Reviews: "Let the Right One In" and "Twilight"

Two Vampire Pics Like Apples and Oranges ... Blood Oranges

I've got a soft spot for vampire movies despite the fact that it's apparently easy to make a (sorry) suck-y one. Let the Right One In (2008, Tomas Alfredson) does NOT suck (in the, um, pejorative way). There is a marvelous old-fashioned fairy tale quality to this movie, something achieved in part because the main characters are children and in part because of the no-punches-pulled realism of the direction. I'm talking old-fashioned in the sense that fairy tales of the old school were often scarier and more "adult" than tales we would deem appropriate for children today. This is definitely not a kids' movie.

Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is an alienated 12-year-old boy in some stark Stockholm suburb in 1982. He is picked on rather brutally by some scary bullies at school. The monstrousness of this behavior is contrasted nicely with the kindness Oskar receives from new buddy Eli (Lina Leandersson), an actual monster who has just moved into the apartment next door. Eli appears to be the same age as Oskar, but, as we know, vampires stop aging at the moment they are "turned". So we get the feeling Eli has been 12 a mighty long time. She tries to teach Oskar to stand up for himself, which at first seems to prove effective but backfires horrifically in the third act of the film.

Both kids appear to live with single parents, but Eli's relationship with her male guardian is actually ambiguous and quite disturbing on many levels. Who is this man who procures vampire food for Eli in the snow-covered parks and underpasses of suburbia? If Eli is as old as we think she really is, it's doubtful this fifty-something fellow is her actual father. The alternatives are freaky and are left unexplored in the movie compared with the novel on which it is based; (I have not read the novel.) Like many adults (and a few unfortunate children), this "parent" may meet a gruesome demise before we learn the true nature of their relationship.

As I mentioned above, the physical horror of this film is presented in a highly effective visually realistic style. I'm reminded of David Lynch in the sense that the mundane is imbued with surrealism while the actually supernatural (is that an oxymoron?) is presented matter-of-factly. This accentuates the deftly-conveyed sense of dread Alfredson achieves in the film as a whole, and it provides many more genuinely scary moments than the average horror film--light years more than the average vampire film!

There is a sweet, haunting romance at the core of the film, providing an emotional center to what I believe is a classic in the genre. In puppy love, first love, every experience is heightened to a nearly supernatural level anyway, so this thread of the story, the real connection between Oskar and Eli, is the perfect story from which to hang a darker, archetypal fairy tale. The suspense and anticipation are nearly unbearably intense from beginning to end, so that the bloodshed, when it comes, provides a cathartic, primal, almost carnal release for the viewer. Highly, highly recommended.

Twilight

Silly. A cultural moment, blah, blah, blah. But silly.

Comments

[skf]

if your into the vampire horror stuff this is a good one watched it about 2weeks ago

[Joel T. Rose]

Cool :<

[lori hernandez]

i loved ...let the right one s in...such a cool take on the vampire movie. Yet I must admit I also loved twilight:)

[Joel T. Rose]

Yeah, you know, I may have been too dismissive about Twilight ... It is not my bag, but it resonates with a lot of folks. And I must admit the book was pretty fun, too :)