Chapelwaite

Whole Lotta
‘Salem Going On

Chapelwaite
USA August - October 2021
Ten episodes
MGM

Warning: Mr. Barlow will enjoy some spoilers.

Chapelwaite is a ten part mini series based on an old Stephen King story, which many of you may remember reading in his short story collection Night Shift (I think I read it sometime in 1982). The story it’s based on is Jerusalem’s Lot which, as I’m sure many of you know, was a longish short story prequel to his popular novel ‘Salem’s Lot, set over one hundred years before the events which we all know and loved from both King’s amazing book and, no doubt, from having fond memories of being scared silly as kids, when the TV miniseries of ‘Salem’s Lot aired, starring David Soul (reviewed by me here). Based on is definitely the key phrase here though because, admittedly, when you try and stretch out a short story into ten episodes of approximately 50 minutes per episode, things are going to have to change or, at the very least, be expanded upon.

Such is the case here with some of the characters changed drastically from their source but with some of the incidents in the story being incorporated into the events which take place in the mini series. But, I didn’t find that such a problem, especially since (if memory serves and, if it doesn’t, then forgive me but it’s been 41 years since I last read it) the original story was told in the form of old letters of correspondence, with the fictional writers detailing the story from a first person point of view.

That being said, it’s actually a very strong series. It’s not one of those which attempts to wow you with a new twist or layer week after week, as certain elements are revealed, such as... say, From (reviewed here) or Yellowjackets (reviewed here). It sets out a lot of it’s narrative intent and path right from the start with, to be fair, not that many suprises around the corner. That being said though, it tells its tale in riveting fashion and, while not quite retaining the feel of King as, say, the completely non-King TV series Midnight Mass ironically did  (review coming soon), it’s still a very sturdy tale and it leans heavily on a very good script and a great cast of actors.

After the death of his wife at sea, Whaler Captain Charles Boone, played by the series’ executive producer Adrien Brody, inherits a handsome property in Maine from his cousin, named Chapelwaite... and decides to take his three children...  Honor (played by Jennifer Ens), Loa (played by Sirena Gulamgaus) and Tane (played by Ian Ho)... to live there and start a ship building business. However, there’s a curious malady in town killing people and the Boone family has been blamed for this. Pretty soon, the family curse which we see detailed in the pre-credits of episode one returns to haunt the grown up son (Brody) but, as he and his family, along with writer/governess/love interest Rebecca (played by Emily Hampshire), deal with the taint of his former family, not to mention the racial tensions caused by the skin tones of his children, it becomes clear that a) his cousins are not actually dead but... well... undead... and b) that the curious malady which has taken the small town in its grip is, of course, vampirism.

I won’t say any more of the plot as, like I said, there are not too many surprises but, it’s a sturdy ship of a show and the writing, acting and direction is all great. Actually, because like many shows, several different directors are hired for each episode, there are some minor stylistic differences in the way things are shot. The first episode (and, to some extent, the second), for example, feature a lot of establishing shots taken from a camera very low on the ground and looking up at the content of the frame... almost as a visual echo of the time when Charles Boone was whacked over the head with a shovel as a kid and having to look up and out of the grave his father dug for him. It’s a nice touch but it does seem to get jettisoned very early on in the series. This is not to say the direction is bad, however... just more noticeably different in this show than with others I’ve seen.

But it’s a great tale and, while not necessarily scary, it does have a lot to offer and, scares aside, there’s certainly a lot piled on in the way of tension and suspense. For example, when the family board Chapelwaite up and paint white crosses on its walls in expectation of a siege by a party of vampires and their human minions attempting to get in... the whole of the next episode is shot, almost in real time for a lot of it... and the battle for the house and something which is inside it (which two factions of vampires want, actually) lasts for the whole of episode eight. And it’s all topped off with the musical cherry on the cake via Mark Korven’s lovely score (sadly not available on CD at time of writing this).

One thing which worries me is the future of the show. Chapelwaite has a very definite ending to it... the story seems finished and some big sacrifices are made in the final episode. So it must have been as much as a surprise to the writers when the channel producing it renewed it for a second series.* Now, I really don’t know how they could continue this story in a plausible enough way so that the audience won’t think it’s a poor excuse for a sequel but, who knows, perhaps the only thing the new series will have in common is the house itself... plus various vampires (would be my guess). Either way though, I was really hooked on this one and Chapelwaite doesn’t disappoint on pretty much any level. Check this one out if Stephen King inspired, period vampire tales are your thing.

*Releasing very soon now, it would seem.