Gary Dauberman on Salem’s Lot, Stephen King, and Horror Adaptations

Spooky play is present astatine last, and the latest instrumentality on Stephen King’s 1975 vampire novel Salem’s Lot is yet being invited into homes acknowledgment to its caller merchandise connected Max. io9 got a accidental to speech to writer-director Gary Dauberman—a fixture successful the fearfulness realm acknowledgment to his extended acquisition successful the Conjuring Universe (especially the Annabelle and Nun series), arsenic good arsenic his screenplays for It and It Chapter Two—about however helium approaches adaptations, his emotion of drive-in movie theaters, what he’s moving connected next, and more.

Cheryl Eddy, io9: Salem’s Lot was primitively meant to beryllium a theatrical release. What was it similar from your constituent of view, the travel that brought it to yet becoming a streaming merchandise connected Max? 

Gary Dauberman: It’s similar being a rider successful a car wherever you’re blindfolded and you don’t cognize wherever the destination is, and it feels similar you could deed a partition immoderate minute. And the car was connected a bumpy road. I’m gladsome radical tin spot it finally, [but] that’s benignant of however it felt—fraught with anxiousness and fearfulness and frustration.

io9: The archetypal publication is doorstop-sized. What was your criteria for deciding what elements you wanted to transportation implicit from the book, and which ones you wanted to change and marque your own?

Dauberman: As you said, the book’s truly dense successful a large way. One of my favourite things astir King is however helium populates his towns, whether it’s Castle Rock oregon Derry oregon Jerusalem’s Lot, with precise existent characters, and everybody feels similar they could beryllium a pb successful different story. I deliberation the biggest situation I had is truly deciding—“Ok, can’t archer his story. Can’t archer her story. Who bash I request to absorption connected to marque this into a digestible, one-sitting portion of entertainment?” It’s astir truly crystallizing it down to the halfway communicative elements, the halfway characters, portion hopefully inactive feeling similar there’s different stories that could beryllium going connected disconnected surface that’s informing our main storyline. 

That’s truly the biggest challenge, and it’s the aforesaid situation I had with It. But I was relieved to find the assemblage was truly forgiving successful presumption of things we couldn’t research for the astir part. So I felt similar I had a small spot much state to bash that, due to the fact that with It, I was ace anxious astir like, “Oh my god, we didn’t get to this, we didn’t get to that.” I felt small spot much truly much comfy doing that due to the fact that I felt similar we got distant with it successful It.

© New Line Cinema/Max

io9: Certain elements felt de-emphasized successful this mentation of the story, particularly the past of the Marsten House and Ben Mears’ backstory that ties into it. Why did you privation to propulsion backmost connected that?

Dauberman: Well, the Marsten House is successful the movie, truthful you bash person benignant of that beacon of evil.

io9: You bash get immoderate backstory successful the opening credits and there’s a mates of small lines present and there. But successful the book, there’s a batch much item astir who lived determination earlier and that benignant of thing.

Dauberman: So I changeable that. I person that. But you person to benignant of determine what you’re telling. It became, like, “Is it a shade communicative oregon is it a vampire story?” And it became, like, “Is this muddying the waters for the assemblage a small bit?” The Marsten House plays a large portion successful Ben’s past due to the fact that it’s however helium believes successful vampires beauteous rapidly due to the fact that he’s had an acquisition arsenic a kid. Part of the past comes retired successful dialog and worldly present and determination successful the movie. But it was 1 of those—you know, the Marsten House is simply a quality and it’s 1 of those characters I benignant of had to diminish a small spot successful bid to archer different stories.

io9: I was funny wherefore we didn’t get Ben explaining that erstwhile helium was a kid, helium went into the location and had this experience. That was the 1 happening I truly missed. 

Dauberman: Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah.

io9: Like It, Salem’s Lot has been adapted before. Did you instrumentality into relationship choices made by the erstwhile adaptations? 

Dauberman: I don’t deliberation astir it excessively overmuch due to the fact that I consciousness similar if everybody’s fixed the aforesaid story—if 10 radical are fixed the aforesaid story, we’re going to get 10 antithetic versions of that story. So I don’t truly see it. I bash successful presumption of like, you know, with the ‘79 version, I cognize Pilou [Asbæk, who plays Straker] and I truly liked James Mason successful that, truthful we benignant of riffed disconnected that. Obviously Barlow leans much towards the ‘79 mentation than the publication version. So determination are influences from it, but they’re not conscious successful presumption of, “I similar however they did that, truthful I’m going to bash that.” You know, it informs the decision, but it isn’t the full crushed for making a decision, if that makes sense.

io9: A caller summation to your take, which I thought worked truly well, was the drive-in theater. What was the inspiration there?

Dauberman: Well, I bash emotion drive-ins. My wife’s from Portland, Maine, truthful we walk a batch of clip successful Maine and there’s inactive drive-ins happening and each that. But truly it came down to trying to find a spot where—I truly wanted our leads to beryllium confronted with a clump of vampires. I thought astir assemblage and wherever radical stitchery connected weekends that wasn’t needfully religion backmost successful that era. It felt refreshing to beryllium astatine a drive-in movie due to the fact that that is my church, is simply a movie theater. So I wanted to play with that element. 

In the book, they spell from location to location and they termination vampires. And I thought, well, I’ve got to condense that … and it would beryllium chill if they’re each unneurotic [at this 1 location] … When I thought astir that acceptable portion and the prima going down and each that, I got truly excited due to the fact that I hadn’t seen that before. So that’s however that came about.

© New Line Cinema/Max

io9: And adjacent beyond that, tin you speech astir however your mentation approaches that 1970s setting? 

Dauberman: I emotion moving successful the ‘70s. I was calved successful ‘77, but I conscionable emotion the vibe. I emotion the texture, I emotion the music. I don’t cognize why, but it feels similar a large mounting for a fearfulness movie—but it’s besides the clip play the publication takes spot in, and that was truly important to maine too. I had nary involvement successful doing a modern mentation of the story. I felt similar that’s a communicative down the road. I wanted to bash what the [the book’s mounting was].

It’s absorbing due to the fact that successful Maine and places similar Maine, immoderate places inactive consciousness similar the ‘50s. It benignant of feels similar that immoderate clip play the municipality was settled oregon whatever, it benignant of froze there. And I thought that was benignant of fun. So that’s benignant of wherefore I had Straker beryllium a small spot much ‘70s benignant successful his dress; it felt a small spot much removed and isolated from the locals and townspeople who benignant of go enamored by this foreigner.

io9: In immoderate vampire story, the “rules,” if you will, volition alteration a small bit. Obviously, you had the publication giving you immoderate guidance connected that, but however did you determine connected what you were going to see successful your movie, particularly the glowing crosses? I don’t cognize if I’ve seen that before.

Dauberman: I hadn’t seen that before, which is wherefore I utilized it. He mentions the colour of God’s airy successful the transverse successful the book. And I was like, that’s benignant of cool. I was trying to deliberation astir however to visually archer the communicative of religion and belief. And I thought astir that glow and the unit that content benignant of exudes from the cross; I didn’t privation to bash just, you know, vampires scowling and moving backmost and stepping backmost and not looking astatine the cross, due to the fact that I consciousness similar we’ve seen that before. 

io9: I liked however you utilized the comic books. It reminded maine a small spot of The Lost Boys.

Dauberman: The Lost Boys is astir apt my favourite vampire movie. It’s 1 of my favourite fearfulness movies. I emotion it truthful much, and I emotion that it’s truthful amusive and scary. I deliberation that the power of that movie is successful a mates of places for sure.

© New Line Cinema/Max

io9: After Salem’s Lot you person the Train to Busan remake and the Until Dawn adaptation, arsenic good arsenic a Gargoyles live-action series. What is it astir adaptations successful peculiar that inspires you arsenic a writer/filmmaker, arsenic opposed to archetypal stories?

Dauberman: You know, I deliberation astir this a lot. I don’t take 1 implicit the other; I similar archetypal stories a lot. But it’s hard, also, to marque archetypal movies these days, and I emotion that radical are doing it. I find myself telling a batch of archetypal stories nether the guise of IP, whether it beryllium the Annabelle stories oregon The Nun … Gargoyles was an animated series, I loved it, and I cognize radical my property truly emotion it. I privation radical my son’s age, 14, 15, I privation them to emotion it, too. You know, present them to the animated series. But also, a unrecorded enactment mentation truly excites me. I deliberation it’s truly cool. And I deliberation an assemblage contiguous would truly excavation it. 

Until Dawn—I don’t cognize what I tin accidental astir Until Dawn … but it’s an archetypal story, and it’s expanding the communicative and much of Until Dawn. It’s a portion of a larger puzzle, the movie. So it’s not conscionable doing the game. We didn’t privation to bash that. If we conscionable did the game, I would consciousness like, “I conscionable privation to spell location and play the game,” you cognize what I mean? I don’t privation to beryllium determination and ticker what I could beryllium playing astatine home. So I attack video games similar that: however tin I marque it different, marque it consciousness similar it’s an additive constituent to the story, arsenic opposed to conscionable doing the story.

And Train to Busan is 1 of my favourite fearfulness movies; Timo [Tjahjanto] I emotion arsenic a director. I conscionable got excited astir that. But I besides treated it arsenic like—well, I deliberation that’s an reply for down the line. But again, I effort to look sometimes astatine adaptations arsenic not conscionable a consecutive “one to one.” It’s much about, however tin I grow the communicative oregon marque it consciousness similar it sits alongside thing that’s already existed?

Salem’s Lot arrives October 3 connected Max.

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