Let The Right One In

My Grade:  A

Vampires, these days, have gone soft.  What happened to the hard-core, scary as hell vampires of old?  Vampires should be in horror films, not romantic dramas... well, not all the time.  Tomas Alfredson's (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) 2008 film adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, Let The Right One In, is mostly drama with horror and romance tossed in... and it's terrifying at times, but touching at times.  It's also Swedish, in case you were wondering.  If you haven't heard of this film, you may recognize the American remake named Let Me In (2010) directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield).  Let The Right One In did not make it on the Oscar's list of Best Foreign films but it did win a stunning 62 total awards from various film festivals and such from around the world.

Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is sick of being bullied by his classmates.  He wants to fight back, but doesn't have the guts to do so.  But when he meets the new girl that moves in next door, Eli (Lina Leandersson), everything starts to change.  He finds her strange at first because she goes barefoot in the snow without being cold, she smells funny, and she considers herself "Twelve [years old]... more or less."  He looks past this, and they become friends.  Eventually, though, he falls in a 12 year old's version of love with her.  Unfortunately for him, she's a vampire. This obviously puts a strain on their young relationship and threatens to drive them apart forever. 

This is one of the best foreign films you will ever see.  It is very different from American cinema, however.  The pacing is a little more slowly paced than modern American films, the shots are longer, some of the phrasing is different, character interactions are more European (obviously), and the films does some shocking things that probably wouldn't cut it in American cinema.  But it's fantastic.

The locales are distinctly bleak but also beautiful.  The snow falling in most shots even adds a dream-like quality to the look of the film.  It's a decidedly dark dream, but it gives you a fantastic suspension of reality while the action that takes place is in your face and brutally gritty.  Even though Eli is a vampire and vampires aren't real (unless you ask some crazy people), the film feels very realistic.  It is also something a lot of people can relate to because everyone has felt inadequate at some point in their life and has needed someone to step up and help make them stronger.  That's what Eli does for Oskar.  And their young love is equal parts adorably touching and strangely twisted.