I Am a Vampire

With all the fuss over Twilight this weekend, the new teen vampire movie, a lot of people are going to miss the other vampire movie playing, Let the Right One In. Of course not many people were going to see this second movie anyway seeing as it's an import from Sweden and only playing in the city at the Angelika (which was packed with people lining up to see Slumdog Millionaire.)

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of vampire movies. In fact, I can't think of a single one I've seen. Maybe I felt possessed to see one today because I've been feeling a lot like a living dead person--just going through the motions, unable to find death. An end. Resolution. Something. I called up a couple of people to see it, but no one was answering their phones. Maybe they're all dead, too.

Let the Right One In is about two 12 year-old kids, a boy and a girl, both desperately lonely, and in desperate situations. It was amazing that two such young kids could wring out such powerful performances, something I will have to remember when writing future screenplays. Watching this movie, one learns that a vampire must be invited into a room before it can enter; otherwise, it dies. I'm not sure if this rule is part of the original vampire lore, but for someone like me, I accepted it at face value. And after I finished watching, I realized what a brilliant metaphor the filmmaker had created.

A lot of us are vampires. We certainly didn't start out that way. But somewhere along the way, we inadvertently invited the wrong people to enter into our lives. People who sucked the blood out of us without managing to kill us. Not because they were necessarily evil but because that was what they had to do in order to survive. And once a vampire has bitten us without killing us, we are destined to be vampires forever. Until we choose to walk into the light. And meet our deaths.

I am a vampire. If you are kind to me, and invite me into your heart, I won't harm you. But if you're one of those who ends up crossing me, pray that I kill you. It's no fun being a vampire. Always alone. In search of the blood that lets you live for another lonely night.