'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

(pb; 1975)


From the back cover:

"The town knew darkness. . . but no one dared talk about the high, sweet, evil laughter of a child. . . and the sucking sounds. . ."


Review:

'Salem's Lot  is an excellent, hard-to-put-down 'Old School' (if sometimes chatty) horror novel that effectively channels the slow-build, multilayered dread and gut-wrenching terror of  Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and late Sixties/early Seventies Hammer films, which are obvious (and stated) influences on Lot.  The characters are interesting and relatable, with their interlocking small-town histories and reactions to Straker and Barlow's insidious takeover of their town and its surrounding area.

Great read, this - worth owning.

Side-note: two of King's stories ("Jerusalem's Lot" and "One for the Road") from his anthology Night Shift are loosely linked to this novel.

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This novel spawned two television films and one cinematic sequel.

The first television film, which aired stateside on November 17, 1979, was directed by Tobe Hooper.  Paul Monash wrote the teleplay.

David Soul played Ben Mears.  Lance Kerwin played Mark Petrie.  James Mason played Richard K. Straker.  An uncredited Reggie Nalder played Kurt Barlow.

Bonnie Bedelia played Susan Norton.  Geoffrey Lewis played Mike Ryerson.  Lew Ayres played Jason Burke.  Elisha Cook Jr., billed as Elisha Cook, played Gordon "Weasel" Phillips.  George Dzunda played Cully Sawyer.  Kenneth McMillan played Constable Parkins Gillespie.  Fred Willard played Larry Crockett.

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Larry Cohen directed and co-scripted its theatrical sequel, A Return to 'Salem's Lot, released stateside in May 1987.  James Dixon, who played Rains, was Cohen's writing partner.

Michael Moriarty played Joe Weber.  Ricky Addison Reed played Jeremy Weber.  Samuel Fuller played Van Meer.  Andrew Duggan played Judge Axel.  Evelyn Keyes played Mrs. Axel.  Tara Reid played Amanda. June Havoc played Aunt Clara.  Ronee Blakley played Sally.

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The second television film, based on the original novel, aired stateside on June 20, 2004.  It was directed by Mikael Salomon.  Peter Filardi wrote the teleplay.

Rob Lowe played Ben Mears.  Dan Byrd, billed as Daniel Byrd, played Mark Petrie.  Donald Sutherland played Richard Straker.  Rutger Hauer played Kurt Barlow.  Samantha Mathis played Susan Norton.  Andre Braugher played Matt Burke.  James Cromwell played Father Donald Callahan.  Christopher Morris played Mike Ryerson.  Robert Grubb played Larry Crockett. 

The Last Detail by Darryl Ponicsan

(hb; 1970)

Review

In Norfolk, Virginia, two “lifer” Naval Petty Officers─Billy James Buddusky (a.k.a. “Billy Bad-Ass”), a book- and street-smart Polack with a temper, and Richard Mulhall (a.k.a. Mule), a black mostly level-headed man─pull “chaser” duty (escorting a fellow Navy man to the brig), a job considered to be choice work. Their prisoner, Lawrence Meadows, an eighteen-year-old, kind-hearted kleptomaniac, has stolen forty dollars from a charity box in commissary store. Because that charity box is favored a high-ranking officer’s wife, Meadows has been sentenced to a eight-year sentence in a Portsmouth, New Hampshire brig.

A fatalistic aura hangs heavy over this sometimes-hilarious, often heartbreaking story about three men who, for all their differences, become friends. It’s not just another detail for any of them─for Meadows, who’s inexperienced in worldly matters (“booze and broads”), it’s his first and (for a while) his last chance to enjoy relative freedom. For Buddusky and Mulhall it’s a disruption of their comfortable routine.

Unpredictable, full of wild behavior and sharp/raw dialogue, this is an exhilarating blast of a read. The ending is not Hollywood happy but it does not need to be because the heart of this novel is its memorable characters and their life-changing interactions. Great stuff, this. Followed by a sequel penned by Ponicsan, Last Flag Flying.

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The Last Detail was released stateside on December 12, 1973. Hal Ashby directed it, from Robert Towne’s screenplay.

Jack Nicholson played “SM1 Billy ‘Bad Ass’ Buddusky.” Otis Young played “GM1 ‘Mule’ Mulhall.” Randy Quaid played Seaman Larry Meadows.

Clifton James played “M.A.A.” Carol Kane played a “Young Whore.” Michael Moriarty played a “Marine O.D.” Nancy Allen played Nancy. Gilda Radner played "Nichiren Shoshu Member." Director Hal Ashby played "Bearded Man at Bar in Darts Scene" (an uncredited role).

Dog Soldiers, by Robert Stone

(pb; 1973, 1974)

From the back cover:

"Heroin. You pick it up in Southeast Asia. You smuggle it in through San Francisco. You sell it for all the ravenous American market will bear.

"For Converse, a disillusioned journalist, it is a perverse proof of his manhood. For his wife Marge, a college dropout working in a porno movie house, it is a new kick. For Hicks, a devotee of Oriental spiritualism and martial arts, it is another step past fear and moral scruples.

"For all of them it is a trip into a nightmare of lawless violence and insane greed."

Review:

Like the untenable and nasty war that helped spawn it (Vietnam), the events that take place after Ray Hicks smuggles heroin into the States are spectacularly f***ed-up. (Normally, Converse and Hicks smuggle marijuana, but the heroin pay-off, which looks to be astonomical, is too tempting.)

This is the melancholic, sordid and body-strewn milieu of Joseph Conrad, times ten. Converse is the cowardly, morally ambiguous American; Ray, his amoral American antithesis. Marge, Hick's wife in the States, with her growing needle habit, is just another victim. Even Antheil, whose smack Ray and Marge have fled with (after Antheil sends goons to whack them), is a victim of sorts, in a high-risk game where the wrong word in the wrong ear means instant death.

Bleak, ironic, crazy-violent and ultimately tragic, Dog Soldiers encapsulates many aspects of the Vietnam War, as seen by small-time eclectic "operators" whose cash and chemical endeavours arise from that struggle.

Stunning, pivotal work, this. Worth your cash and time.

The retitled film, Who'll Stop The Rain, was released stateside on September 8, 1978. Michael Moriarty played John Converse. Nick Nolte played Ray Hicks. Tuesday Weld played Marge Converse. Anthony Zerbe played Antheil. Richard Masur played Danskin.

Karel Reisz directed, from a script by author Robert Stone, and Judith Rascoe.