Salem’s Lot: First Footage From MAX’s Stephen King Adaptation Lands Online

The first footage from the long-awaited remake of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot has arrived. On Friday, Max released a first clip from the movie which sees the main group — Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey), mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter), Dr Cody (Alfre Woodard), Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), and Susan Norton (Makenzie) descending into a mysterious basement with no stairs — but cuts just short before revealing what terrifying things they may end up finding. You can check the footage out for yourself below.

Salem’s Lot is set to arrive on Max in October after several delays. The film marks the first film adaptation of King’s 1975 novel of the same name which has previously been adapted into two television miniseries, one in 1979 and one in 2004. The film is written and directed by Gary Dauberman who also executive produced the film with James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster, Roy Lee for Vertigo, and Mark Wolper as producers.

“It’s this crazy sugar-high of a scene. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is what this is. This is a drive-in movie,’ Dauberman said in a previous interview about a scene in the film inspired by the first-edition cover of King’s novel. “As with most horror movies, I think audiences really elevate the experience. So, I think getting as many people as you can cram on the couch would be my preferred way to watch this.”

In Salem’s Lot, author Ben Mears returns to ‘Salem’s Lot (short for Jerusalem’s Lot) to write a book about a house that has haunted him since childhood only to find his isolated hometown infested with vampires. When the vampire claim more victims, Mears convinces a small group of believers to combat the undead. The film has already earned the approval of King himself, who took to social media late last year to say that while there are changes from the book that he doesn’t agree with, the film itself is “on the whole, faithful”

“It feels like a horror movie version of slow-burn movies like The Great Escape. It builds very well,” King wrote. “There are diversions from the book I don’t agree with, but on the whole, faithful. Best scene: Danny Glick in the hospital, trying to claw down a blood bag. The Glick scene could have been directed by John Carpenter in his prime.”

Salem’s Lot arrives on Max in October.