Yep — we’ve got one in Southwest Virginia; it’s right next to Roanoke, and I lived there for a little while.

The people there are awesome.  There are no vampires.  And the only weird, alarming newcomer in town was me.

Anyway, the new “Salem’s Lot” was damned good.  I loved it.  This movie successfully channeled the dark energy that made Stephen King’s 1975 novel such a feast for horror fans — how the vampires are portrayed.  They are at their scariest when they are mindless, Satanic minions of a mysterious overlord — and perversions of their former human selves.  (I love the “Blade” movies to no end, but their chic, cool, articulate monsters just aren’t as frightening.)

The directing was slick, the storytelling was rapid, and the newly tweaked plot elements worked for me.  The acting was good too.  If you are a genre fan, see if you can spot Pilou Asbaek (the mean-ass, ambitious pirate king from “Game of Thrones”), among others.

This was loads of creepy fun.  I recommend it.