Lance Kerwin – Tripping Through Gateways

Hooper’s first Stephen King adaption, Salem’s Lot is a pretty straightforward vampire story. Popular writer Ben Mears has returned home to Salem’s Lot. But Mears is not the only person arriving in town. The mysterious Mr. Barlow and his employee Mr. Straker have arrived. Nobody has met Barlow, but he is taking up residence in the old Marsten House.

Mears actually has a theory that the house is evil and attracts evil men. And in this case, he will discover he is very right.

Townspeople start to get anemic and die, causing Ben to wonder if it is a vampire, but he needs proof. At the same time, he is falling in love with local teacher Susan Norton.

It becomes a race against time for Ben to find proof and defeat Barlow.

Salem’s Lot was a two-part mini-series, allowing it to explore the story more. Initially, we start witnessing the dark secrets of the town, such as the affair between Larry Crockett and Bonnie Sawyer.

There are some great visuals in the film, for example, a young boy is visited at his window by a friend who is floating outside. Hooper makes use of the atmosphere of his local very effectively.

I really like the choice of the vampire looking like Count Orlok from 1922’s Nosferatu.

While it can be a bit slow in it’s build up, it is a pretty decent vampire tale with good spooky atmosphere and sets. Salem’s Lot shows a real measure of improvement over Eaten Alive for Hooper as a director.

In the future, mankind has colonized space, but this has brought fresh dangers. Mankind is at war with a reptilian race called the Draks. During a firefight Earthling pilot, Willis and Drak pilot Jeriba find themselves stranded together on a hostile planet.

The two mortal enemies find themselves in a situation that requires cooperation to survive. Willis and Jeriba (who Willis refers to as Jerry) slowly build a bond, and as the years pass, their relationship becomes more like family.

Enemy Mine is a very simple story from Director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot and the NeverEnding Story). But this is because it really is more of a science fiction fairy tale. with the moral more important than the specifics of the story. And the moral here is that we are all more alike than we think. Or as Sting once philosophized…the Russians love their children too.

The film keeps from getting bogged down by any truly elaborate cultural details for the Draks. Their religion is relegated to a book that Jerry reads. He teaches the ideas to Willis, who finds that the religious beliefs are scarcely different from the ideas found within Christianity.

It is the makeup and Louis Gossett Jr.’s performance that sell the Draks as a completely non-human race. Gossett gives movements that are more like a lizard. And even after Jerry has learned English, he affects an accent of one who is not used to the language. Considering how cumbersome the makeup must have been, it is a real testament to Gossett Jr.’s talent to make it all come together so well.

Enemy Mine is at times thrilling, funny and ultimately heart warming.

Tag: Lance Kerwin

Special Visitor (Salem’s Lot, 1979)

Lost in Space (Enemy Mine, 1985)