The original miniseries traumatised an entire generation.
Off the top of our heads, the last few great vampire films that went heavy on the blood and scares were Let the Right One In, 30 Days of Night, and Thirst.
With this beloved subgenre of horror films, there’s no killing the appeal of those creatures of the night but in the post-Twilight world that we’re living in, the makers of the new version of Salem’s Lot have one hell of a task to make vampires genuinely scary again.
Granted, they’ve got loads of goodwill on their side because the book is a classic (it’s one of King’s favourites), the original miniseries is still held in high regard (Christ, those floating vampires at the windows!), and it appears that the audience is crying out for a gruesome vampire film.
Aside from this, the box office success of IT, the Conjuring films, and the other titles in that universe (The Nun, Annabelle) has shown that the demand is definitely there for horror.
On that note, Gary Dauberman, director of the latest Annabelle film, Annabelle Comes Home, has had quite the macabre and busy schedule.
Aside from making his directorial debut, Dauberman is also on scriptwriting duties for IT: Chapter Two and the upcoming reboot of Salem’s Lot.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he gave an update on the eagerly-awaited vampire fable and said that he’s aiming to make something that’s “truly scary”.
“I like to be as true to the story as I possibly can until it gets a little too unwieldy for a movie,” said Dauberman.
“I’m very, very excited to be a part of that and tackle it. It hasn’t had the big screen treatment yet, which is how I felt about It.
“It’s so fun to play around with vampires and make something truly scary with vampires. I haven’t seen that in a long, long time, and I’m excited for people to see it.”
If it’s as good as the books, we’ll be biting at the neck to see this one.
In terms of upcoming horror films, Annabelle Comes Home is released in Irish cinemas on 12 July.
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