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Let the Right One In - (2008) - Directed by Tomas Alfredson
"Are you a vampire?"
I was just looking up some of the highest rated vampire movies out of curiosity, and the Swedish modern classic Let the Right One In ended up near the top of the list. I remembered seeing the Netflix movie popping up but always considered it a pass and go movie, as well as its American remake, Let Me In. I dismissed them as typical vampire movies like Twilight and watched other things.
I'm willing to bet I wasn't just ready for the movie. I didn't remember the reviews for the movies so I looked them up last night. DAMMIT THEY'RE HIGH. So, yeah. I watched it for the first time today and... it was so effective on me that I'm still reeling.
The film is about a bullied 12-year-old boy who wants to become tougher to intimidate the bullies. When he meets a mysterious new neighbor, a girl the same age as him, he has no idea she's actually a vampire.
I'm not a vampire guy myself. When I do horror, I usually do psychological or alien horror. And I'm also a fan of horror-comedies like Beetlejuice. I was going on an utter whim here, hoping I'll discover another gem in the realm of modern horror because I hardly find those. Even most classic horror movies didn't quite do it for me. But I'll admit, it wasn't scares that powered this movie. It was the drama between the bullied boy and the lonely vampire girl and their eventual young love. This is what Twilight should have been, not the cheesy Teen Nick turned Gothic romance but the young, innocent lovers romance. That drama kept me going on, and an hour and fifteen minutes into the movie I was so shocked by how events played out that I didn't know if I could handle the ending.
Speaking of that shock, I'll add that it felt very PERSONAL. This is key to the film's progression because one would easily fault the movie for having little character development. I refuse to fault this film for that. The effect on me, and likely most audiences, is built on the tension between the two main characters. Character development would have harmed the movie.
The ending was phenomenal. I really couldn't believe what I was watching. The best moments of direction in the film take place at the last few minutes of the movie, the great climax. Although the rest of the direction in the film shouldn't be overlooked. Where most indie movies only keep powerful characters like vampires off-screen while they use their powers due to budget restrictions and limited special effects, the effect the direction had on that recurring trait of the film only helped improve on the vampire's already mysterious character. And the eating-people scenes were a shock to the system. To think a 12-year-old girl has to go through all of that?
Let the Right One In is one of my favorite horror movies, and is a hell of a lot better than most of Swedish film-king Ingmar Bergman's films. I'm still recovering from the shock of the climax. I was planning on watching its American remake, Let Me In, right after watching this, since the remake also got phenomenal reviews but was lightly criticized for being derivative of the original film. But if the film's almost as good as its original Swedish counterpart, I really can't do it now. The Swedish one pushed my horror-drama limits quite a bit and I don't think I can go through the story twice in one day. I'm honestly ready to relax with a chick flick.
"Are you a vampire?"
I was just looking up some of the highest rated vampire movies out of curiosity, and the Swedish modern classic Let the Right One In ended up near the top of the list. I remembered seeing the Netflix movie popping up but always considered it a pass and go movie, as well as its American remake, Let Me In. I dismissed them as typical vampire movies like Twilight and watched other things.
I'm willing to bet I wasn't just ready for the movie. I didn't remember the reviews for the movies so I looked them up last night. DAMMIT THEY'RE HIGH. So, yeah. I watched it for the first time today and... it was so effective on me that I'm still reeling.
The film is about a bullied 12-year-old boy who wants to become tougher to intimidate the bullies. When he meets a mysterious new neighbor, a girl the same age as him, he has no idea she's actually a vampire.
I'm not a vampire guy myself. When I do horror, I usually do psychological or alien horror. And I'm also a fan of horror-comedies like Beetlejuice. I was going on an utter whim here, hoping I'll discover another gem in the realm of modern horror because I hardly find those. Even most classic horror movies didn't quite do it for me. But I'll admit, it wasn't scares that powered this movie. It was the drama between the bullied boy and the lonely vampire girl and their eventual young love. This is what Twilight should have been, not the cheesy Teen Nick turned Gothic romance but the young, innocent lovers romance. That drama kept me going on, and an hour and fifteen minutes into the movie I was so shocked by how events played out that I didn't know if I could handle the ending.
Speaking of that shock, I'll add that it felt very PERSONAL. This is key to the film's progression because one would easily fault the movie for having little character development. I refuse to fault this film for that. The effect on me, and likely most audiences, is built on the tension between the two main characters. Character development would have harmed the movie.
The ending was phenomenal. I really couldn't believe what I was watching. The best moments of direction in the film take place at the last few minutes of the movie, the great climax. Although the rest of the direction in the film shouldn't be overlooked. Where most indie movies only keep powerful characters like vampires off-screen while they use their powers due to budget restrictions and limited special effects, the effect the direction had on that recurring trait of the film only helped improve on the vampire's already mysterious character. And the eating-people scenes were a shock to the system. To think a 12-year-old girl has to go through all of that?
Let the Right One In is one of my favorite horror movies, and is a hell of a lot better than most of Swedish film-king Ingmar Bergman's films. I'm still recovering from the shock of the climax. I was planning on watching its American remake, Let Me In, right after watching this, since the remake also got phenomenal reviews but was lightly criticized for being derivative of the original film. But if the film's almost as good as its original Swedish counterpart, I really can't do it now. The Swedish one pushed my horror-drama limits quite a bit and I don't think I can go through the story twice in one day. I'm honestly ready to relax with a chick flick.