New Vampire Shows: Which One is Right For You?
3 new – and very different – vampire shows premiere this month. Here's a look at each and how to watch on Sling.
Just as the biggest zombie show on television is nearing the end, three new vampire shows have sprung to life. Each is looking to stake its place in the TV landscape and none of them suck (figuratively, at least). But like the characters on that other acclaimed vampire show – What We Do in the Shadows – they’re all distinctly different.
With that in mind, here’s a brief guide to this fall’s new vampire shows. To make like Van Helsing and catch the most vampires on Sling TV, use the link at the bottom of this page to subscribe to Sling Orange + Blue.
Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire
It’s easy to forget now, but when Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt joined up for the film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire in 1994, the movie was marketed almost like an Avengers-style crossover between two of the biggest movie stars in the world (add in Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas and it really does sound like a superhero team-up between the world’s most handsome men). Because of this, the movie couldn’t help but fall short of expectations. In hindsight, Tom Cruise was miscast as Lestat, but the bigger issue was that the book’s episodic structure left the film feeling more like a rushed highlight reel than a cohesive narrative.
Fast-forward to 2022 and fans finally have the high-quality adaptation they’ve been waiting on since the book was released in 1976. Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid play Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt, respectively, and their hot-blooded chemistry is perfectly pitched to the material. Anderson in particular is sensational; Grey Worm, his character from Game of Thrones, was necessarily stoic, so it’s fascinating to see him release his emotions so vividly here.
Although it bears the name of the book’s author, Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire also makes some fairly significant alterations to the source material, and every one of those changes pays off. Recasting Louis as a black man adds new dimensions to the setting of early 20th century New Orleans, while foregrounding the homoerotic subtext of the book introduces new layers of depth to his love-hate relationship with Lestat. But the best change is to the framing of the “Interview” in the show’s title. As you learn right away, this interview is actually a follow-up to the 1973 conversation between Louis and writer Daniel Molloy, whose career and personal life have seen better days. Eric Bogosian is truly outstanding in the role, giving Molloy the thoroughness and skepticism required of his profession without the objective removed; he’s heard these stories before and isn’t afraid to challenge Louis’ interpretation of the events.
All of this adds up to one of the best new shows of the year, vampire or otherwise. Sink your teeth in and we promise you’ll be coming back for more.
For fans of: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Crimson Peak, Stranger By the Lake, Moonlight, True Blood
How to watch on Sling TV: New episodes air Sunday nights at 10pm ET on AMC, or subscribe to AMC+ to watch new episodes one week early!
Let the Right One In
The 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In is widely considered a modern horror masterpiece (it was also remade in 2010 as Let Me In by The Batman director Matt Reeves). The new SHOWTIME series borrows the basic story outline – essentially, child vampires – but moves the plot in some interesting new directions.
First, Let the Right One In shifts the narrative perspective from the bullied kid who befriends the vampire to the father who is raising her. That’s another meaningful change: instead of a platonic “familiar” who facilitates her meals, Ellie is the actual daughter of “Mark.” Along with a subplot involving the single mother of the boy next door, the new version of Let the Right One In appears to be circling around a central theme about the unique challenges of single parenthood.
That extends to another subplot, this one entirely absent from the original film (and the novel it was based on). The harrowing opening scene finds a scientist (Zeljko Ivanek) celebrating an apparent cure for the vampirism plaguing his son Peter…until the test fails and his kid bursts into flames. The connection between this storyline, the main plot, and a third subplot about a drug that creates vampire-like symptoms in its users remains mostly unresolved through the first episode. But if the fatal flaw of Let Me In was too much fealty to its source material, the new rendition of Let the Right One In will surprise fans of the original, as its story progresses in unexpected directions.
For fans of: The Road, The Strain, Logan, Children of Men, A Girl Walks Home at Night
How to watch on Sling TV: New episodes are available Fridays on Sling with a subscription to SHOWTIME.
Reginald the Vampire
Rounding out the trio of new vampire shows is this comparatively warm-hearted SYFY original starring Jacob Batalon, best known as Ned from the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies. Reginald is living a drab life when a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger leaves him a vampire. As Reginald becomes more familiar with his new powers, the show feels a little like those early scenes in the Spider-Man movies where Peter Parker is still calibrating and coming to terms with his new abilities.
But the best part about Reginald the Vampire is the way it subverts the cliches associated with the genre. Based on Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire book series, the show explicitly calls out the waifish beauty standards long associated with Hollywood’s portrayal of vampires. It also inverts the love story at the center of the plot; instead of becoming irresistibly seductive to his crush, Reginald is now unable to act on his feelings or reveal his secrets. The show also spotlights some interesting power sets in its vampires, specifically Reginald’s ability to “glamor,” aka control the minds of those around him, both human and nonhuman.
Obviously, Reginald the Vampire doesn’t carry the dramatic heft of the shows above, but it has a uniformly charming cast – from Batton to his vampire mentor Maurice (Mandela Van Peebles, who is the spitting image of his father Mario) to his song-lyric-quoting crush Sarah (Em Haine) – and, like the much-loved What We Do in the Shadows, themes that riff on a century-plus of established vampire canon. It’s lightweight, but one can only consume so much blood before they’re in need of a palate cleanser.
For fans of: Resident Alien, Wynonna Earp, Spider-Man movies , Vampire’s Kiss, Freaks of Nature
How to watch on Sling TV: Watch new episodes Wednesdays at 10pm ET on SYFY.