In this TV adaptation of the
Stephen King novel, a journalist with traumatic memories of his haunted childhood returns to find his hometown being infiltrated by vampires. As a boy in Jerusalem's Lot, ME, Ben Mears (
Rob Lowe) took a dare and broke into a local mansion called the Marsten House. There, he had the misfortune of discovering the corpses resulting from a scandalous murder/suicide. Decades later, he returns to find that a mysterious antiques dealer (
Donald Sutherland) and his unseen business partner (
Rutger Hauer) have moved into the Marsten House. Soon, townspeople begin disappearing and dying, only to return, floating outside the windows of their loved ones and begging to be let in. Only Ben and a few newfound allies suspect the awful truth: that something unholy has overtaken their town...something with links to the sinister mansion of Ben's nightmares. Originally broadcast June 20 and 21, 2004, on the TNT cable network, Salem's Lot was scripted by Peter Filardi, who previously penned
The Craft and
Flatliners. Shot on-location in Australia, this is the second television adaptation of Salem's Lot, and it follows
Tobe Hooper's 1979 version. Hauer and Sutherland are old vampire buddies, having previously co-starred in the original
Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide