Let the Right One In is a Swedish drama/horror movie that leans more towards its dramatic base than its horror. In fact the only reason I would call it a horror movie is because there is a vampire in it, other than that, nothing really horrific happens in the movie. Don't get me wrong, there is a little blood and gore, but its not used as a cinematic device to scare the viewers in any way.The story is about a 12-year old boy named Oskar who is a bit of a loner without friends at school and without much of a relationship with his mom at home. He's constantly picked on by a bunch of bullies at school and doesn't have much of a backbone to stand up for himself. Cue in Eli. She is a new girl who moved in to the apartment next door, whom Oskar befriends and eventually falls for. Unlike anyone else in Oskar's life, she takes time to listen to him and be his friend, while teaching him a thing or two about confidence. Little does Oskar know that his new best friend is really a vampire.
Let the Right One In has been praised around the world by fans and critics alike, doing quite well for itself in film festivals. It's another story of "The Little Train that Could" being quite the low-budget underdog compared to other festival highlights, yet garnering much acclaim despite its sleeper status. Currently it's sitting at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with 92 positive critical reviews out of 95 (ahead of Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight and Wall-E if you can believe it).
In the end for me it lacked the connection that I was hoping to get from the movie. The performances were pretty great for such young actors and the storyline itself was interesting, but it didn't grip me the way I was hoping for. In the reviews that I've read for this movie, the critics have praised it because of its use of a mature storyline for a story about kids. In that sense, story is accessible to anyone despite being about kids... and vampires. Of its near two hour run time, I'd say that the last fifteen were the best. It was the only time where I felt something real for the kids.
I watched the movie with my brother, and I think he enjoyed it more than I did. He said that what he liked was that they did a lot of things that were unconventional, things you wouldn't expect to see happen if it were a Hollywood made movie. And to that I say 'true'. Definitely check it out if you want to see a different twist on the vampire sub-genre.
I'm going to write up my top ten of 2008 some time this week, so stay tuned for that. That's it for now, later geeks, and have a happy new year!
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