That sheriff was gone. - 'Salem's Lot (2004) Discussion

[–] MuMu2525 14 years ago

He was hot though.

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Sheriff was the only one with sense! He was out like shout lmao

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His character acted just like in the book.

In the book, Ben and Mark find him and want to tell him what's been happening. He says he doesn't want to hear it. He's already figured out what's going on, and he's leaving town to go live with his sister in Kittery. (As opposed to going to Florida to stay with his daughter and grandson.) In the book, he says the town's been dead for years and the people would probably like being vampires. There's nothing more that can be done to save it, so he's leaving.

I liked his line in this version. How he says he's not afraid to die...But they don't really kill you. It makes him less of a coward. He's saying he's not afraid of any normal threat...but he's not willing to risk becoming one of the undead.

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[–] Mimapopaluck 11 years ago

Every version of Parkins Gillespie bailed on the town. The book, the 1979 version, and this version.

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[–] RobsBottin 9 years ago

What I couldn't understand is why he didn't call in the FBI or the Army. For christ's sake a whole town succumbing to a *virus* and he simply walks away.

If life is a process, all judgements are provisional.

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[–] AtheistRevolution 9 years ago

Yea, tell the FBI and military you need help to fight vampires. That would go over well. Also even if they did come then they would just get turned into vampires unless they came with wooden bullets and stakes.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

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[–] RobsBottin 9 years ago

Anyone with a modicum of sense would not utter the word vampire and simply explain that *something* is happening to the town of Salem's Lot. It would be up to the FBI and the Army to ascertain what is going on. A town doesn't just die without an investigation.

If life is a process, all judgements are provisional.

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[–] AtheistRevolution 9 years ago

A sheriff contacting anyone would be useless.You would need the mayor to contact FBI or governor to get something done. And if you try to pass it off as a virus then they would bring in the CDC resulting in more victims. There is no way to really get a huge FBI/military presence without valid information. They would send a small group of people to investigate. And then what? You tell them to go into the basements or something?

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

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[–] RobsBottin 9 years ago

Valid information? Well for starters a thriving town that abruptly descends in to silence (during the day at least) dead cadavers, missing persons, relatives unable to contact loved ones. The list is endless and it's not a case of receiving valid information there would be enough empirical evidence to kick-start an investigation.

If life is a process, all judgements are provisional.

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[–] TorontoJediMaster 8 years ago

In the book, while making stakes in the Petrie basement, Jimmy says how it'll take weeks -months- to get all the vampires, if they ever do. He goes on to ponder what will they do when the Maine State Police show up to wonder just what has happened to Jerusalem's Lot. Will they just ask them to wait while they stake a bloodsucker?

In the prologue of the book, there's a lengthy article from a Portland newspaper describing how the Lot is now a ghost town. It says that the majority (i.e. well over half) of the former inhabitants whereabouts are known -Parkins Gillespie and a few other minor characters who have brief scenes in the book. However, NONE of the former Lot residents will say what happened to the town or why they decided to leave. The State Police allude a lot of the disappearances to just deadbeats (like Roy McDougall) deciding to get out from under.

In the mini-sequel "One for the Road", it depicts how residents of the neighbouring town of Falmouth know what's happened in the Lot. They all wear, or at least carry in their pockets, crucifixes or religious symbols. They also never go near the Lot -especially towards dusk. However, none of them ever say out loud what's happened, even to one another.

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[–] gary_overman 8 years ago

In the mini-sequel "One for the Road", it depicts how residents of the neighbouring town of Falmouth know what's happened in the Lot. They all wear, or at least carry in their pockets, crucifixes or religious symbols. They also never go near the Lot -especially towards dusk. However, none of them ever say out loud what's happened, even to one another.

Yes; they all know what happened in the Lot; they just won't say, not even to each other.

As if by ignoring the 'problem', it will just go away. Or, better yet, it never existed in the first place.

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[–] matthew-365 8 years ago

On the other hand, think of the sequel potential in having "The Shop" show up and try and find someway to exploit vampirism. Especially with how everything they meddle with ends up blowing up in their faces in spectacular fashion. When I read "On writing" and he described his writing process as, "What would happen if....", that was the first thing that came to mind.

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[–] AdmiralTugBenson 8 years ago

In Monster Squad little Eugene busts out his Crayons and writes a letter that simply says "Dear Army guys, come quik, there are monsters" and they show up in force.

"Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. Would you like a cookie son?"

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[–] AtheistRevolution 8 years ago

That sounds realistic.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

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[–] AdmiralTugBenson 8 years ago

You've never seen Monster Squad? It's pretty silly but fun, it's probably a movie best seen as a kid and then revisited as an adult with your nostalgia goggles on. But it's SO 80's that it's glorious. The Army responding to the Crayon letter was actually one of the less ridiculous things in that movie.

"Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. Would you like a cookie son?"

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