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Let the Right One in is the most pretentious vampire movie I’ve ever seen. I mean it— where others have consistently championed this film for being a “fresh” and “modern” take on vampires, I see only a fairly endearing fairy tale grotesquely contrived to “serious” proportions. All in the name of art I suppose.

It’s certainly impressive on a technical and artistic level—there’s no questioning that. Director Tomas Alfredson’s shot composition is largely concerned with overbearing urban environments. There’s a clear emphasis on architecture, particularly the sharp unforgiving angles of buildings and windows. The camera rarely moves, and the colors are largely high contrast. It’s a cold and sterile world inhabited by cold and sterile people. The visuals are indicative of the genre: not so much a vampire film, but rather a kind of 21st century love story that happens to have vampires in it. The focus is on the context and not the subject matter.

It’s an interesting choice, but one must ask: if the vampire element is largely incidental, then why bother? Why not just tell a love story? I can’t see any reason why the core friendship between the two leads is dependent upon one of them being a vampire. I have to admit, though, that my favorite parts of the film were, by far, the straight up horror portions where vampire canon is fully realized in gritty reality. For example, the hanging of a victim upside down to maximize blood drippage, or a totally rad spontaneous combustion brought on by the wrath of the morning sun. I liked these instances for their special effects prowess and their visceral gross factor, but again, cool as they are, they’re almost entirely incidental to the story.

I found Let the Right One In unsatisfying both as a horror film and a love story and yet I’m reluctant to call it flat out boring. I was never enthralled in it and I even had to shake myself awake a time or two, but still, I have to say that there’s definitely something to seeing a child vampire decapitate a thug and throw his head into a swimming pool.

Vampires, far more than humans, realise the true cost of love, and because they are immortal, they smash up against the shores of this tragic landscape time and time again. In doing so, they also face the very thing that sustains them – the thump, thump of a heart and hunger.

The recent Twilight touched upon this idea of a chaste love that must result if there is any chance of happiness. Unfortunately, this was less to do with any emotional stirrings, and more an extension of the writer’s batty Mormon beliefs.

But Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In offers a fresh transfusion that obliterates the anaemia of what has gone before. Opening on a shot of falling snow, bristling with strange magic, we switch to the stark, depressing reality of a Swedish tower block and the story of frail Oskar and feline Eli.

The film revels in this kind of opposition. Not a straighforward riff on the Vampire myth, it instead shows how the myth impinges on the real world. While the film depicts familiar vampiric tropes, these are so well worked into the fabric of the story to almost be a part of reality itself.

In fact, break it down and vampirism is simply innocence corrupted – specifically love; the eroticising or perversion of it into something dark and violent. And this is the essence of Eli and Oskar’s journey.

The film is held together by an extraordinary performance from Lina Leandersson as Eli. Not to take anything from Kåre Hedebrandt as Oskar. He articulates the effect she has on him beautifully, moving from bullied timidity to a certain bold and almost violent maturity. It’s Oskar’s likeability that draws us in to the story, but his is more a passive role. It is his interaction with Eli and his gentle expressions of affection (gifting his Rubik’s cube or offering candy) that allow him to take his first faltering steps on the road to adolescence.

In contrast, Eli is the aggressor. But it’s subtle; Lina’s face giving the mere suggestion of it. On the surface, she suggests porcelain purity with a cuteness that Oskar finds so charming. Go beneath, however, and her eyes describe an eternity of sorrow, pain and exhaustion.

While Alfredson refuses to shy away from her brutal and sometimes horrific acts, and in some ways revels in them, when Eli turns those eyes on you, it is not so easy to condemn.

She’s being consumed by a terrible two-fold dilemma. The corruption of an innocent and how best to express the bond she shares with Oskar – maternally or amorously? But more importantly, she faces the greatest fear you have in old age – being alone. In fact, the movie repeatedly emphasises the negatives of growing old. The inadequacy of Oskar’s parents, his teachers, the police and most importantly the decrepitude of Hakan and his strange relationship with Eli.

Is Hakan a manservant, a ward, a lover, a father figure or both a poignant and horrifying look into the future for Oskar? These are a few of a myriad questions the film ignites, leaving scope for interpretation.

There is trickery at work here. That fascinating tug at the heart and mind which cannot be resolved by one explanation any more than by another. It should come as little surprise when you consider the title is both a play on the vampire myth of invitation and also a warning to choose first love carefully or be ruined forever.

In fact, possibly the most indelible image is a bloody kiss shared just before the climax. Both a sign of love, and an ultimate distortion of it. A single resonant moment in a film filled with them.

La Suède possède divers cinéastes capables de s’exprimer de manières bien différentes et ce depuis des décennies entre les Bergman, Andersson et consorts. Arrive alors Tomas Alfredson qui décide de porter en film un best seller suédois, Let The Right One In.
En bref, l’oeuvre évoque une histoire d’amour entre un vampire et un jeune garçon. Je sens déjà les fans de Twilight trépigner ou hurler que rien ne peut dépasser la romance dans cette trilogie, mais calmons-les tout de suite, ça n’a plutôt rien à voir. C’est même une forme d’antithèse en fait.
Côté histoire, la “romance” est amenée de manière assez efficace et simplement sans tomber dans une forme de cliché gnan gnan. Surtout que pour le vampire, difficile à dire si on a affaire à une fille ou à un garçon. Une séquence nous prouve surtout qu’il est totalement assexué. Une romance qui va libérer petit à petit le jeune Oskar. A travers leurs relation, on verra aussi à quel point, et malgré la différence fondamentale, ils sont proches et attirés par le sang, d’une manière ou d’une autre.
L’oeuvre joue aussi sur un fond nettement plus social et assez en phase avec son temps. Violence précoce des jeunes, parents en difficultés, divorces, etc. Bref, à ce niveau l’oeuvre cadre bien avec son époque. A ce niveau, c’est vrai que c’est assez sombre, mais on n’est pas dans le démoralisant comme chez les Dardenne (ouf!).
Pour la forme, l’oeuvre est extrêmement bien travaillée. Tout d’abord il y a la création d’une ambiance remarquable avec constamment de la neige, la nuit, le sang, ça donne un aspect très particulier et réussi au film. La mise en scène est extrêmement bien foutue et les attaques de la jeune vampire très réussies. A ce titre, les deux jeunes acteurs sont charismatiques et jouent vraiment bien.
Seul bémol, la séquence de l’attaque des chats, vraiment en-dessous avec des moyens numériques un peu cheap!

Conforme transcurría la película la temática me sorprendió, y lo que más me sorprendió fue que me gustase.

Más que una historia de vampiros “Låt den rätte komma in” es una historia sobre la soledad, sobre la oscuridad, sobre la tristeza, sobre el instinto, sobre la identificación, sobre la búsqueda interna, sobre la compresión, sobre la aceptación, pero sobre todo: sobre el amor, particularmente sobre el amor imposible por el que se hacen cosas inimaginables.

Corazones que se comunican en la noche a través de las paredes por clave morse, corazones que se buscan constantemente sin miedo de lo que puedan encontrar en el otro, corazones que huyen juntos en tren para lograr lo imposible. La historia de Oskar y Eli es entrañable, me confirma que los límites en el amor nos los imponemos nosotros mismos, y que sólo hace falta voluntad para hacer posible lo imposible.

Un aplauso para los suecos cuyo cine no dejo de admirar.

Even though I found the remake surprisingly good (which takes a lot for me to say, because I went in to the remake wanting it to be bad), it made me appreciate the original much more. The remake still retains the spirit of the original version. The story of a lonely boy that becomes friends with a child vampire and the “complicated” relationship between the vampire girl and her ‘father’. But the remake is more of a horror movie, whereas the original Swedish version is pretty much an art house drama with a few isolated scenes of gore & violence here & there. The American remake has more of a traditional horror movie soundtrack (tense, dramatic strings that build up to an obvious vampire attack), way more blood, and (like most remakes) there are some parts of the original that were left out in the remake. The biggest contrast between the original and the remake is how its shot. Specifically the lighting of each film. Because the remake is made to be more of a traditional horror movie, the look of the movie is very “dark”. It seemed like most of the scenes took place at night. This is a HUGE contrast to the original which is very bright and makes great use of the snowy landscape. The bright white look of the original accentuates the violent and bloody scenes. ‘Let The Right One In’ is easily one of the best vampire movies to come out in years.

While there’s certainly nothing bad about it visually, for me it just lacks an overall intrigue. I like having fun when I see a movie, not comedy but a certain factor that makes watching it worthwhile. There’s nothing really new or different about this, movies before have accomplished the same things with a lot more added on. In the end, it’s essentially a role reversal for Dracula. However, it’s so distant from the viewer that (I at least) never cared about any of the characters or wanted to know more about them. While it’s better than Twilight and nowhere near goofy, I just don’t think it adds anything to the Vampire genre or makes it all that more interesting or modern.

Let the Right One In is not a vampire film. It is a twisted exercise in sadism, child molestation, castration, the alter ego, alienation, repression, revenge, confused homoeroticism and ambiguity. These issues are presented in a stark, sometimes beautiful, filmatic space that presents everyone but Eli and Oskar as cold and detached. Conversely, Eli and Oskar are portrayed sympathetically, despite their murderous intentions and the suggestion that Oskar will go on to be an accomplice for Eli’s killings. The brief use of child nudity was inappropriate, even if it was fake.

This brilliant and chilling vampire movie arrives from the cold city blocks of Sweden and proceeds to stomp snow all over the screen. The clever premise here is that a young boy (who is being bullied at school) gets a new neighbor one night in his apartment building. It’s an older man who seems to be living with a girl his age. Well slowly and coldly it is revealed that the girl is a vampire and the man is her familiar, doing anything for his devoted child queen, including pouring acid over his face in a memorable scene to avoid being identified and linked to her. Yes this is a movie with some gruesome scares but the main strengths came from the killer script (based on a bestselling novel) and the standout performances especially from the main girl who has an otherworld and older quality, which makes her role impossible to remake. It’s a chilling, daring and terrifying tale that is a real crowd pleaser even while not ending quite where one might expect.

In reading reviews of Let the Right One In, there seems to be a movement to consider it something other than a horror movie. Yes, this Swedish import is about vampires, but it’s also a coming of age drama about the friendship between an awkward 12-year-old boy named Oskar and a vampire girl who also appears to be 12 (but, as she says, has been so for a very long time.)

It is, in fact a horror film, one of the spookiest and best to come out in many years. Just because it’s ambitious enough to be about more than scares does not remove it from the genre which, at its best, can be just as rich as any other type of film. Carrie was also coming of Age story, The Shining about a family falling apart and Dawn of the Dead was a political allegory about consumerism in the Reagan era. Let the Right One In is about loneliness.

Its visual style is dark (set in the frigid Swedish winter), but the realistic tone begs the question, what would it actually be like if vampires existed in our world? We learn about the “young” vampire, Eli, at about the same rate as Oskar does and, despite her dietary needs, we like her. It does establish very clearly, however, that it worse to be a vampire than a vampire’s victim.

Because we are so involved in their relationship, when scenes of horror do arrive they are incredibly unsettling. One sequence, taking place in a school swimming pool presents its violence in such an unique way that I was spellbound. Even more impressive than any overt terror, is a very subtle plot thread that could easily be missed, but, if you think about it, makes even the more innocent moments scarier than most horror films would dare to be.

To call this a horror movie misses the point. It might be a vampire movie but not in the original sense of the word. To focus on the important things:

This is a wonderful movie. It is visually exceptional (partly because of the beautiful winter setting, partly because of the great camera work), it is well written, it has an intriguing soundtrack and some scenes really reached me.

The only things I found a bit dull were the visual effects (cats-scene and the fire) especially because until that point the movie tried so hard to avoid any scene that could actually visualize the supernatural nature of the film. These two scenes disturbed the experience, but it would be unfair to focus on them too much.

The vampire topic is just the film’s way of speaking about much more general themes like friendship, violence, relations to foreigners and loneliness. Its pictures will stick in your mind for some time I guess. A very original movie and one you should definitely see.

I may have had some unfairly heightened expectations based on the runaway success of this film: I wasn’t as impressed as I had wanted to be. There are moments of exquisite poetry and the cinematography is starkly beautiful. Unfortunately, they are marred by horror elements that border on the campy or silly. If those aspects had been toned down to just subtle inferences of the supernatural (as was done in parts of the excellent climax at the pool, such as the sight of the kid’s legs being dragged across the water), I think this could have been a perfect film.

And someone please give Oskar a haircut and a tissue for his perpetually runny nose!

Claro esta, despues del olor a guano que deja el ver cosas como Twilight (o similares) siempre es bueno voltear los ojos hacia el cine europeo. En este caso, encontrarse con una cinta como Dejame Entrar, supone un respiro de aire fresco. Se trata de una inteligente respuesta sueca al mencionado bodrio, y si bien es posible enumerar en este espacio las virtudes del presente titulo contra las estupideces de aquella otra, basica y sencillamente hay que señalar esto: esta es una buena pelicula, la otra es una mierda; en esta, lo primero que salta a la vista es la solidez de su guion, adaptada para la pantalla grande por el mismisimo autor de la novela. (la cual, a diferencia de las pendejadas de Meyer, si se antoja leer) Resulta ser, esta si, una novedosa mirada al cine de vampiros, centrada en la ambigua y “tierna” relacion entre un chaval de 11 años y su “inocente” vecinita, que, por supuesto, pronto se revela como una feroz consumidora de sangre humana. Lo primero que se agradece en esta estupenda cinta es su honestidad hacia el genero. Aqui, el personaje principal, la niña, se muestra como un personaje capaz de albergar sentimientos, pero que no titubea si se trata de reventarle toda la madre a cualquier cristiano que se cruce en su camino, si de obtener sangre se trata. Por otro lado, el personaje del chavito no es pintado como se acostumbra en otras peliculas, sino que es expuesto como un cabroncito, un verdadero psicopata en potencia, quien pasa sus ratos de ocio imaginando enfermizamente, al mas puro estilo Taxi Driver, su sangrienta venganza contra los gandallitas que se pasan la vida jodiendole la existencia. Son numerosos los aciertos del guion, pero vale la pena exponer un par, los cuales me parecen mas relevantes. Primero, su fidelidad hacia los convencionalismos del genero (los vampiros no pueden comer otra cosa que no sea sangre,no pueden entrar a tu casa si el dueño no los invita a pasar primero, se asan como pollos si les toca la luz del sol, etc) en este sentido, son notables un par de escenas, cuando la niña, en un intento por verse mas humana, se come un pedazo de chocolate para minutos despues, casi volcar las tripas sobre la nieve por su atrevimiento, y otra, que nos muestra lo que les sucede a los vampiros si osan cruzar la puerta de tu casa sin ser invitados a hacerlo (de alli, el acertadisimo titulo de la pelicula).Lo segundo que mas llama la atencion, es, como ya lo mencione, la ambigua relacion entre el niño y su chupasangre amiguita, pues deja con varias interrogantes despues de la proyeccion: ¿que papel viene a jugar el anciano protector de la niña? ¿como le conoció? ¿habra sido primero un pretendiente para despues convertirse en servidor-protector? ¿sera amor lo que siente por el chavo, o simplemente busca reemplazar al anciano? (quien, por cierto, termina lanzandose desde un quinto piso, no sabemos si para protegerla o para librarse de ella) y por ultimo,al no contar la supuesta niña con un sexo (en una de las escenas mas logradas per al mismo tiempo, mas bizarra del film) ¿sera una futura relación heterosexual, de amistad o que? Sin duda, una de las sorpresas mas relevantes de este año (el sangriento climax de la pelicula merece contarse entre lo antologico del cine de horror en lo que va de la decada) que en México no tuvo una corrida comercial muy exitosa que digamos (tuvo que competir en taquilla, precisamente, contra la pendejada de Twilight), pero que logro un record de permanencia en la Cineteca Nacional (sin duda, el espacio cinefilo mas importante del pais) por algo asi como 9 meses despues de su estreno.

This is not a horror film to throw away. It would be a shame to lump it in with 2008’s dismal heap of cheap thrills and shocks. The Eye, Shutter, The Ruins…they’ve got nothing on this film. It’s not Twilight redux either because (1) it makes more sensible use of vampire mythos than Stephanie Meyer’s saga and (2) is a much, much better love story.

Unlike Twilight, Let the Right One In presents a world of people who don’t look like they’ve just moseyed off a Gap billboard. As young as they are, Oskar and Eli take risks for each other, learn to cope with difficulty, and reach out to one another with something more than a mystical initial attraction composed solely of naive glances.

The story is set in a snowy area in Stockholm reminiscent of the apartment setting of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The Decalogue. In fact, Let the Right One In could be the horror film Kieslowski never made. His films were about lonely people finding connection with each other in a darkened world. Unlikely connections—just like Oskar and Eli’s.

Let the Right One In doesn’t tap into fear of being ravaged by a vampire in the dead of night. Instead, it triggers the most common and human response to the basic fears of growing up. Not the foreboding shadow of death, but the unease of loneliness, of being bullied, of not being understood, and of having nowhere to turn for compassion and understanding.

Precise in every way, Alfredson’s direction breathes in the stillness of the landscape for the first half, a technique mirroring Oskar’s feelings and state of mind, and gradually picks up the pace as the children’s relationship becomes more complicated.

The musical score scales heights of grandeur not usually reached in horror films, signifying from the beginning that this isn’t a film primarily about things that go bump in the night.

Perhaps Alfredson’s wisest choice is to not dwell on vampire origins and life stories. Of these we have no idea; we simply have a character who happens to be a vampire and the boy who chooses to befriend her.

One of the most precarious aspects Let the Right One In is how comfortable it is with the violence that keeps Eli alive. Although it’s never verbalized, Oskar is forced to ask himself the question, “Just how much can love forgive?” In sublimely twisted fashion, the audience becomes so much a part of Eli that her actions don’t seem as dehumanizing as they really are. It gets even more complicated when bitter revenge is visited upon Oskar’s bullies in the final act.

There are some loose ends and glaring moral ambiguities, but perhaps that’s how this story is meant to be. It’s an uncomfortable kind of empathy, the likes of which I haven’t felt since Tom Tykwer unleashed his film adaptation of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer in 2006.

I didn’t quite realize how profound Let the Right One In was until a few moments after it was over when the depth and beauty of Oskar and Eli’s relationship began to settle on my soul. The film is scary (it is a thriller), but the horror is steeped in pathos; the very formula that makes classic horror tales like Dracula and Frankenstein so timeless.

As might be expected, there is already an American remake of Let the Right One In in the works. My advice? Don’t let it past your door. See the original on the big screen. Though an initial reaction might be repulsion, Let the Right One In is a risk worth taking and one that enriches as well as entertains.

unfortunately, given the reality of regional exhibition rights for only too many of the films on this website, I can’t give credit to theauteurs for letting me watch one of the most beautifully and cleverly directed films I’ve seen… besides the fact of it being a very surprising re-invention of the genre… Thank you Mr. Alfredson….
….i’ve seen it a second time, and now I know it is based on a book, for the same reason, it is amazing. Every shot tells so much of what it is to come.

Låt den rätte komma in 2008
DIR Tomas Alfredson
SCR John Ajvide Lindqvist
114 Min

Beautifully rendered, the message of the film seems to be:
the world will be a better place, if we make friends with the vampire within.

Not my POV, but an interesting read:
An appreciation by Nina Avedon

I saw Let the Right One In as a right of passage: a child learning how to assimilate and subsume feelings; realizing there is a relationship between the self and the feelings one has for others – an understanding, without which, the complexities of love could not happen.

So good. The tone and atmosphere the characters all hooked me in. A friend raved about this movie and highlighted how neat it was for a Canadian to watch a movie that had “crunching snow”. I must agree.
I’ve always had a soft spot for snow-set films (The Thing, A Simple Plan, The Shining, Snow Angels, Fargo, Christmas movies, etc), but Let the Right One really lets the chill set in. The cold seems punishing and all too relatable. That crunching sound as Oskar walks along the snow outside his school; snow that has been compacted over months, is such a minor element of sound design but goes to show how even these smaller details can combine to create a mesmerizing movie.

A 12 year old geek befriends girl…who is an eternally 12 year old vampire. If you want to call this a horror movie (I wouldn’t), then it’s the greatest horror movie since…well, maybe ever. Sure, there are plenty of gruesome deaths but this is as sweet a film as you’ll ever find about a budding boy/girl relationship. A landmark film for me…I see myself today and myself twenty years ago refelcted back at me when I watch this film.

Muito se fala de como certos temas ou géneros de filme estão saturados e raramente têm algo de novo a oferecer. Os filmes de vampiros são quase tão antigos como o próprio cinema e portanto seria justificável a tal saturação de que falo. Mas de vez em quando aparecem filmes que são uma lufada de ar fresco que afasta o ar pútrido que por vezes sopra nos ventos vindos de Hollywood. Deixa-me Entrar é um desses casos.

Esta é uma produção sueca baseada na obra de John Ajvide Lindqvist, um escritor de terror que também escreveu o argumento. É o que se pode chamar um filme de terror romântico e conta-nos a história de como dois jovens inadaptados se começam a aproximar, tornando-se grandes amigos e apaixonados. Seria um argumento comum não fosse a jovem rapariga um vampiro.

Inicialmente, o filme parece mais um daqueles que se debruça sobre um adolescente que tem problemas com os colegas na escola. O facto de se interessar bastante por homicídios (colecciona recortes de jornais com noticias de assassinatos) e de ser bastante solitário poderiam dar-nos a entender que íamos assistir a mais uma chacina escolar. Mas é ai que entra a rapariga, que se muda para a casa ao lado do rapaz.

O que logo começa por nos cativar é a excelente fotografia. Grande parte do filme decorre ou durante a noite ou em espaços fechados e o frio é uma constante. A forma como esse ambiente escuro e gélido é transposto é incrível e uma das grandes mais-valias da obra pois cria uma atmosfera excelente que quase nos gela os ossos só de olhar. Tudo isto acompanhado de uma banda sonora que, apesar de não se fazer notar muito, é importante nos momentos certos.

Aliado à excelente atmosfera está uma narrativa forte que é elevada à quase perfeição pelos extraordinários desempenhos dos dois jovens actores. As melhores cenas do filme são, sem dúvida, quando Oskar e Eli estão juntos. Eli ensina Oskar a ser mais forte e este fá-la sentir-se querida e amada. Sozinhos estão perdidos, acompanhados completam-se.

Para além da história de amor, o filme ainda nos oferece as normais cenas de vampirismo, tudo dentro da mitologia comum que estamos habituados. Eli precisa de beber sangue para sobreviver, morre se entrar em contacto com a luz do sol, sobe paredes e precisa ser convidada para entrar em casa de alguém (daí o nome do filme).

Deixa-me Entrar é um filme a ver. Não nos faz apanhar sustos atrás de sustos mas envolve-nos numa história original e muito bem arquitectada, sendo, para além disso, subtil e sublime em termos estéticos.

Moody synthesis of classic vampire story and childhood relationship drama, centering around bullied, lonely boy Oskar and his tender kinship with a perceptive blood-sucker by the name of Eli. Eerie, haunting, and atmospheric film, steeped in a sense of constant dread and unearthly terror, yet impeccably sensitive in its handling of young love. For a film containing such grisly violence, it’s absolutely remarkable how gently the narrative is told, with delicate brushstrokes of dreamy wistfulness and aching beauty capitalizing on the immaculate nuances of the storytelling.

What really makes Let The Right One In work and move is it’s ability to hold nothing back. this is not to say that the film is overly gory or cute, it is simply what it is. it think there is almost a documentary feel to the film because everything that happens feels so natural and real (except for the whole vampire thing).
Another nice, yet unexpected, outcome that the films derives you towards, is sympathy for a monster. You will find yourself rooting for the girl to continue living and loving, and the only way she can accomplish that is by killing.

I still have no idea what has made vampires so in fashion this year, but I am kind of glad they are. Sure you’ll get the mainstream, watered-down stuff like Twilight, but along with that are the surprises like HBO’s “True Blood”. Let’s go ahead and put Sweden on the list of fresh takes as Tomas Alfredson’s Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), adapted by John Ajvide Lindqvist from his own novel, is quite unforgettable. Not since the Russian supernaturally inclined Night Watch have I seen this subject matter brought to life in such a seemingly unique and original way. It is the sheer realism that makes the film so unnervingly tough to watch, especially since our leads are only twelve years old—more or less. The atmosphere is starkly bleak, the pacing and composition methodically precise, and the complete whole just beautiful to set your eyes upon. You’ll feel as though the chill has entered your room, all oxygen sucked out as in a vacuum, but you will not be able to turn away.

The story consists of your usual, bullied middle-schooler, taking the abuse and acting out his revenge in the confines of his own solitude. Without friends, young Oskar finds himself talking to the air, or a tree, wielding a hunting knife and doing to his imaginary counterparts that which the real miscreants do to him. It is his revenge-induced speech that catches the attention of a young girl, just moved next-door, named Eli. She knows the rage he feels only too well, except, when it comes to her bloodlust, it is necessity and not desire. This vampire is made to kill, something her guardian, (is it her father? Her uncle? An old friend that has aged while she has not?), attempts to protect her from by killing and gathering blood while she stays safe indoors. Alive for so long, feeding on the dead to survive, she finally finds a friend, someone much like her—an outsider that will not be understood—that she can possibly be herself with, that she can help to realize he does not want to become a killer.

What sticks with you most, after watching, is the amazing sense of detail throughout. Right down to the mucus on Oskar’s mouth from the cold weather, everything is thought of, letting you enter this world as though it’s right in front of you despite the fact vampires exist. When it comes to that mythical creature too, though, you can’t fault the three-dimensionality. All the things you may wonder about: What happens when one goes into sunlight? What happens if it enters without being invited? How does a bite affect its victim if not killed as a result? They will be touched upon and answered. Supernatural strength, inhuman speed, and the ability of flight? Just keep your eyes open because it’s all here, displayed in a way that you could almost believe is ture. Alfredson creates a world much like our own, same rules and same emotions, you just have to worry a bit more about who you let into your house.

But don’t think of this as a vampire story; it is so much more than that. The performances by Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson as Oskar and Eli respectively vault it into a tale about humanity and love. The bond these two misfits create is stronger than anything you can imagine, as they will do anything to keep the other safe. Eli asks at one point if Oskar would like her if she wasn’t a girl and he says sure. It is a query that intrigues on the basis that you believe her being a vampire means she is dead and no longer human, yet, as a short scene shows us, the question of gender may be more than that, especially since she says that she is not dead, she just feeds on blood. Watching her puke when trying to digest just one piece of candy, or what happens when she enters her friend’s apartment uninvited, shows the unglamorous lifestyle she lives. This is not the immortal—live without consequences—riot you may have seen before. Being a vampire is a curse, but one that has its advantages, as you will see.

That leads into the question of the title and whether it regards Oskar or Eli. Does the boy let the right vampire into his life, the person he can relate to and enlist to help him, or does the girl let the right human in, someone she can allow herself to love and care about despite the monster she knows she is? These two become inseparable on a very spiritual level, one that puts them to the ledge of killing in order to protect the other. However, the ability to commit murder is much different than the desire to. As you will see at the end, vengeance can be both brutal and rewarding. In what could be the single best take all year, a static shot, underwater in the school pool, an angle so meticulously positioned that the artistry leaves you just as speechless as what occurs in the frame, you will be hard-pressed to forget what retribution looks like…and the smile will haunt you.

A piece of art, through and through, this carefully paced tale of friendship and love between two worlds is not to be missed. Nor is it to be disregarded and thrown to the side as another horror film. It is a tale of humanity that only the naïveté of children can show. Complete with cinematography that could be freeze-framed at any moment and hung in a gallery, Låt den rätte komma in grabs ahold and doesn’t let go.

It’s rare now-a-days that someone takes a tired and true formula (like, say, the vampire film) and totally transform it and not make it a steaming pile of shit. Let the Right One In did just that, and more. At its core it isn’t even a vampire film: it’s more of a coming-of-age tale. I like myself some good horror, and this delivers in spades.

I hate saying this, but this is more of an art movie than it is a horror flick. The cinematography is really good, and I loved how many of the shots were always shown unfocused for a few split seconds before focusing in. I consider myself an aficionado of camera shots that show buildings at angels (I don’t know, it’s just my thing so shove it) and this had some beautiful framing: The shot of the nurse standing outside of the hospital and another shot of the tenet building from a side view come to mind.

The acting is equally good, especially coming from twelve-year old kids. It may just be me, but the man who moves in with Eli (the Rensfield-esque) one was damn good. This character raises a few questions (is he a simple henchman? A father? A lover?) that thankfully remain ambiguous. Also, many people think that the father may be gay, due to his actions at the loss of his friend, but I just think he’s a drunk and, well, misses his friend. My friend pointed out at one point how Oskar is much paler than his partner. Of course Eli is undead, being a vampire and all, but I think this is symbolic for Oskar being a different kind of dead, a dead that one can feel when they’re so disconnected from society and life.

There is very little CG used here, and they save it for the right moments. The scene of Eli crawling up the side of the hospital building and the woman combusting into flames looked great (hm, that sounds kind of horrible). This all leads up to the AMAZING (mostly) silent ending of Oskar underwater. I don’t want to ruin it, but those who have seen it know what I’m talking about.

See this movie.

In a drab Swedish apartment complex, bullied 12-year-old Oskar meets lonely brown-eyed Eli and finds a kindred spirit; when Oskar finally realizes that Eli is an androgynous centuries-old vampire, the relationship remains remarkably unconventional in this instant classic mood piece from director Tomas Alfredson. Alfredson uses both of the protagonists’ situations to reflect their growing need for companionship – Oskar as a boy who is ruthlessly bullied at school, and finds no support in his bored, separated parents, and Eli, relying desperately on an aging minion to kill locals for fresh blood – creating a cone of loneliness and frustration inescapable in this bleak, poor social universe. While adhering to most vampire genre “rules”, Alfredson’s film (adapted by John Ajvide Lindqvist from his popular book) is spare on the gore and heavy on the mood and characterizations, helped by two natural performances from the young leads (pale Kare Hedebrant and ethereal Lina Leandersson), and one brilliantly hectic climax in a high school pool, where the shock of dark red blood against shining white tile is amazing. Most vampire movies these days are a dime a dozen, but this one is unique, gorgeous, and disturbing, and I’m sure the proposed American remake will stink, as they always do.

In dire straits of the inevitable american remake, LTROIN is a refreshing movie one every level. It’s got great atmosphere, a compelling script, and isn’t easy to classify: neither horror neither thriller although it’s got elements of both. It’s an existential film about the cruelty of childhood, and the story of two children who share something in common…despite being very different. What I liked most is atmosphere, cinematography is excellent. The kids a great, and the minimalist approach makes the story work, by grounding it in reality. what I didn’t like was the pacing was uneven, stops and starts with no direction is not a good idea for a movie like this. At 110 minutes, it was way too long for a story with only two characters and not a lot interesting in between. Chop that shit up and it’s a perfect 80 minute feature with momentum, it didn’t ruin it for me but I wished it was shorter.

Last night, I finally got around to viewing Let The Right One In, a Swedish film that got hugely popularized around the time of the larger global release of Twilight. While its fairly safe to say both works can be placed on opposite sides of a particular spectrum, both works indeed center around vampirism, a subsequent adolescent romance, and a release in the Fall of last year. Many critics cited the former Swedish release in retaliation to the overly promoted Twilight based upon a generic young adult novel series as well as starring some teen heart-throbs. While the latter work focuses more on a simple teen romance and the element of supernatural fantasy as spectacle, Let The Right One In merely uses vampirism as a narrative device to elicit questions of morality, violence, and androgynous identity.

A large portion of the viewers criticized the film for its seemingly pastiche “underdog getting bullied” setup that finds resolution through romance, or physical retaliation. While on the surface this seems valid, when one realizes the obvious moral ambiguity surrounding the main character dynamic, it seems somewhat illogical. If anything, it seems the pastiche is being used purposely to offer a critique or satire. By film’s end, both Oskar and Eli have committed violent acts that are ethically wrong but seem to go ignored. Eli kills countless victims and Oskar assists in this outcome several times. What is interesting is how the film successfully sets up the characters in a way in which the audience comes to naturally associate with Oskar and Eli on an emotional level. Their romance is childlike and seemingly innocent but presents a moral dilemma. Viewers easily ignore the violence in the narrative because they sympathize with Oskar and Eli almost wanting them to succeed. The way in which the violence is portrayed on screen parallels this notion, almost all the violent acts happen off screen or in the shadows. The viewer knows the extent of the gruesome acts yet is allowed to keep a distance.

Violence seems to play a central role in the narrative. Oskar is depicted as completely obsessed through his daily newspaper clippings of massacre, war, and serial killings. The film opens with him emulating his tormentors by saying “Squeal! Squeal like a pig!” and then proceeding to stab his knife into a fictitious victim. Overall, it exemplifies the notions of a murder fantasy similar to Van Sant’s Elephant and its examination upon events such as Columbine. In this manner, the film could offer a more individual examination into contemporary issues of angst and social isolation.

The violence presented on screen seems to also illustrate a sense of general ignorance in its participants and on-lookers. As stated before, visually and narratively speaking, the violence is largely kept at a distance. It occurs regularly and is quite graphic, allowing the viewer to become naturalized to it. This is similar to how society in a contemporary context has become conditioned to daily images of war, crime, and murder through various media outlets. The act of violence itself has become natural and is no longer shocking nor spectacle. This is especially true of Oskar who simply smiles after destroying his bully’s ear, and when he literally waits calmly as Eli tears apart his tormentors at the swimming pool.

The largely impressionable state of Oskar is another key area of focus. Oskar seems to exemplify the notion of a clean slate, or the innocent child waiting for proper parental guidance. The narrative offers very intriguing dynamics to this notion on several levels. On the surface level, there is a definite dichotomy presented between his divorced mother and father. While much of his screen time with his mother is passive, cold, and lifeless, his time with his father is exemplified by joy, engaged activity, and sense of pastoral purity. His mother on the other hand, who seems to provide the main home and setting for Oskar, is set against a dilapidated urban backdrop. Oskar’s state in his mother’s home seems to be characterized mainly by discontent. He has no friends, is bullied, and resorts to fantasies to cope. Its also of interest how Oskar’s mother fails to see the obvious signs that her son is being violently harassed. If anything, there seems to be a large sense of urban isolation and desocialization similar to that of Edward Yang’s Terrorizers. Thus on a primary level, Oskar mirrors his physical surroundings.

On a secondary level and one touched upon previously, is how Oskar seems to change his actions (or lack of) based upon the dominant parental figure. While under his mother, he seems to emulate her sense of ignorance and inaction by not retaliating against his bullies. He becomes introverted and finds solace in personal fantasy instead of social interaction. After his relationship with Eli develops, physical retaliation against his tormentors comes quickly, and violence in general becomes naturalized. While Oskar is never actually turned into a vampire, the whole idea of vampirism seems to allegorically fall right into the notion of manipulation/assimilation.

Eli himself, provides an interesting dynamic that can be seen from different angles. First off, it is important to realize that Eli is not a girl, he states this himself and is also briefly shown in a voyeuristic shot to be castrated. His relationship with Oskar can both be seen as an adolescent romance, but also one of parental manipulation. As Eli is ageless, if one uses the original novel as a reference point, he is 200 years old. Thus not a child and technically, a pedophile. This is of interest mainly because it enters in the notion that Oskar is not merely a lover, but a victim to Eli. Also, when Oskar seemingly replaces Eli’s dead father for nourishment and daytime security, one should ask, who is actually taking care of who?

The relationship between Eli and his father also raises some intriguing questions. One of the only times they are seen in frame together in the mise-en-scene, is when they are seemingly arguing over a recent murder. Both figures are blurred by the fogged window, leaving their relationship ambiguous. While on an obvious level, the father figure seems to naturally hold the upper hand in a power-dynamic, it seems that the opposite is true through the narrative. He apologizes to an angry Eli for failing to bring blood and is later killed on his second attempt. Its ambiguous whether or not the killing was in mercy, for nourishment, or for his consistent failures. To add, the film never actually confirms if he is indeed the biological father and what his relationship to Eli is exactly.

Eli also seems to exemplify an androgyny surrounding identity through the usage of postgenderism. On one hand, he is depicted as feminine, childlike, innocent, and a lover. On the other hand, he is in fact a “he”, aged, sociopathic, and a violent oppressor. His relationship with both his father and Oskar is unclear at best, and the question regarding his past is never explored. Furthermore, when comparing Eli to Oskar, Eli himself can be seen as fantasy manifested. Eli for Oskar, provides an escape from his urban misery and fulfills his murder fantasies of revenge. Also, the castration of Eli is never explored but could be linked to the notion of escape through gender androgyny. The physical escape of one’s own genetic identity is most definitely a powerful statement, and can serve as a metaphor for self-created identity or self-definition free of societal or parental guidance/influence.

Overall, its a very impressive film. On a purely entertaining level, it doesn’t disappoint and many of the narrative’s actions are cleverly shot with long still shots that rely on mise-en-scene rather then rapid editing. The pool scene especially comes to mind, as well as how Eli and Oskar are often shot together in a seemingly voyeuristic manner. The performances by both young leads is also quite commendable, both exhibiting deep complexities to their individual characters as well as an impressive dynamic as a couple. It lacks the excess of Hollywood’s high production but instead relies on captivating subject matter, raises questions on moral/ethical ambiguities, and clever cinematography.

http://www.yggnoise.com/film/let-the-right-one-in

When a Swedish film like LET THE RIGHT ONE IN makes an unexpected splash worldwide, critics and writers search for, and document, each and every fingerprint that may link the film back to Ingmar Bergman; and while there are superficial similarities between director Tomas Alfredson’s style and that of the great master, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is essentially a monster movie, albeit a very well-crafted one. And given the Bergman mystique surrounding all things bleak, credit must be given to writer John Ajvide Lindqvist for resisting the urge to make his little orphan vampire into a dour, depressed goth child who constantly curses the day she was re-born; preferring instead an ethereal 12 going on 200 lost girl, who through blood and empathy, delivers a picked-upon pasty-white pre-teen schoolboy an escape from the cold, dark winter, and into the bright light of happiness.

This is a fine enough movie, made from a good script, adapted from, I bet, a very strange novel and yet it lacks. Yes, yes, yes, the story is great. It is the kind of movie you see to know “what happens next”. Yet, it isn’t quite suspenseful.

There are macabre scenes of neck chewing, spontaneous combustion, and feline attacks. Yet, it isn’t quite a thriller.

The direction is solid but not stylish or visceral enough to engrave itself in my memory. So, it’s not great horror either.

That could be a reason I can love the story and it’s subversion of the vampire genre while at the same time be underwhelmed by those qualities that lack visual and textural poetry. It’s art, I’ve learned to deal with it- it’s subjective.

I do recommend LET THE RIGHT ONE IN for the story loving crowd, however, since it’s more about unique plotting than anything else. Phew.

There are moments that I’ll no doubt look back on, some that might make me cringe, in an embarrassed-for-the-filmmaker kind of way, but it’s one to look back on nonetheless. Check it it out if this is your kind of thing. It’s the anti-TWILIGHT film of the year.

It is an excellent variation on the vampire mythos. A Swedish vampire is a boy’s first love in a 70s industrial wasteland. Think Thomas Vinterberg does “Twilight” written by Paul Feig. The film is bleak and quite funny in certain scenes.

The leads are amazing, especially Lina Leandersson. Watching her manage her desperation and curiosity when faced with Oskar is lightning in a bottle. Kåre Hedebrant does all knees and elbows quite well.

The ending is fits well, and I think hints loudly about a secondary character in the film. There a few plotholes and extra cgi, but it is a good film. See LET THE RIGHT ONE IN with someone you love, especially someone who read Twilight, and is jonesing for a competent vampires-in-love-story.

The frigidity of the dumpy industrial landscape is perfectly utilized. Something I like very much about this picture is the age of the lead actors. That Oskar is twelve positions him in the most awkward and needing stage of his life, when that closeness is longed for intensely but sexuality is not in the cards as much as it will be later. One of the most satisfying endings I have seen recently, absolutely, and very likely ever.