Wow, do I love it when I am thrown a curve and get to see a great film I knew next to nothing about! I have seen many lists and critics praise the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In for some time now. I even think I tried to see it at the theater but didn't get around to it. This movie totally blew away my expectations and is one of the better horror films I have seen. Period.
The movie is about a bullied 12-year-old boy named Oskar. One night, a mysterious family moves in next door to him and quickly after that, strange murders begin to happen. Oskar then meets a mysterious girl Eli (pronounced EE-lee, not EE-lie) who only comes out at night. They strike up a fast, very close friendship. She is very elusive whenever he asks her personal questions. Eli becomes a great friend to him, encouraging him to stand up to the bullies, which he does. Gradually, Oskar begins to realize Eli is a vampire, and rather than being repelled by it, he grows even closer to her. When events around town begin to point to Eli, she says she has to leave, but ends up rescuing Oskar from the vengeful punks he stood up to earlier and helps him take revenge on them.
This was nothing what I expected it to be. It is a movie sympathetic to both the vampire and its victims. It portrays a vampire for what it is, not the particular aspects that make them attractive like The Lost Boys, Twilight, or even Tru Blood. The vampire myth holds our interest for many reasons, overtones of sexual lust, power, control, eternal youth and whatnot. What separates this film from all the others is its portrayal that a vampire it is what it is, a predator rather than an evil monster. By making the vampire a 12-year-old girl, she is both strong and weak. Strong because of the obvious powers of a vampire. Weak for the same reason Anne Rice said of the child vampire in Interview With The Vampire; as a child, they cannot exist in society, they cannot blend. They will always need an adult with them or they will instantly stand out, which can be a problem for a creature that has to kill to survive, burns up on the sun and whose biggest defense is they look like everyone else. But a great twist on this movie is that it deals with the results of a vampire's killings, the plight of the victims. A key plot point comes when Eli kills a friend of one of the townspeople, which gets him obsessed with finding whatever killed his friend, with tragic results.
Also, many vampire movies, or at least the actors in vampire movies, put on this affected aristocratic air when they play vampires. The Underworld and Blade movies demonstrate this propensity particularly vividly. It's become almost cliché that if you play a vampire, you have to be an heavily-accented, boorish snob. Eli is the exact opposite of that. She is almost a waif, seemingly brittle to the touch until she actually kills a victim. Even then, it looks like a small girl attacking a much larger person. Most of the supernatural aspects of her powers are offscreen, making them scarier from what is implied. But unless she is covered in blood, the juxtaposition of what she did versus her small frame is refreshingly off-kilter. You don't really believe she can do these things until she does.
But the real heart of this film is the relationship between Oskar and Eli. These are not two experienced adults doing a sensuous dance like in most vampire movies, but more of an innocent first love. It is obvious Eli is much older than she looks. Indeed, her "father" is actually someone who has devoted himself to her and her safety. She obviously loves him, too, but she is also the power in the relationship. There are very tender moments between her and her protector, but at the same time, she mercilessly scolds him when he messes things up. It is almost like he has the mind of a child, utterly incapable of making his own decisions and serving her every whim. At the end of the movie, it seems the same will be the fate of Oskar, yet he is happy about it. The movie's is vagueness about this is intriguing. Does Eli love Oskar, as she says multiple times throught the story, or is she manipulating him for her needs, or a combination of both? It's left up to the viewer.
The only complaint I have is the film is that it is a bit ponderous like many european films tend to be. It takes awhile to get to the point, but when it does, this film does not disappoint. Despite the fact the two main protagonists are twelve, this is really an adult movie. It is not some schlocky gore fest, but rather a plot-driven character study that is utterly engrossing. It doesn't rely on cheap thrills or even a sense of dread, just an amazing story from start to finish. When you watch the DVD, it is dubbed, but not too badly. I always prefer subtitles in foreign films so you don't get the chop sucky bad overdubs. But I also like them because I hear the actors' original performances which usually get lost in the dubbing process. All in all, this is an excellent film that I really can't recommend more highly. If you want to see something truly original, this is the movie for you. I may have to read the book now.
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