ve seen shots like that before, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t invent that shot. But I knew I wanted Ben to come in and stake Barlow, and I just thought that visual would be really, really interesting. Even though it wasn’t through the heart, I wanted that to feel like the final stake and make it feel dramatic. We’ve seen the stake going into the chest, so I wanted to change it up a bit. It’s tough with vampires because you’ve gotta stake them through the heart. But for Barlow, I felt like we had to do something different, so we went with that.

How did you work out the way you wanted Barlow to look?

DAUBERMAN: I started with the book. I started with that Barlow. It’s challenging to make scares. After talking to some creature designers, I started to get really inspired. I’ve got a Barlow action figure and I kept looking at that. And I was thinking about the relationship between Straker and Barlow. Straker is the front man. Straker is the mouthpiece. Barlow is the silent partner, as it were. So, we could get more into that traditional creature/Nosferatu look. You shape it with creature designers. We wanted to be different from the ’79 version and some other things preceding it, but I also didn’t wanna take it so far in another direction that it doesn’t feel like a vampire anymore, and it just feels like a creature.

What are you working on now?

DAUBERMAN: David Sandberg is directing a movie, called Until Dawn, which is based off a PlayStation video game, that I’m really excited about. It’s a way for David to explore a lot of different horror genres in one movie. We’re getting close to the end there, so I’m going back over to offer support and all that. That’s been a lot of fun. David has been getting amazing stuff. That will be out next year, and we’re excited for people to see it. I’ve been working on Gargoyles for Disney+, which is super exciting. And there are a couple other things that will be announced soon. It’s been a busy time, but it’s very fortunate.

It seems both exciting and terrifying to keep bringing to life these properties that people are familiar with, but you’re trying to find new ways to present them.

DAUBERMAN: Yes, terrifying is a great word.

Salem’s Lot, based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, is available to stream on Max. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Max