Let The Right One In - Review

It is 1982. 12 year old Oskar lives with his mother in a run down estate in Stockholm. He’s a lonely figure, bullied at school and harbouring violent dreams of revenge. When a 12 year old girl called Eli moves in next door, living with an ageing man but seemingly just as lonely, Oskar strikes up a tentative friendship with her. At the same time, a series of grisly murders begin befalling the residents of the estate. As Oskar’s feelings for Eli deepen, he learns the truth about who she really is and is faced with the question of how much you can forgive for love.

Vampire movies are two-a-penny at the moment. I know, I’ve written one myself, so I sat down to watch this Swedish addition to the genre with no great expectations. This is pretty much how I approach all horror movies these days since the ratio of good to bad when it comes to horror is about 1/100. Admittedly, the odds increase when the horror movie is subtitled and Let The Right One In, adapted by John Ajvide Lindqvist from his own novel and directed by Tomas Alfredson, is without a doubt that 1 in 100.

Eschewing the trend for making vampires glamorous, cool and alluring (a trend most recently seen in the inferior Twilight) Lindqvist and Alfredson place their story in a setting that is cold, bleak and grey. Snowbound Stockholm is not glamorous and Eli is far from cool. Instead she is a lonely, sometimes heartbreaking figure. She’s not evil or good. She just is what she is; as trapped in herself as we all are. So, too, is Oskar. But together they form the dark, beating heart of this movie.

Alfredson lets the story move along at a languid pace and makes excellent use of sound effects to unsettle. There are startling moments of violence, all the more effective for punctuating such a subtle mood, and the movie has a final scene which will stick in your mind for days. And building throughout is as touching a romance as you’re likely to see. Again, all the more effective for blossoming in such dark surroundings. I had a tear in my eye at the end.

Film of the year so far and much recommended. See it now.

Hmm. I kind of like this movie reviewing malarky. I might inflict some more on you. :-)