When he’s not writing our next horror obsession, Stephen King loves taking in pop culture made by others. In 2010, while he was a regular columnist for Entertainment Weekly — a stint that lasted from 2003 to 2011 — he declared his love for 10 films in particular, including everything from “Jackass 3D” to “The Social Network.” But number one on that list may be a bit of a surprise, especially for those who missed the fact that this horror movie came out at all: “Let Me In.”
The movie, which is based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel and remakes its 2008 Swedish adaptation, “Let the Right One In” (itself No. 2 on our list of best vampire movies ever made), centers on a bullied 12-year-old boy, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and his friend and eventual paramour, a vampire named Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz). King found it both beautiful and frightening, writing, “Moving and bloodthirsty, tender and horrifying, sweet and gruesome. These beautifully drawn contrasts — plus the bleak snowscape of Los Alamos, New Mexico — make ‘Let Me In’ the best remake … of the year, and the best horror film of the decade.” Here is everything you need to know about what “Let Me In” is about, and if King has personally written anything quite like it.
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What is Let Me In about?
Abby stares through her reflection in Let Me In – Overture Films/Relativity Media
“Let Me In” opens with a tense scene that lacks context. A man who’s been grossly disfigured by acid is taken to the hospital. Once he’s left alone, he jumps out of the window to his death. Then the movie flashes back to two weeks earlier.
It’s 1983 in the dead of winter when Owen meets Abby. She looks like she’s about his age, and she’s moving into the apartment next door. During that first interaction, she tells him they can’t be friends. The pair quickly become close anyway, regardless of her warning. Meanwhile, Abby’s “father,” Thomas (Richard Jenkins), kills a boy by draining his blood. Instead of bringing any of the precious fluid home to Abby — Thomas is not, himself, a vampire — he accidentally spills it. Hunger forces Abby to drink a neighbor’s blood instead. Thomas later tries again to get blood for Abby, but when he’s about to be captured, he pours acid over himself to at least make him unrecognizable. It’s an act that keeps Abby safe. At the hospital, Thomas lets the girl drink of him before plummeting to his death — that harrowing opening scene now has an explanation. Owen eventually discovers for himself that Abby is a vampire, and his new friend proves her loyalty to him by dismembering his bullies.
While “Let Me In” and its Swedish original share a lot of common traits, there’s some divergences. That’s especially true of the setting, which is Los Alamos in “Let Me In” and Stockholm in the Swedish version. The characters’ names naturally follow, changing from Oskar and Eli in “Let The Right One In” to the American-sounding Owen and Abby in the remake. The two films otherwise remain similar, although “Let Me In” lays in an undertone of unmissable Americana, including references to Ronald Reagan.
Has Stephen King written anything in the vampire genre?
Barlow showing his fangs in the 1979 adaptation of Salem’s Lot – Warner Bros.
Yes, Stephen King has written multiple novels and short stories in the vampire genre. His most notable work is his second novel, 1975’s “Salem’s Lot,” which is No. 10 on our list of best Stephen King books. In it, Kurt Barlow, an ancient vampire, settles down in Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, and manages to turn just about everyone in town before the horror is over. The book has been adapted for film and television three times. The best version is still the ’79 miniseries, even though it’s the troubled 2024 version that’s topping HBO Max’s streaming charts.
King also expanded on his vision of vampires in short stories, notably those continuing the “Salem’s Lot” saga. That includes a sequel story, “One for the Road,” and the prequel “Jerusalem’s Lot.” He also introduced vampires (partially via the Lot’s troubled priest, Father Callahan) to his Dark Tower epic during “Wolves of the Calla,” “Song of Susannah,” and “The Dark Tower” itself. King eventually establishes that, in his fictional world, there are different kinds of vamps. They are classified as Type Ones, which are hundreds of years old, Type Twos, which are recently turned humans, and Type Threes, which are infected but not dangerous.
Despite his love for these fanged horrors, King probably could never have written the novel for “Let the Right One In” or scripted its adaptations. The plot is too quiet and contemplative for his more active, rural American style, but that’s no insult. This kind of authorial diversity shows off the narrative flexibility of the vampire. While many readers think of these creatures as fueled by some ancient, relentless evil, they can also be young, innocent, and even genuinely romantic. It’s that complicated potential that makes vampires especially intriguing among movie monsters. “Let Me In” proves that in spades.
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Read the original article on Looper.
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