"Låt den rätte komma in" (2008)

First of all I want to thank Neil for recommending this movie to us. Jim has already seen “Let the Right One In”, so I decided to check it out. The movie is actually based on the book “Låt Den Rätte Komma In” I was thoroughly surprised at how this movie turned out. I was a bit disconcerted about it being a vampire/romance movie, but after hearing all the praise it is only fair to give this movie a chance. And being a Swedish film, I was more than thrilled to get a change of pace of Hollywood horror films. But enough about the hype lets dig our teeth in “Let the Right One In”.

Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12 year old kid in the small city of Blackeberg, Sweden. But for some reason he gets picked on and bullied constantly. Every waking moment he acts out ways how he can get back at his bullies. Oskar also falls for a girl, Eli (Lina Leandersson). But Eli isn’t the normal girl next door, she seems to act weird and different than the girls he is used to. In the midst of this love and hate, there is a serial killer loose on Blackeberg. The killer drains his victims of their blood. Why? Well I’m hoping we can fit this together.

Oskar and Eli understanding the complexity of a rubrik's cube.

The movie stands out from other vampire movies with the cinematography. Simply put, it is one of the better looking movies out. Even though most of the movie is shot in the dark Swedish winter nights, the movie projects a lot of colour and tingles all the right senses. But what’s wonderful are the kill shots. One that stands out the most is during the scene when one victim is trying to get away from the vampire and obviously he fails. There is a beautiful silhouette shot of the final blow under a bridge with a beautiful shot of the city in the background and the snow falling down. It was just a picture perfect shot and in the corner you have the man’s last breathes.

But what is a fantasy movie without a great story? Well short answer: not a great one, duh. Luckily “Let the Right One In” delivers all that. Being based off the book, the story is satisfying and really delivers a rich amount of fantasy. The biggest drawback might be that some contents from the book were not included to fit the movie in 2 hours. On the other hand, it gives you an excuse to go back and read the book. The movie feels like a bunch of small stories of different characters that web together in one homogeneous story. It feels real tight and there are a few twists that might keep people on their toes.

Beautiful shot of a horrific scene.

What is neat about the story and fantasy is how they incorporate the vampire rules. Vampires can’t be in sunlight; hence the movie is mostly in the dark. Vampires need permission to enter a room, this leads to a really great scene which I don’t want to spoil. And of course, vampires sleep in coffin and coffins are defined fairly loosely in this movie. It’s just great to see how the folklore is combined with the movie.

What I have still not addressed is the fantastic acting of Kåre and Lina. Even being kids, the two pull out their respected roles better than a particular sparkly vampire movie which I won’t name. But it doesn’t help the script (or at least the subtitles I read) was great and I believed helped the characters develop very well.

Best way to drain blood? Hang 'em and slit their throats. 

The movie isn’t over filled with gore or blood but provides enough to know to not mess with vampires. The serial killer scenes are the most graphic but the real fun comes from the vampires victims. And again, the movie makes the murders just beautiful with the spectacular camera shots. And this brings me back to point out this movie is eye candy without overlaying a lot of special effects.

I won’t lie, I didn’t have high hopes for this movie when I found out it’s about vampires and it’s interlaced with a love story. Luckily I was wrong, yet again and this movie turned out to be amazing. I hear that there is an American remake “Let Me In”, which isn’t terrible but isn’t up to par with the original. Maybe it would be a good movie to check out.