Salem Falls

I thought this Lifetime movie looked interesting, so I picked up the book from the library. The book follows the main character, a man falsely accused of statutory rape, as he moves to a small town in New England. He registers as a sex offender, and settles in for only a few days before his secret gets out.

The movie alters a bit the role of the teenage Wiccans ("witches") In the book, there are 4 of them, including an awkward overweight girl. The movie has only 3, and they are all pretty and slender. Their spells do not seem to produce any results, where in the book they are able to cure a stroke victim and bring on a brain tumor in a classmate.

The "head" witch, Gillian, angry because Jack does not respond to her flirtatious advances, accuses him of rape, and he is immediately jailed.

The movie simplifies the storyline, and Jack is freed without a trial. When Addie hears that the sperm found on Gillian could have come from a blood relative, she immediately realizes it is from Gillian's father. This change is much more satisfying than the book's version. In the book, Gillian is being molested by her father, but no one ever realizes, and the molestation continues. Here, Addie confronts Gillian (turns out Gillian's father had raped her too, a complete deviation from the book, where Addie is raped by 4 boys in high school, none of which are Gillian's father) and convinces her to go to the police and tell them who really hurt her.

Also, the movie implies that Jack and Addie can live happily ever after, IN Salem Falls, because Jack is completely cleared. In the book, they decide to move away indefinitely, because (ignorant of Gillian's father's role in contributing the semen) the community still believes Jack to be guilty.