Lilja's Library (61 page)

Posted: June 1, 2004  

I have just finished two episodes of the new version of
’Salem’s Lot
and I’m torn. Some of it was good and some of it was not so good. Some of the story was very true to the book and some was changed for no apparent reason, which made me pretty angry…but let’s take things in their right order and start with part one.  

Part 1
 

The basic story is the same as the book, but they have done quite a lot of changes…and a lot of them aren’t good. In the beginning they have added to the story by letting Ben find Father Callahan and going after him. I won’t spoil it for you by revealing what happens but…it’s very wrong!  

The other issues they have changed in part one are small, but oh so important for the plot. They have turned the shy and somewhat lonely boy Mark into somewhat of a bully, which is totally wrong. The romantic and funny scene where Ben and Susan meet is gone—it’s the scene where she is reading his book and he jokes about how she treats the book. As with Mark they have also changed the personality of Straker. In the book he is rather sophisticated and laid back, here he is more cocky and blunt.  

One change they have made to the basic plot is that Ben has much bigger problems in this version. I guess that it’s not a big problem, but I don’t see why they would change it. I mean, it doesn’t really change the reason he is there, it’s just bigger without interfering with the story…and this is the worst kind of change. Changes that are done for no particular reason other than they feel they want to do it different or whatever. Not a smart move when you’re dealing with King fans.  

How about the actors and actresses then? Well, some are good, some are bad and one is perfect. One of the good ones is Rob Lowe, who does a good job portraying the haunted Ben Mears. And, after all, it’s not his fault that they have screwed up his character’s background. Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer do their best, but unfortunately, they don’t reach all the way. Sutherland as Straker is just too much and Hauer as Barlow is just too little.  

The perfect one is James Crowell as Father Callahan. If they ever do a movie version of
The Dark Tower
I hope they will bring him back as Callahan. He is just as I imagined him when I read
Wolves of the Calla
. 

Unfortunately, too many of the actors and actresses are too young. Andre Braugher, Samantha Mathis and most of the co-stars are way too young, if you ask me. The movie itself looks very fresh and that is a good thing, but it seems that they wanted to make the characters fresh as well. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The characters in the book aren’t all young and good looking… 

Oh, and then they go ahead and let Sandy’s husband blackmail Dr. Cody. It’s a really, really bad change that robs us of one of the strongest scenes from the book (and the original miniseries). Yes, you got it, the-shotgun-in-the-mouth scene.  

Part 2
 

Part two is better than part one. Many more things happen and we get to see all of the vampires. The special effects are well done. What’s not so good is that now the vampires are smart. In the book they are more like zombies, but here they are the same as before they became vampires—they just have longer teeth. Two scenes show this failure in screenwriting very well. One is where Mike Ryerson visits Matt Burke and they start talking to each other about Mike’s scars. What is that all about? The other scene is when Ben is talking to Susan and she tries to convince him that it’s so much better to be a vampire than a living being. These two scenes are perfect examples of how a script should not be written!  

Unfortunately, Ben’s past is revealed in its entirety as well. I say “unfortunately” because as I said earlier, they have made changes that don’t add anything to the story in any way and they could have used the one from the book without any problems.  

The ending is quite a bit different from the book as well, and personally I can’t see why they would make that change…it’s not bad, but why not follow the book it’s supposed to be based on?  

Lilja’s final words about
’Salem’s Lot (remake)
 

OK, I know that my review has been mostly negative, but I want to say that the reason I feel
’Salem’s Lot
isn’t one of the best adaptations isn’t the actors’ faults (at least, not the ones playing the bigger parts); it’s mainly the script’s fault. Its writers have made so many silly and unnecessary changes from the book that it’s ridiculous, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. And even though I definitely recommend you tune in on June 20 to see for yourself, my guess is that you’ll get more out of watching the original. 

**** 

Riding the Bullet
 

Posted: January 21, 2005  

On Sunday (Janunary 23) you can see
Riding the Bullet
on USA Network. I saw it today and here is what I thought about it: 

Prior to the release of
Riding the Bullet
there was a lot of speculation about if it would work even though Garris had expanded the story and changed it a bit. I, for one, was a bit skeptical, but since I have enjoyed Garris’s other King projects I was hopeful. As it turned out, I wasn’t disappointed. It’s true that the story in the movie has been expanded and changed a bit compared to King’s story, but I think that was necessary if the movie should survive. If you would have followed it one hundred percent it would have been good as an episode in a TV series (like
Twilight Zone
), but as a feature movie it wouldn’t have been enough. The backbone of the story is still intact and that is crucial. Without that it wouldn’t have worked either.  

The feel of the movie is a bit surreal. We get a lot, and I mean a lot, of flashbacks of Alan’s life as he travels to his hometown to be with his mother as she is hospitalized. There are also a lot of Alan’s “this will happen” visions as well as his seeing things that aren’t really there. The mix of all these things makes the movie a bit surreal, as I said, but it’s in a good way. It’s an interesting, fresh way to drive the story of the movie forward though.  

One thing I really like is that we get to see Alan’s thoughts in the form of a second Alan. In some scenes he stands and talks to himself and in others the “thought” Alan is sitting behind him, talking and commenting on things Alan or someone else does or say. A brilliant way to make Alan’s thoughts easy to access for the audience.  

Alan is very well played by Jonathan Jackson, and George Staub and Jean Parker are played just as well by David Arquette and Barbara Hershey. Besides these, who are the main characters, you can also see Cliff Robertson as the farmer who gives Alan a ride and Erika Christensen as Alan’s girlfriend, Jessica Hadley. They all do a good job bringing their characters to life.  

Garris has also put in some hints that this is based on a King story. First, you see a car that looks incredibly like Christine, which turns out to be George Staub’s car. Christine was a 1958 Plymouth Fury and in the movie they use one from 1960, but who’ll notice? Also, Garris himself plays a doctor at the end of the movie and his wife Cynthia (who has been in many of his films including the dead woman in the bath tub in
The Shining
) plays the nurse called Annie, a tribute to King’s
Misery
.  

Lilja’s final words about
Riding the Bullet
 

So, what do I think about
Riding the Bullet
? Well, I really liked it! It’s a well-done movie with a lot of surprises in store. I highly recommend that you watch it this upcoming Sunday!
 

****

Desperation
 

Posted: May 23, 2006  

What can I say? Mick Garris has done it again. He has taken a King book, turned it into a movie and done a superb job.
Desperation
is one of the movies based on King’s books that is probably truest to the book itself. Garris’s version of
Desperation
is extremely close to the book. Some things are missing or shortened, but still, it’s very close. 

Desperation
is about a group of people who for different reasons (mostly the sheriff) end up in the small town of Desperation, where the dark force of Tak is present. For a very long time it has been trapped in an old mine, but now it’s out and it’s determined to not let anyone leave Desperation alive… 

As early as April last year Garris showed the first fifteen minutes of
Desperation
at the World Horror Convention in New York. The reports from that showing were very positive, and after seeing it for myself I can only agree. Ron Perlman as Collie Entragian is perfect. He is just as I imagined him to be when I read the book…maybe he’s a bit slimmer than I imagined, but otherwise perfect. 

The rest of the cast is also very good. In fact, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t deliver what’s expected of them. The biggest names are Steven Weber (from
The Shining
miniseries) as Steve, Annabeth Gish (from the
X Files
) as Mary and Matt Frewer (from
Riding the Bullet
and
The Stand
) as Ralph Carver.  

The movie is just over two hours ten minutes without commercials, and that feels like a pretty good length for this one.
Desperation
in itself is sort of a slow book, so if the story had been stretched out it would have probably felt too long. I know that there are some King fans who feel that Garris stretched the story in
The Stand
or
The Shining
, and some of you will probably think so here as well, but given the type of story
Desperation
is I think it’s perfect. 

What surprised me the most is that it’s so gory. If it had been done for the big screen or for DVD I wouldn’t have thought about it, but this is for TV and that usually means no gore. So, thank you ABC for not stepping in with the big scissors and instead letting Garris do his thing!  

Lilja’s final words about
Desperation
 

So, whatever you do, don’t miss
Desperation
when it airs tonight! I know it’ll be out on DVD later this summer, but trust me, you don’t want to wait that long. 

**** 

Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 1 & 2
 

Posted: July 11, 2006  

So, the first two episodes of
Nightmares & Dreamscapes
are set to air this Wednesday. First out are
Crouch End
and
Battleground
. Both episodes are very good, but my favorite this week is
Battleground
, but let’s start with
Crouch End
since that one is on first.  

Episode 1:
Crouch End
 

Here we get to meet Lonnie and Doris (played by Eion Bailey and Claire Forlani), who are in London and by coincidence are set to attend a dinner party at a friend’s house in Crouch End. When they try to get a cab to take them there they find out there is something special and frightening about Crouch End. But, as it often is in horror movies they, despite all the warnings, go there.  

As they arrive they discover they have lost the address, and while they phone their friend to get it again they also lose their cab. Stranded, they try to find their way back by foot. As they get more and more lost, stranger and stranger things are starting to happen and before long they find themselves lost in another dimension… 

Both Bailey and Forlani do a good job with their parts. Bailey is especially believable as he is getting stranger and stranger. A strong episode that has kept King’s feeling from the written story very well.  

Episode 2:
Battleground
 

Battleground
is a very good episode…even one of the best in the entire series. Before I saw it I thought to myself that it would either be very good or very bad. This is the kind of story that can’t be done semi-well. Either all the toy soldiers would look pretty silly or they would be awesome. They look awesome! 

Battleground
tells the story of professional hit man John Renshaw (perfectly played by William Hurt), who after killing a CEO of a toy company receives a strange package. The package contains a complete set of toy soldiers…that’re pissed!