Like zombies, the vampire genre has been done to death. Many creature features slap some make-up and prosthetics on an actor, dump a few gallons of fake blood, and call it a day. Some recent takes have gotten it right. The Strain series brought us an original pass at the monsters, pulling its gnarly visuals brilliantly from the trilogy of novels co-written by horror guru Guillermo del Toro. Another gem is Blood Red Sky, which shows us what happens when a vampire is stuck on a hijacked plane. And, of course, there’s the modern classic Let the Right One In.

Based on a novel of the same name, the story is set in 1982 Sweden and revolves around Oskar, a reserved and mercilessly bullied 12-year-old. Oskar is a morbid kid who filters his anger through a fascination with murderers and stabbing a tree in his courtyard, pretending it’s his aggressors. Two new neighbors move in, including a strange girl Eli, whom Oskar only sees out at night while he counts down to the next day of demoralizing torment. The two become fast friends as Oskar slowly realizes Eli is a vampire. There is a solid American remake titled Let Me In from The Batman director Matt Reeves, and now we’re getting a Showtime series, Let the Right One In.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

As is usually the case with novel-based movies, a lot of material didn’t make it from the pages of the book to the pages of the script. These discarded chapters make the concept ripe for a stretched-out series, further looking into the characters and story precluded from the two original productions. How will the new Let the Right One In series compare to what we’ve already seen on the screen?

The Father-Daughter Dynamic

     Showtime

Set in New York City, the series will largely follow 12-year-old vampire Eleanor Kane (Madison Taylor Baez) and her father, Mark (Demián Bichir). This is an immediate departure from the relationship established between the vampire and her caretaker in the films. Both iterations see the vampire looked after and supplied with blood by adult men, but not her father, as she is hinted to be hundreds of years old.

Showrunner Andrew Hinderaker told EW:

Switching to a father-daughter dynamic raises the stakes of the series. At one point in Let Me In, “The Father” to vampire Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz) expresses acute fatigue from stalking and murdering people for blood harvesting, lamenting that he might just want it to be over. As Eleanor’s father, giving up on his blood (no pun intended) is not such an easy conclusion to reach. He is automatically more steadfast and devoted to the mission of keeping his daughter alive, as well as finding a cure for her condition. The vampire’s minder in both movies just begrudgingly goes along for the bloody ride.

The backstory of Eleanor being a vampire for ten years is perhaps a missed opportunity. Let the Right One In only dropped subtle clues about Eli’s (Lina Leandersson) actual age, with the character saying, “I’ve been 12 for a very long time.” Let Me In took it only a step further with Abby possessing a blatantly decades-old photograph of her, a young Father, and some truly ancient-looking puzzle toys.

The movies left it at that, which worked as it left a lot of room for the audience to speculate. But we still wanted to see more of the vampire’s origin. The series will only give us ten years to work with instead of hundreds, which could limit the extent to which we get to know Eleanor. We’re not looking for an Interview with the Vampire remake, but hundreds of years would have added a cool period element to the series that ten just can’t give us. Either way, this backstory and the screen time of a series will provide us with lots of potential to add to the lore.

Making Friends with a Vampire

The series looks like it will stick to the relationship between the two children established in the movies. The Oskar-Owen role is renamed Isaiah and played by Ian Foreman. The character will still be portrayed as a lonely and bullied kid who befriends the new neighbor in Eleanor. Both pre-teens are isolated by their lives and left lonely as a result.

Based on the trailer and plot details, the emphasis appears to be more on Eleanor herself, whereas the films were largely from Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Owen’s (Kodi Smit-McPhee) perspectives. This switch in vantage point could provide for an interesting dynamic not seen in either movie.

The Action and Scares

     EFTI

We haven’t seen much aside from an 80-second teaser, but Let the Right One In appears to be sticking to its understated and character-driven roots with occasional spurts of action and scares. The films had bloody frights but didn’t go over the top, instead relying on the relationship between the kids as their respective engines. A few truly terrifying jump scares are mixed into the character drama and culminate in a literal bloodbath in both films.

Our main gripe with the films is that they were horribly stingy with the details, though both movies are perfect in their understatement. But we still wanted more when the credits rolled. Overall, Let the Right One In looks extremely promising, hopefully offering fans a fatter artery to chew on this time around.