What was too far away and out of focus on the DVD is still a tiny blur on the blu-ray. And reviewers often talk about being able to read small text and other detail that wasn't visible in the old transfer, and usually I find that not to be the case. The DVD just looks soft, smudgy and washed in comparison. Just look how much clearer the new transfer is and how much more you can make out of Lew Ayres in this extreme zoom-in. Warner Bros 1999 DVD top Warner Bros 2016 blu-ray below. But before you bemoan any lost slivers of picture, you can briefly catch glimpses of boom mics on the DVD, so the slightly tighter framing is surely more correct. And, in fact, it's actually a little zoomed in compared to the DVD. Once again, they've opted for fullscreen, which does feel a little boxy with a lot of free space sometimes but you really can't fault them for going with the OAR.

There has also clearly been some color-timing work done, or undone, as you can see in the blue tint removed from the nighttime shot above.

I definitely wasn't expecting it to look this good. Look at the pores on Kenneth McMillan's skin in the last shot! Warner Bros hasn't put out much information on what they've done that I've seen, but it looks like they've made taken a fresh scan of the original negatives. 😎 You're welcome, world!Īnd boy does it look great! The detail is so fresh and naturally film-like. Update 8/23/21: I originally ended my post by hoping Scream Factory would give us A Return To Salem's Lot on blu, and now they have.

Update 12/3/16 - 1/27/17: I figured instead of just having a little, throw-away paragraph about the remake, I'd give that one proper DVD coverage, too, and make this a definitive Salem's Lot post - enjoy! But now that Warner Bros has released a killer new HD restoration blu with an all-new audio commentary by Tobe Hooper at a sell-through price, and who could pass that up? Especially since I've already got the sequel.

Couple that with the fact that it never got a special edition, or even could quite decide whether it should be the shorter theatrical cut or widescreen or the TV version or what, and I just never felt compelled to pull the trigger. But the fact that it was made for TV did put me off a little in the prime days of DVD. I even saw a few scenes as a little kid when it aired on TV and they were some of the few really scary horror moments for me.

Salem lot movie blu ray