EXPANDING ON JERUSALEM'S LOT: REVIEW OF THE 'CHAPELWAITE' SERIES
Just going to come right out and say this was an absolute treasure. If you haven’t watched it yet, do not worry about reading on as I will manage to cover the series without serious spoilers. However there will be ample warning near the end as I would still like to highlight a few things that are definitely spoilers.
Based off the Stephen King’s short story Jerusalem’s Lot, which had inspired the novel Salem’s Lot, this is a heavily expanded adaptation that tells a much larger, complicated and richer story than its source material.
This 10-episode series by Jason Filardi (in his horror writing debut) and Peter Filardi (writer for Salem’s Lot miniseries (2004)) tells the tale of Charles Boone (Adrien Brody), an ex-whaler and single father to three children he’d had with his Polynesian wife, and also the heir to the house Chapelwaite, left to him in his cousin’s will. On the eve of his wife’s funeral he decides to return to his ancestral family home and confront the curse that surrounds his bloodline that had driven his father to try and murder him as a child. However immediately after moving in the same madness begins building in him.
Discovering the family plot
Chapelwaite lies in the outskirts of the town, Preacher’s Corners, which is full of fearful and suspicious people. When they aren’t telling him to leave and escape his curse, they are accusing him and his family of infecting people with a plague that seems to be slowly afflicting people one-by-one. A plague that brings on lethargy, delusional behaviour and is accompanied by strange marks on their neck.
The paranoia of the villagers is played out meticulously as you see each important figure in Preacher’s Corners become more suspicious and aggressive to the Boones at their own individual pace. There is a rich and complex cast of memorable characters where even the most insignificant side character comes across with realism and individuality. The writing, casting and direction as a whole has really brought everyone in front of the camera together and made it feel like a real living and breathing community.
As it is based in 1850 it is also well researched and everything from the style of houses, clothing, expressions of business operations and social gatherings feel genuine and grounded in a way that is natural and believable. Even the subtle indications of what the Boone family’s life had been like on their ship beforehand is well woven into the narrative giving a rich history to the family’s motivations and personal behaviour.
Through this setting they have managed a phenomenal job of weaving together the three core plots surrounding the Boones along with the half-dozen sub-plots that involve other citizens of Preacher’s Corners. Principally the Boones must deal with their internal grief and growth as a family in a new environment from having lived on the sea for several years; the family dealing with the external pressures from the townsfolk, from both their racist views of his islander children coupled with their belief that the Boone name is a curse on any who bear it; and finally their own personal struggles with the dark forces that genuinely curse the Boone family line, and are to blame for the sickness (but not in the way the townsfolk perceive it).
In the forefront of most scenes is Adrien Brody, and he is an absolute powerhouse in this role, his intensity is palpable. Charles Boone is a demanding, intense character; vehemently devoted to his family with a single-minded determination to his business ventures even in the face of an entire town against him. Brody makes it look effortless to walk in Boone’s shoes. His slender build and gentle face, especially compared to the more portly and overly-expressive townsfolk, have given a great dynamic when the people of Preacher’s Corners underestimate him. Adrien is who you want when you need a soft-spoken, stern man to immediately shift to a laser-like focused rage that will drop a man twice his size, and then back again to genteel and polite. He really captures this wonderfully sympathetic and gentle character that shouldn’t be confused for weak or pliable.
His immediate supporting cast are, as you would hope, first grade. His children Honor (Jennifer Ens), Loa (Sirena Gulamgaus) and Tame (Ian Ho) are just brilliant, each with a stoicism that would be informed by their upbringing. Being her first role Jennifer Ens carries the strength of the eldest sibling amazingly well and I sincerely hope to see her in future productions.
Emily Hampshire as the childrens’ governess, Gord Rand as the local preacher, and Hugh Thompson as the constable, each perform their individual journeys into darkness expertly. They all work well with Adrien’s subtly and intensity, and no one ever feels over-shadowed or scene-stealing.
The final dressing on this, and often where some productions lose their immersion, is the special effects. The wounds inflicted on people throughout is all very realistic and brutal, the makeup on the monsters is wonderfully decrepit, and the various hallucinations and visions are terrifyingly realised. Even just the basic makeup on the regular people is handled realistically, especially for the period.
Overall this is must for anyone who likes their horror balanced evenly between atmospheric tension and monstrous violence, mixed with a good amount of character-based period drama. Even if, like me, you aren’t much of a fan of Stephen King, this adaptation is definitely made by people who love his style and ideas, and they have put it together in a story that never lets up or pauses for breath. Or as their inspiration would say:
SPOILER WARNING:
If you haven’t watched the series, and would like to experience it fresh stop reading now and skip to my score and where to watch it at the bottom.
Our first impression of the evil to come.
Influences to link this back to Stephen King’s work are both obvious and subtle. The vampires are depicted much in the way of Stephen King’s style, decrepit and gaunt. There is a reference that the main villain, Jakub, was brought to Jerusalem’s Lot from Maine (a popular location used in many of his novels). They have also expanded on the Lovecraftian book from the original story (as Stephen commonly used vague and overt references to H.P. Lovecraft’s work as well). Not only do we get to hear the mystical incantations in De Vermis Mysteriis (which includes a reference to Yog-Sothoth, from Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror), but we also get to see the apocalyptic visions that it gives to Charles Boone. What’s great is that all these elements aren’t just decorative references to the source material and author, they are integral and woven together. Everything feels like it belongs in this world, binding the atmosphere of a dark underbelly to the mundane horrors of prejudice from the normal humans.
When the true villains are introduced, the vampires and their cult are largely uncharacterised, focusing mainly on those directly affiliated with the Boones. Phillip (Julian Richings) and Stephen Boone (Steven Degrassi), are the first to be introduced and are wonderfully creepy and disturbing, and serve as a foreboding dread until the true villain is revealed. The ruler of Jerusalem’s Lot, Jakub.
This pinnacle of villains is played by Christopher Heyerdahl. Having experience as significantly more attractive vampires in both True Blood and The Twilight Saga movies New Moon and Breaking Dawn Part 1 & 2, he takes on the more traditional vampire look, very much inspired by Count Orlok in Nosferatu. He is brilliant and terrifyingly creepy in this role, his voice, mannerisms and demeanour evoke a person who has truly gone far beyond any sense of human concern (unlike the Boone vampires, who continue to hold to their old familial connections).
Jakub operates the vampiric cult, determined to bring their kind to supremacy over the world. He has the same wonderfully subtle intensity as Brody as he plays Charles Boone’s dark reflection, someone equally committed to his ‘family’ and single-minded in his goals and the certainty of his cause.
As the series escalates and the power play between Jakub and Charles Boone intensifies, it climaxes first at a siege by the vampire’s cult at Chapelwaite, and then at the final battle in Jerusalem’s Lot to prevent Jakub’s plans of bringing eternal night. These are fantastically orchestrated episodes of strategy and chaos that bring all the principle characters together. They are truly rewarding, as all the elements built up finally pay off in these intense moments.
RATING: 9/10
WHERE TO WATCH:
Epix and Amazon Prime (USA)
Stan (Australia)
