Summary
Stephen Kinghas talked aboutthe unique experience of having most of his work adaptedfor film and TV, and2025 has been a memorable time for King adaptations. From the smart kids inthe MGM+ seriesThe Instituteto the emotional experiences of relatable characters inThe Life of Chuck, these TV shows and movies have been compelling and fun. Although some of King’s past adaptations have fallen short, and the 2024 movieSalem’s Lotisn’t that exciting, he’s having a good 2025.
King doesn’t hide his true feelings when hedoesn’t like a movie or a certain performance, but he’s also enthusiastic about his favorites. He’s such a big pop culture fan that he evenwrote a column forEntertainment Weeklycalled “The Pop of King” that was published from 2003 to 2011. Several years ago, King shared a list of movies that he enjoyed from the past year, and he was thrilled with one remake of a horror movie.
Stephen King Praised Let Me In, The Dark Remake Of A Swedish Vampire Movie
Stephen King is a fan of the 2010 horror movie remakeLet Me In,which tells a moving and at times, hard to watch, story of a pre-teen and their complicated relationship with a vampire. In a column forEntertainment Weekly,King shared his favorite 2010 movies and saidLet Me Inis “the best remake of the year” and"the best horror film of the decade.“King described it as:
“Moving and bloodthirsty, tender and horrifying, sweet and gruesome.”
King also wrote:
“It’s a story of teenage love and loss that makes theTwilightfilms look pallid by comparison.”
Let Me Inis a remake of the 2008 Swedish horror filmLet The Right One In, which has a devastating endingand an overall creepy and sad tone.Let Me Intells the story ofOwen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who meets his new neighbor Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), who turns out to be a vampire. While Matt Reeves is known for directingThe Batmanand he’scurrently working on the highly anticipatedThe Batman - Part II, he also did a great job directingLet Me In.Both this remake andhis 2008 filmCloverfieldhave atmospheric settings, a clear point of view, and relatable characters. Although Abby is a supernatural creature, her struggles to fit in and feel loved are grounded in reality.
As King pointed out,Let Me Indoes something different fromthe popular vampire movieTwilight. Rather than focusing on battle scenes between fighting vampire groups or huge action scenes, it’sa quieter movie about the emotional experience that the two main characters go through. Since the firstTwilightmovie was released in 2008 and the final one came out in 2012,Let Me Inwas released around the same time, and it makes sense that King would compare them. Like King’s horror stories, the movie captures the emotions of its young main characters perfectly and treats them with admiration and respect. Owen and Abby have a lot in common with the Losers Club fromITas they get bullied and wonder if they fit in.
Let Me Inhas a high Rotten Tomatoes rating of 88% and a slightly lower Popcornmeter score of 76%, and it received several positive reviews when it was released. WhileKing has recommended several horror moviesthroughout his career, it’s particularly interesting when he shares his take on a vampire story.Salem’s Lot, which is about a small town filled with vampires, is one of King’s best-known and celebrated works. If King is a fan of another story about these paranormal creatures, that means a lot.
Where Can Fans Stream The 2010 Horror Remake Let Me In?
Let Me Inis streaming on a few different services: Plex, Hoopla, Kanopy, and The Roku Channel.It’s free on every service except for The Roku Channel, which is free with ads. The original movie,Let The Right One In, is available on the same streaming platforms.
While audiences are alwaysready for a fresh and creative take on vampire movies, bothLet The Right One Inand the 2010 remake offer something compelling. If King’s fans want to check outthe 2024 movie adaptation of his bookSalem’s Lot, which also deals with vampires, they can watch it on HBO Max. Fans can also rent the 1979 film on Amazon Video or AppleTV.
