Let the Right One In
When films such as Nosferatu and Dracula came out, audiences were overcome by fright. The tale of the vampire was rife in everyone’s nightmares. An impressive set of teeth, a darken shadow and a lust for blood kept many up as the fear for the fanged fiend was rife. Unfortunately, in recent years, the vampire tale has fallen flat. With a constant stream of movies, TV shows and goddamned books coming out on the thirsty creatures, the current view is that vampires suck. Gladly, in 2008, Swedish movie Let the Right One In brought something back into the vampire genre. Something that had been missing for a long time; fear.
Let the Right One In, based on a novel of the same name, tells the tale of Oskar who has to travel between separated parents. Bullied at school and constantly seeking revenge, on a cold night he meets Eli, a girl who seems to be his age. Learning that Eli has just moved in with her father Hakan, Oskar is keen to become fast friends with Eli. As fast as a relationship forms, so does the bodies and it becomes apparent that Eli and Hakan are in fact vampires. When Oskar finds out, can their friendship survive such an ghastly secret? Can there be a relationship between a boy who wants to kill and a beast that needs to?
Let the Right One In is above all such a wonderfully terrifying movie. Never since Nosferatu’s shadow climbed a lonely staircase has images of vampires stuck defiantly in your mind. Director Tomas Alfredson creates a beautiful world with some striking scenes of blood and horror against the snow. Alfredson is an artist with a bloody paintbrush who plays with the audience wonderfully. We are not bombarded with the vampire tale as most films nowadays like to concentrate on. In fact, Alfredson gives little by little, building the terror and fright around the budding friendship. The end result is a captivating film that makes you feel in awe at some outstanding film making.
But central to Let the Right One In is the blossoming friendship between Eli and Oskar. While nowadays, every crevice of vampire story telling has been told, it is hard to find a tale unique. Let the Right One In found it fresh like a body in the snow. The friendship between man and monster is told through children. So aptly, there is innocence within this woe. But Let the Right One In transcends the childhood naivety and bounds into the dark part of a pre teen psyche. What is so scary about Let the Right One In is the youthful friendship and the deeds that they are willing to do for safety, love and revenge. The connection between Eli and Oskar drive the plot marvellously forward. It took filmmakers a year to find actors capable of filling such roles. Greatly though, they found their stars with Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. This young actors are exceptional in roles that would falter if given to a lot of adult actors working today.
Only a couple of years after Let the Right One In, did American’s take hold and remake. Let Me In, staring Chloe Mortez, was still well received despite its similarities to the original Swedish movie. While Let Me In may be worth a look for those of you who don’t like subtitled movies, I still implore you all to watch the original movie. Let the Right One In not only gave vampire movies back its bite but has a heavy pulse throughout. It is a heart filled with magnificent blood ready to be feasted on.
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