Lewis Pullman and Alfre Woodard star in the horror drama about an author who returns to his hometown in search of creative inspiration, only to find it under attack by a monster.

It’s the fall of 1975 when writer Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to his childhood home in rural Maine, hoping the sleepy enclave might offer something in the way of inspiration. His previous books have been derided by critics. His publishers, it seems, are losing patience. 

Premiering on Max, Salem’s Lot is a clipped horror that partially works thanks to a handful of assured performances and key style choices. Unlike the Stephen King novel it’s based on or Tobe Hooper’s popular 1979 miniseries adaptation, however, director Gary Dauberman’s new film forgoes much of the small town drama to delight in typical creature feature machinations.

Dauberman, who is best known for his Conjuring universe entries Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation and Annabelle Comes Home, and casting director Rich Delia make some inspired choices that complicate King’s tale. Most notably, they make Mark (Jordan Preston Carter), the precocious new kid whose fearlessness inspires equal parts admiration and suspicion from his classmates, Black. But Dauberman’s screenplay misses the chance to consider how Mark’s race is considered in this mostly white, seemingly conservative area.

Mark’s personality, which is typified by the impulsivity of youth, is well complemented by Ben, played with a soft-spoken and bookish posture by Pullman (recently seen as a grifter in Elizabeth Banks’ slight but entertaining thriller Skincare). As relative newcomers to this insular enclave of paranoid cops and gossipy ladies, Ben and Mark share a status as outsiders and are thrust into each other’s lives after the disappearance of the boys whom Mark had counted as friends.

Ralph’s abduction is staged with a striking use of silhouettes, in one of a handful of exciting style choices that also includes a visual language defined by cold blues and even chillier oranges. It doesn’t take long for Mark to realize that vampires are behind the disappearance of his friends. To save the community, he partners with the adults around him, including Ben, Susan, English teacher Mr. Burke (Bill Camp) and physician Dr. Cody (Alfre Woodard).

Part of the struggle with this revamped Salem’s Lot is where Dauberman chooses to focus his attention during the slender runtime. This version runs a little under two hours, which can feel meager when compared to Hopper’s 1979 version or Mikael Salomon’s 2004 miniseries. In its eagerness to get to the monster material, the film abandons the enduring themes of King’s novel: the paranoia bred by a specific kind of suburban and rural American life, the xenophobic attitudes that blind people to the reality of their situation and how much they need one another to survive.