Return to Salems Lot

[feral cat]

Larry Cohen's Return to Salems lot. I just watched this on the Sci-fi channel as part of the Friday the 13th programming and i have to say i thought it was good fun!

Anyone else seen this, what did you think about this budget 80's movie? :)

[dougspaulding]

I thought it was a fine black comedy, for that is what it was - it bore little resemblance to Mr King's original story. Actually, as a black comedy, I thought it was better than the terrible adaptation of "Needful Things", which was one of his best novels.

Have you ever noticed that Steve's novellas are always the ones that seem to adapt the best to screen. My theory is because they are the right length to be adapted - not to short, and not too long.

[feral cat]

I think your right a Novella is so much more suitable to adaptions, when his books are adapted to much has to be cut or adapted because of running time restrictions :)

[Zombie-F]

I completely agree on that count. King's novels are far too long for a conventional movie so too much has to get cut out. The other side of this, of course, is that mini-series based on his novels don't work either because they're too long.

Based on this, I'll have to say when "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" is adapted to movie, it should turn out pretty good.

[dougspaulding]

Utilizing the screenwriter's rule of thumb, one page equals one minute of screen time, hence, most novels (even short ones) are way yonder too long to adapt into a two or three hour movie (and three hours is long by movie standards).

Enter the novella. At 100 - 200 pages on average, they're a perfect fit for the silver screen. To wit:
"Stand By Me" from "The Body" - Excellent
"The Shawshank Redemption" from "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" - Excellent
"Secret Window" from "Secret Window, Secret Garden"
"Apt Pupil" from "Apt Pupil"

And, there's talk of "The Breathing Method" being filmed, as well as "The Mist".

Now, the opposite end of the spectrum would be to film a short story as a feature. Too much filler required. Witness the good short story "Children of the Corn" being turned into the terrible movie. "Trucks" into "Maximum Overdrive", etc, etc.

I don't think mini-series are too short. They're the best hope for a true adaptation, assuming they're done well - they give you all the time you need. The only problems are the lack of high-tech special effects sometimes needed and the inability to use certain more adult language and scenes needed to remain true to the book. I think the best thing to do would be to adapt them into mini-series format but on pay cable, such as HBO, Showtime, or Cinemax.

IMHO.

[Sinister]

Since Spaulding and I see "eye-to-eye" basically on this last, I will not dispute my best friend of many a year's last post.

However, I thoroughly dispute any claim to Return to Salems Lotbeing anywhere within shouting distance of being a "good film." Remember sometime back when I said there are probably fewer than 50 good Vampire films? Well, this ain't one of them.

[Rocky]

I love the Return to Salem's lot, it's my guilty pleasure! This movie is so bad it's entertaining! :D I haven't watched it for a very long time now...