Spooky season is finally here, along with the latest take on Stephen King’s 1975 vampire novel. This is Salem’s place is finally being invited to homes thanks to its new release on Max. io9 got a chance to speak with writer-director Gary Dauberman – who plays in the horror scene thanks to his extensive experience Integration The Universe (especially the Annabelle again Nun series), and his screenplays It again Chapter Two—about how he deals with situations, his love of drive-in theaters, what he’s working on next, and more.
Cheryl Eddy, io9: This is Salem’s place it was originally intended for theatrical release. What was it like in your opinion, the journey that eventually led to the release of the broadcast on Max?
Gary Dauberman: It’s like being a passenger in a car with your eyes closed and you don’t know where you are, and it feels like you could hit a wall at any moment. And the car was on a hilly road. I’m glad people can finally see it, [but] that’s how it felt—full of anxiety and fear and frustration.
io9: The first book is the size of a door. What was your process for deciding which elements you wanted to carry over into the book, and which ones you wanted to change and make your own?
Dauberman: Like you said, this book is really dense in a good way. One of my favorite things about King is how he fills his towns, whether it’s Castle Rock or Derry or Jerusalem’s Lot, with real characters, and everyone feels like they could be a leader in another story. I think the biggest challenge I had was really deciding—“Okay, I can’t tell his story. I can’t tell his story. Who should I focus on to make this digestible, one-time entertainment?” It’s about distilling it down to the main elements of the story, the main characters, while hopefully still feeling like there are other stories that can come up on screen that inform our main storyline.
That is a very big challenge, and the same challenge I had It. But I was relieved to find the audience really forgiving about things we couldn’t explore for the most part. So I felt like I had a little freedom to do that, because I didn’t ItI was very worried about, “Oh my god, we didn’t get to this, we didn’t get to that.” I felt more comfortable doing that because I felt like we didn’t make it It.
io9: Certain things felt like they could be emphasized in this version of the story, especially the history of Marsten House and the backstory of Ben Mears that goes along with it. Why did you want to back off from that?
Dauberman: Well, the Marsten House is in the movie, so you kind of have that bag of badness.
io9: You get the backstory in the opening credits and there are a few lines here and there. But in the book, there are a lot of details about who lived there before and that kind of thing.
Dauberman: So I shot that. I have that. But you have to choose what you tell. It was, like, “Is it a ghost story or a vampire story?” And it was, like, “Is this muddying the waters for the audience a little bit?” Marsten House plays a big role in Ben’s past because it’s how he believed in vampires so quickly because he had an experience as a child. Part of the history comes from the dialogue and things here and there in the movie. But it was one of those—you know, Marsten House is a character and it’s one of those characters that I kind of cut back a little bit to tell other stories.
io9: I wanted to know why we don’t get Ben explaining that when he was a kid, he came into the house and had this. That was one thing I really missed.
Dauberman: Gotcha. Yes. Yes.
io9: as It, This is Salem’s place it has been changed before. Have you considered the decisions made in previous adaptations?
Dauberman: I don’t think too much about it because I feel like everyone is given the same story—if 10 people are given the same story, we’re going to get 10 different versions of that story. So I don’t really think about it. I did the same, you know, with the ’79 version, I know Pilou [Asbæk, who plays Straker] and I really liked James Mason in that, so we did that. Apparently Barlow leans more heavily on the ’79 version than the book version. So there are influences from it, but they don’t know about, “I like the way they did that, so I’m going to do that.” You know, it informs the decision, but it’s not the whole reason for making the decision, if that makes sense.
io9: A new addition to your take, which I thought worked really well, was the drive-in theater. What was the motivation there?
Dauberman: Well, I love drive-ins. My wife is from Portland, Maine, so we spend a lot of time in Maine and still have people coming in and all that. But it really came down to trying to find a place there—I really wanted our trail to deal with a lot of vampires. I thought about the community and where people met on the weekends which was not really a church at that time. It felt refreshing to be in a movie that brings in so many people because that’s my church, the theater. So I wanted to play with that element.
In the book, they go from house to house and kill vampires. And I thought, well, I have to shorten that … and it would be nice if they were all together [at this one location] … When I thought about that set piece and the sunset and all that, I was very happy because I had never seen that before. And so it was.
io9: And more than that, can you talk about how your version approaches that 1970s setting?
Dauberman: I love working in the ’70s. I was born in ’77, but I love the vibe. I love music, I love music. I don’t know why, but it feels like a great setting for a horror movie—but it’s also the time the book takes place in, and that was very important to me as well. I was not interested in doing a modern version of the story. I felt like this was the story on the road. I wanted to do that [the book’s setting was].
It’s interesting because in Maine and places like Maine, some places still feel like the ’50s. It feels like any time the city is settled or anything, it just freezes over there. And I thought that was fun. So that’s why I made Straker have a more ’70s style to his outfit; it felt a little removed and except for the locals and townspeople who were fascinated by this stranger.
io9: In any vampire story, the “rules,” if you will, will be slightly different. Obviously, you had a book that gave you guidance on that, but how did you decide what to include in your movie, especially the glowing crosses? I don’t know if I’ve seen that before.
Dauberman: I had never seen that before, that’s why I used it. He talks about the color of God’s light on the cross in the book. And I was like, that’s cool. I was trying to think of how to tell the story of faith and belief. And I thought of that light and power of belief that comes from the cross; I didn’t want to just do, you know, vampires who back off and back off and don’t look at the cross, because I feel like we’ve seen that before.
io9: I liked your use of comic books. It reminded me a bit The Lost Boys.
Dauberman: The Lost Boys probably my favorite vampire movie. It’s one of my favorite horror movies. I really like it, and I like that it’s fun and scary. I think the influence of that film is in a few places for sure.
io9: after This is Salem’s place you have Train to Busan remake again Until Dawn adaptability, and a The Gargoyles live action series. What is it about situations in particular that inspires you as a writer/filmmaker, as opposed to real stories?
Dauberman: You know, I think about this a lot. I do not choose one over the other; I like real stories a lot. But it’s hard, too, to make original films these days, and I love that people are making them. I find myself telling a lot of real stories under IP, whether it’s Annabelle news or Nun … The Gargoyles it was an animated series, I loved it, and I know my peers really do. I want people my son’s age, 14, 15, I want them to love him, too. You know, they’re silent in the animated series. But then again, the live action version really excites me. I think it’s really cool. And I think audiences today would really dig it.
Until Dawn– I don’t know what to say Until Dawn … but it is the first story, and it expands the story and more Until Dawn. An episode of the big puzzle, the movie. So it’s not just about making a game. We didn’t want to do that. If we’re just doing a game, I can feel like, “I want to go home and play a game,” you know what I mean? I don’t want to sit there and see what I can play at home. So I look at video games like that: how can I make it different, make it feel like it’s part of adding to the story, instead of just making the story.
Again Train to Busan it is one of my favorite horror movies; Timo [Tjahjanto] I like as a director. I just got excited about that. But I also treated it like a match—well, I think that’s the line answer. But again, I try to look at sometimes adaptation as not just “one-to-one” direct. More about, how can I expand the story or make it feel like it’s sitting next to something that’s already there?
This is Salem’s place arrives on October 3 at Max.
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