Vampires are one of the greatest hallmarks of the horror genre. Generally, horror fans consider vampires villainous creatures like Dracula, whose main purpose is to kill people and suck their blood. However, new television series such as AMC's Interview With The Vampire and Showtime's Let The Right One In focus more on how vampires are vulnerable, lonely, and misunderstood creatures trying to find purpose and salvation in their infinite lives.
Interview With The Vampire is about Louis de Pointe du Lac, a successful businessman who owned brothels in New Orleans, and lived a prosperous life with his mother and siblings until a charming and intimidating vampire named Lestat de Lioncourt takes control over Louis' life. Let The Right One In centers on Mark Kane, a father who desperately wants to find a cure for his twelve-year-old daughter Eleanor, a vampire, so that they can settle down and live their lives without constantly going on the run. Both shows have intriguing stories on vampirism and characters with major obstacles, but which series is better?
Both Vampire Shows Have Intriguing Storylines
In Interview With The Vampire, Louis is a fascinating protagonist because he's a vampire who ultimately becomes a killer, but he's also a person filled with guilt and remorse. Louis bares his soul and his feelings during his one-on-one interview with writer and journalist Daniel Malloy (played with sarcasm and dark humor by Eric Bogosian). Louis is an elegant gentleman who, even in the present day, continues to live a rich and luxurious lifestyle, and is reflective with Daniel about his history as a brothel owner and a vampire, along with his complex relationship with Lestat.
Lestat is truly a piece of work. On the one hand, he is a charming and seductive man who enjoys watching opera and playing the piano, and is a lover of many tastes, but he is first and foremost a killer. He not only turns Louis into a vampire, but both men fall in love with each other while also hunting down humans (and occasionally animals) to feed themselves. As Daniel and Louis mention in their conversation, Lestat is Louis' creator, mentor, lover, and abuser.
In Let The Right One In, Mark Kane is a fearful father who primarily wants to do right by his daughter Eleanor. However, while Mark wants to find a cure for his vampire child and to find those responsible for her transition and curse, Mark is filled with sinful acts of violence. There are times when Mark kills individuals in order to take their blood so that Eleanor is fed when she gets hungry. Mark also tries to balance his daughter's care with a job as a chef in a restaurant he started with his friend Zeke Dawes (Eleanor's godfather) a decade ago.
Mark and Eleanor also grow close to their new neighbors (homicide detective Naomi Cole and her son Isaiah) in a New York apartment building, especially since both families are dealing with loss and hardships. There's also another connecting storyline involving Claire Logan, an intelligent scientist who is taking over her father's estate in order to find a cure for her brother Peter, who turned into a vampire and is recovering after he suffered serious sunburns.
Each Show Embraces And Condemns Vampirism
One of the greatest qualities of these shows is that they each establish the pros and cons of being a vampire. In Interview With The Vampire, Louis partly embraces his new eternal life as a vampire because he feels more alive and powerful than in his previous life as a mortal. However, as Lestat also knows from experience, being a vampire is dark and lonely, especially because a vampire stays the same age forever, cannot travel outside during daytime due to sunlight, and drinking blood is a vampire's primary feeding source.
While Lestat enjoys killing people, Louis feels guilty and disgusted when he commits murder, asking his mentor if vampires have a more meaningful purpose other than sucking people's blood. This is at the heart of Louis' story and his reflective talk with Daniel because Louis not only intends to look back on his career and share his most intimate thoughts, but also to warn the public about the dangers of vampirism.
Let The Right One In shares many of the same qualities involving the nature of vampires, particularly loneliness, murder, mayhem, and the impact vampires have on mortals. However, unlike Louis and Lestat, Eleanor is not a killer (sadly Mark is left with that burden for her to survive), but Eleanor uses her powerful abilities (moving fast, disappearing, climbing high on buildings) in order to capture the interest of her new friend Isaiah.
In the case of the Logan family, Peter hates the fact that there's a chance Claire can cure him because he doesn't want to grow old. By contrast, Eleanor wants to be cured to develop her newfound friendship with Isaiah, as well as go outside during the day and act like a human being. Eleanor hasn't fought as much (not yet at least) compared to Lestat and Louis' bloodbath of kills, but she is determined to help her father and avenge her mother's death.
Which Vampire Show Wins?
While both vampire shows are successful in forming intriguing, vulnerable, and diverse characters, along with complex plots and relationships, Interview With The Vampire is the slightly better series because of the lavish production design (from New Orleans in the early 1900s to present day 2022) and the gory action sequences. This series pays homage to Anne Rice's novels and Neil Jordan's 1994 feature, while also adapting a more layered story. Jacob Anderson's powerful turn as Louis is especially impactful as a gay black man who intends to be seen, embrace his identity, and understand his life as a vampire with Lestat and the charismatically ambitious Claudia.
Let The Right One In (adapted from the Swedish novel and the acclaimed 2008 film) doesn't have as much action, but there are some startlingly bloody scenes. As Mark and Eleanor, respectively, Demián Bichir and Madison Taylor Baez have powerful chemistry as father and daughter. Anika Noni Rose's role as Detective Naomi Cole is a responsible and loving mother to Isaiah, as well as a tough black cop who questions the racial disparities in her job and mysterious cases involving drugs and vampirism (which Cole isn't completely aware of yet).
It's debatable which vampire series is better, but both horror shows display how vampires live gruesome and complicated lives and aren't just killing machines. Vampires also have feelings and care about the people closest to them. Both shows will undoubtedly continue to bite and conquer in the years to come.