Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 24, 2026

For all of the rightly beloved big budget big screen adaptations of Stephen King's pretty immense shelf of tomes, sometimes it's the "little things" that matter most, and in that regard, this 1979 miniseries remains fondly remembered by many to this day. Salem's Lot received a 1080 Blu-ray release several years ago courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment, but Arrow is now providing a really stacked to the gills two 4K disc edition which aggregates several versions of the property, along with Arrow's typical bounteous assortment of bonus items, as well as handsome packaging and swag.

Martin Liebman's Salem's Lot Blu-ray review of the 2016 release in 1080 from Warner Brothers provides ample plot information, a list of supplements and Marty's reaction to the technical presentation.

Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate.

Salem's Lot is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfers in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentations:

Salem's Lot has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films. Both versions of the film - the original TV miniseries version and the Theatrical Cut released internationally - are presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 with their original monaural soundtracks.

The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative of the TV Cut version and a 35mm interpositive of the Theatrical Cut version were scanned in 4K 16 bit at Warner Bros. / Motion Picture Imaging.

The film was restored in 4K and coulour traded at Silver Salt. The mono soundtracks were restored from the original DME tracks by Bad Princess Productions.

All materials sourced for this new mater were made available by Warner Bros.

In order to present the original miniseries format as accurately as possible, reference was made to archive video maters as well as an original 1979 off air recording, the latter generously supplied by Robert Richardson.

QC review was complete by Pixelogic.

Marty was quite enthusiastic about the now fairly old original 1080 release from Warner Brothers itself, but my hunch is he'd be more generally enthused about this 4K edition, though there are some variances at play here that were simply not part of that original release, which only featured one version of the property. The TV Cut probably has a slight edge based on its source, with admittedly picayune improvements in fine detail when compared to the Theatrical Cut. All of the versions on both discs in this set boast healthy palettes which get some interesting highlights courtesy of the HDR / Dolby Vision grades, but which can also show slight signs of color instability at times. The increased resolution may point out things like the "seams" on some of the vampire make-up, but fine detail on things like those grody vampire teeth is often strikingly palpable looking. Outdoor material in particular pops extremely well. Grain is typically well handled, if observably thick a lot of the time, especially in some of the old school composited effects shots.

Note: I'll simply point folks once again to my interview with the fine folks at Silver Salt, all of whom worked on this release.

Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kind of interestingly the two versions of Salem's Lot on Disc One in this set sport DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks, while the version on Disc Two has an LPCM Mono track. I frankly heard little if any difference in overall amplitude and ambience between any of the tracks, but all of the versions contained in this set can be rather variant in terms of sound design and even some scoring choices, and so they make for a rather compelling comparative experience, maybe somewhat comparable to how different editing techniques alter the video side of things so much in the different versions. There's arguably a not overly prominent low end, though some of the more booming sound effects and scoring choices resonate rather strongly, all things considered. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One - Original Television Mini-Series Version

Play Film offers three submenu choices:

Play Miniseries Part 1 (UHD; 1:35:51)




Play Miniseries Part 2 (UHD; 1:36:01)




Play as Extended Movie (UHD; 3:03:25)

• Commentaries

Commentary by Tobe Hooper




Commentary by Bill Ackerman & Amanda Reyes

• Alternate TV Footage

Commercial Bumpers (UHD; 00:16)




Antlers Death (Original Broadcast Version) (UHD; 00:21)

• Shooting Script Gallery (UHD)

Disc Two - Theatrical Version and Extras

• Theatrical Cut (UHD; 1:50:11)


• Commentary by Chris Alexander


• King of the Vampires (HD; 21:09) is a new interview with Stephen King biographer Douglas E. Winter.


• Second Coming (HD; 26:00) is a new appreciation of King and Salem's Lot by Grady Hendrix.


• New England Nosferatu (HD; 13:08) is a new interview with Mick Garris.


• Fear Lives Here (HD; 6:56) is a new tour of filming locations hosted by Elijah Drenner.


• We Can All Be Heroes (HD; 9:19) is a new appreciation featuring Heather Wixson.


• A Gold Standard for Small Screen Screams (HD; 19:50) is a new appreciation featuring Joe Lipsett and Trace Thurman.


• Trailers

Salem's Lot (1979) (HD; 3:23) is kind of interestingly in 1.78:1.




A Return to Salem's Lot (HD: 00:44)




Salem's Lot (2024) (HD; 2:30)

• Image Gallery (UHD)

This is another handsomely packaged effort from Arrow. An O ring style slipcover encloses a slipbox which itself holds the keepcase, a perfect bound collectors' booklet, and a double sided fold out poster featuring the same two art options that are on the reversible keepcase sleeve. The booklet has some fantastic writing by a variety of people, as well as a ton of archival material. The keepcase also somewhat cheekily has a Salem's Lot town sign sticker.

Salem's Lot 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may be slightly ironic that this vampire epic directed by Tobe Hooper is probably more widely appreciated than his much more fulsomely budgeted Lifeforce. Fans of this miniseries should be overjoyed by the different versions Arrow has assembled for this release, versions which can show some rather distinct differences in terms of narrative sequencing and editing techniques. As usual Arrow has also aggregated some really appealing supplements, and provided handsome packaging and enjoyable swag. Recommended.