Movie Review: Salem’s Lot: 4K (Limited Edition)

Salem’s Lot: 4K (Limited Edition) movie review by Matt Boiselle

I still remember waay back in 1979, the image of my mother as she sat there in front of the television, damn near chewing her fingernails down to the nubs as she watched in transfixed horror at what was playing in front of her. The two-night horror miniseries “Salem’s Lot” was in full swing, and as I peeked my head into her room to see what had her attention at a standstill, the first image burned into my young brain was that of Ralphie Glick in his pajamas, freshly converted to a vampire, scratching at his brother’s window as he floated in a cloud of fog. Well, needless to say AFTER I changed into a fresh pair of underwear, I continued to watch through my face-covered hands and discovered the utter beauty in this frightening genre.

Years later I jumped into the purchases of the same movie on DVD & Blu-ray, and still felt that same feeling when the play button was pressed – Tobe Hooper’s directorial skills on full-display as those damn bloodsuckers wreaked havoc on the small town in Maine. Now there’s no point in me belaboring the plot & details about this film but I will tell you this: if you even consider yourself to be a horror fan in the SLIGHTEST, then this movie should already have been imprinted in your DNA, and now thanks to the wizards over at Arrow Video, this presentation of the undead has had new life coursed through its wretched veins once again.

“Salem’s Lot” (Limited Edition 4K) is one of those offerings that only comes around once in a blue moon, and when it does, you’ve got to latch onto it like a hawk on a field mouse – EVERYTHING about this set transcends how other 4K presentations WISHED they looked. My first impressions were of simple astonishment as the sharper than sharp images have nearly shaved away all of the grainy views that were commonplace with a product of the 70’s – and for those who like their films to look exactly the same as they once did when they originally aired, there’s a very simple solution to this issue: buy it on VHS or DVD – problem solved.

All joking aside, from the packaging to the special features (and there are a metric-ton), right down to the awesome little “Salem’s Lot” town sign sticker, this entire bestowed gift from the physical media gods has all the nuts and bolts to wake up in the middle of the night and fly off of your bookshelf if you’re not watching it. My best advice now is to get over to either MVDShop.com or ArrowVideo.com and pick up your copy…cause the master commands it.

Special Features include:

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new 4K restorations of both the original two-part miniseries and the shorter theatrical cut distributed internationally
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of both versions of the film
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
• Collectors’ perfect-bound booklet containing new writing on the film by critics Sean Abley, Sorcha Ni Fhlainn, and Richard Kadrey, plus select archival material including interviews with director Tobe Hooper, and stars Lance Kerwin and Julie Cobb
• Salem’s Lot town sign sticker
• Double-sided foldout poster featuring two original artwork options
DISC 1 – ORIGINAL TV MINI-SERIES VERSION
• Two viewing modes: Play as miniseries in two parts as per the original broadcast or as extended movie
• Brand new audio commentary by film critics Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes
• Archive audio commentary by director Tobe Hooper
• Alternate TV footage: commercial bumpers and original broadcast version of the antlers death
• Original shooting script gallery
DISC 2 – THEATRICAL VERSION & EXTRAS
• Brand new audio commentary by film critic Chris Alexander
• King of the Vampires, a new interview with Stephen King biographer Douglas Winter
• Second Coming, a new appreciation by author and critic Grady Hendrix
• New England Nosferatu, a new interview with filmmaker Mick Garris
• Fear Lives Here, a new featurette looking at the locations of Salem’s Lot today
• We Can All Be Heroes, a new featurette with film critic Heather Wixson, co-author of In Search of Darkness
• A Gold Standard for Small Screen Screams, a new featurette with film critics Joe Lipsett and Trace Thurman, co-hosts of the podcast Horror Queers
• Trailer
• Image gallery