While 2024’s long-awaited director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is one of 2025’s most promising horror movies. Set in the Jim Crow-era South, Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan as a bootlegger who returns to his hometown only to discover that a supernatural threat has taken root in the community. If this plot sounds familiar, that might be an excuse it has a lot in common with a certain Stephen King story that was recently adapted.

While Sinners sounds like Lovecraft Country thanks to its blend of Black history and supernatural horror, Coogler’s movie also calls to mind Stephen King’s legendary vampire novel Salem’s Lot. Set in the titular town, Salem’s Lot concerns a writer who returns to his sleepy hometown to discover that a vampire has been slowly turning the local populace into vampires in his absence. Salem’s Lot was famously adapted for the small screen in 1978 by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, and a lesser 2004 miniseries reinterpreted the story for a new generation.

Sinners Looks Like A Much Better Vampire Movie Than Salem’s Lot 2024

2024’s Delayed Stephen King Adaptation Was A Major Letdown

Most recently, however, Annabelle Comes Home director Gary Dauberman directed an adaptation of Salem’s Lot in 2021. Although the movie’s shooting was completed in 2022, Salem’s Lot didn’t reach screens until October 2024. Many release date delays eventually gave way to a muted Max release, and by the ending of 2024’s Salem’s Lot, it was clear why the movie took such a long path to the screen. Although Dauberman did write 2017’s acclaimed King adaptation IT, his take on Salem’s Lot missed the mark disastrously.

The King adaptation received a lot of criticism for its evident re-editing, with some critics noting that scenes felt stitched together.

With only 46% from critics and an even worse 38% from audience on Rotten Tomatoes, it is fair to say that viewers and reviewers alike found Salem’s Lot dull, predictable, and lacking in depth. The King adaptation received a lot of criticism for its evident re-editing, with some critics noting that scenes felt stitched together and the pacing seemed egregiously poor. Fortunately, Sinners can now offer viewers a superior story of small-town vampire invasions, redeeming Salem’s Lot with a fresher, scarier take on similar material.

What Makes Sinners More Exciting Than Salem’s Lot

Sinners Reunites Ryan Coogler And Michael B. Jordan

Unlike Salem’s Lot, Sinners is an original story with no earlier existing adaptations to steal its thunder. After Nosferatu’s box office success, Sinners could help revive the vampire movie if Coogler’s movie proves a success, and there are plenty of reasons to trust that it will. For one thing, Sinners reunites Coogler with star Michael B. Jordan, who appeared in his earlier hits Fruitvale Station, Black Panther, Creed, and Creed III. For another, the ing cast includes major stars like Hailee Steinfeld and Jack O’Connell alongside Omar Benson Miller and Wunmi Mosaku.

For another, Coogler promises that Sinners won’t stint on action and horror. One of the major criticisms of Salem’s Lot was that, for a story of an entire town succumbing to a vampire invasion, it was shockingly sedate and leaden in its pacing. Sinners, with its blockbuster scale and big-name director, is unlikely to share this issue. Thus, Sinners may be the small-town vampire movie Salem’s Lot promised to be almost a year earlier.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes