Salem’s Lot (1979) (Limited Edition) (4K Ultra HD Review)
DIRECTED BY: Tobe Hooper
STARRING: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin
RATED: PG/Region: O/1:33/2160P/NUMBER OF DISCS 2
AVAILABLE FROM Arrow Video
Ah yes, Salem’s Lot —the made-for-TV vampire epic that proves two things:
1) The 1970s could make absolutely anything feel grimy and cursed.
2) Network television once had the audacity to traumatize viewers in the comfort of their own living rooms.
Based on Stephen King’s novel and directed by horror veteran Tobe Hooper, Salem’s Lot is a slow-burn trip to a small town where everyone apparently decided that suspicious antiques dealers, creepy mansions, and children floating outside windows were totally normal neighborhood activities. The pacing is deliberate—translation: it takes its sweet time—but once things start getting weird, the film delivers some genuinely eerie moments that still work decades later. The vampire Barlow looks less like a seductive aristocrat and more like a Nosferatu nightmare that crawled out of a sewer and decided to ruin everyone’s evening. Honestly, it’s great.
The acting is exactly what you’d expect from late-70s television: earnest, occasionally stiff, and peppered with the kind of dramatic line delivery that feels like someone just discovered the concept of “ominous pauses.” Yet somehow it all works. The small-town paranoia builds nicely, and by the time the vampire infestation gets rolling, the movie feels like a gloomy horror snowball rolling downhill.
Now let’s talk about the real miracle here: the Arrow Video 4K release. For a production originally made for television, this thing looks ridiculously good. The new transfer brings out all the moody lighting, foggy graveyards, and candlelit dread in a way that makes the whole town feel even more cursed. Colors pop, details are sharp, and the overall presentation is far better than a TV movie from 1979 has any right to look.
Arrow also did the sensible thing and included both versions of the film. You get the full miniseries version in all its extended, slow-burn glory, plus the tighter theatrical cut on a separate 4K disc. It’s basically the “choose your preferred level of vampire doom” edition. And of course, because it’s Arrow, the set comes stacked with cool extras that dig into the production, the adaptation of the novel, and the film’s long-standing cult reputation.
Is Salem’s Lot perfect? Not even close. It’s occasionally clunky, very much a product of its time, and moves at the speed of a suspiciously pale neighbor slowly walking toward you in the fog. But it’s also creepy, atmospheric, and packed with moments that have stuck with horror fans for decades.
And thanks to Arrow’s excellent 4K release, this old TV terror now looks better than half the modern horror movies clogging up streaming services. Not bad for a vampire that originally aired between detergent commercials.
pecial Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATIONS of both the original two-part miniseries and the shorter theatrical cut distributed internationally
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATIONS OF BOTH CUTS
- 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 ONE – 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 TWO – THEATRICAL VERSION & EXTRAS
Image gallery
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
