Salem’s Lot (2024) writer-director Gary Dauberman reveals the original runtime for his version of the Stephen King novel adaptation. The latest remake takes a retro approach to Salem’s Lot, staying faithful to King’s novel. The official runtime released for Max is only one hour and 55 minutes, but according to the director, he initially had a way longer runtime.
Dauberman told Den of Geek that he had to “weed out” a lot of “great stuff” due to audiences’ limited attention span. In order to focus on the “core group of heroes,” he had no choice but to cut many “great side stories and B-stories.” The director revealed that the original runtime for his Salem’s Lot remake was “about three hours“, with the first draft of the script being “180-odd pages.” He initially included Ben sneaking into the Marsten House and encountering Hubert’s ghost, but later took it out of the film to stay true to the movie’s “Dracula set in small town America” aesthetic. Read his full explanation, below:
There’s so much great stuff. It’s like, what do you have to weed out? An audience’s attention span only goes so long. There are a lot of great side stories and B-stories in this book that I love, and it was hard to let those go in order to give more real estate to our core group of heroes. That was probably the biggest challenge—editing the story, and then figuring out those repercussions and those ripple effects into the main storyline. My first cut was about three hours. There’s a lot left out.
My first draft of the script is 180-odd pages or something because you’re trying to include everything. And a lot of it has to do with a lot of the secondary characters and stuff that I spoke about. So it was sad to see that stuff go, but it’s like a necessary evil. In the book, Ben sneaks into the Marsten House and he sees the ghost of Hubert Marsten. I shot that and it used to open the movie, but it seemed to muddy the waters for audiences; the ghost story within the vampire story.
To me it’s so important because it’s why Ben believes the vampire stuff, but we’re not telling that story, so that was the hardest thing to cut because I love the sequence. I kind of wanted to take a classic approach [for the vampires], because I hadn’t seen a classic approach in a while. I thought about the way that James [Wan] approached The Conjuring where it felt like a very classically told haunted house story, but it felt fresh at the time because we hadn’t seen that in a long time. That was my approach to vampires here. It’s what the book is. It’s Dracula set in small town America. I wanted to be true to that spirit.
Salem’s Lot Stays True to Stephen King’s Novel, Especially In Its Vampire Design
Every creative decision Dauberman made for the remake centers on the core idea of creating that “Dracula set in a small town America” vibe. It’s through this perspective that the director made the cuts necessary to tell the story. Still, with a nearly 2-hour runtime, the remake managed to be a faithful adaptation of King’s story. Not everything in the book needed to be included to achieve that, and a 3-hour runtime wouldn’t necessarily have resulted in a better or more faithful retelling.
At the same time, this also resulted in the film’s terrifying design of the ancient vampire, Kurt Barlow. In the 1979 adaptation of the story, Barlow is a Nosferatu-like creature. The latest remake stays true to King’s description of the ancient vampire. Duaberman talked to The Conjuring director James Wan about the creative direction for Kurt Barlow. While trying to decide between “the creature version vs. the Dracula-sequel version,” they “got excited about the designs and stuff.” During the process, the director felt inclined to “the more creature-like version of Barlow than the European nobleman side,” which resulted in the terrifying version of Barlow in the latest remake.
Our Take On Salem’s Lot Remake
It’s Tight & Refreshing
Ben’s ghost encounter is just one of the sub storylines the latest remake leaves out. The film also excludes some of the more disturbing scenes, and that’s for the better. There’s no doubt that Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot adaptation tells a more streamlined vampire story set, but it has more to do with the media. Salem’s Lot (2024) is a decent movie, and Stephen King’s novel tells a much more complex story.
The latest version also offers a refreshing take on the genre. As the director said, it’s been a while since anyone has seen a classic approach to vampires. The genre’s modern-day approach to vampires has shifted to the European nobleman as seen in movies and shows like Interview With the Vampire. It’s hard to link this terrifying ancient monster to its more creature-like depiction, and Salem’s Lot certainly surprises audiences with a real monster.
Source: Den of Geek
