John Carpenter Calls This Beautiful and Brutal Vampire Classic on Peacock “Terrific”
This past week, a parody account shared screenshots of what, at first, appeared to be esteemed horror filmmaker John Carpenter’s Letterboxd account. Don’t worry, it’s not real, and it might have confused the hell out of John Carpenter himself.
The account, however, did at least accurately mimic Carpenter’s distinct brand of curmudgeon. When he’s not playing Prince of Persia or scoring the latest Halloween trilogy (because God knows he’s not directing another movie), he’s regularly sharing how he feels about the latest and greatest (and worst) in modern filmmaking. He hated Oppenheimer, for instance, and had no qualms sharing why that was. It’s par for the course with Carpenter, a filmmaker who has never shied away from sharing what he really thinks—just check out his thoughts on Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II for reference. Occasionally, however, he does find something he loves, and John Carpenter really loves Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In.
Per Peacock: In a Stockholm suburb, a lonely 12-year-old misfit boy finds a soulmate in the form of a vampire child who recently became his neighbor.
Adapted from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s seminal 2004 novel of the same name, with Lindqvist’s also scripting the film, Let the Right One In remains one of the century’s best horror movies. Even the American remake, Matt Reeves’ Let Me In, is pretty good, highlighting the sheer strength of the source material. There have been a lot of good vampires this century, but I have little doubt Let the Right One In will remain the best.
A few years ago, Comic Book asked Carpenter about the state of modern horror. By this point, David Gordon Green’s Halloween legacy sequel had been released, and for the first time in several years, Carpenter was back to being a major player in the horror scene. Check out his response below:
“No, I see the plumbing. You have to be young, young is good, and know a little less [to get scared]. But when a movie does affect me, that means it’s great because it’s gotten past all my sensors […] There was a movie a few years ago I thought was just fabulous. It was called Let the Right One In. I believe that was a Swedish film. Oh, man, that was terrific. Just terrific. It just reinvented the vampire myth quite a bit. And I liked it.”
John Carpenter would later praise filmmakers Jordan Peele and Ari Aster, sharing how he feels they’re a distinct brand of horror filmmaker “paving their own way,” rather than seeking to emulate someone who had come before them. Let the Right One In, however, was the only film Carpenter name-dropped. And, well, he’s right. Let the Right One In is incredible. I may not agree with his broad assessment of the state of modern horror, but I will concede Let the Right One In is a masterpiece.
What do you think? Do you agree with John Carpenter? Are you a fan of Let the Right One In? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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