Review: Let the Right One In

Love at First Bite

After I finished watching this film, I started to amuse myself with some of the thoughts that were swirling around in my head. One was that I had just seen a movie that I had virtually never heard of, before a few days ago, and never would have seen without a good friend of mine's appreciation for Swedish cinema. The other thought was that I was seeing a vampire film, an interesting choice since on Friday marks the highly anticipated opening day of the Noggin-marketed Twilight. For those who have fallen in love with Edward Cullen, I'd actually say to them to look at this vampire film instead, because what they may find is a slight deviation from the usual genre steps that ends up being a nice surprise.

Based off of John Ajvide Lindqvist's book (who also wrote the screenplay), the story centers around Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), an ostracised twelve year old living with his divorced mother and constantly avoiding the insults of the school bully. He eventually strikes a friendship with the mysterious Eli (Lena Leandersson), who is also "twelve, more or less." Their friendship grows little each day, even though her arrival has been linked to several neighborhood murders, some performed by her guardian (Per Ragnar), that have left the victims at a loss of blood. Soon the truth comes out that Eli is a vampire, but their relationship tries to survive that test.

The vampire genre, and the horror movie one for that matter, tends to offer very little unless there is an attempt to alter the formula. This film attempts to do that, and it is probably why it is a vampire film of a slightly elevated class. Only once is the term "vampire" used it the film, and many of the cliches of those types of film are absent, such as the cross, the piercing of the heart, the garlic wreaths, the holy water, the non-reflected mirror and the transformation into a bat. Without these elements, the characters are able to form in a quasi-realistic way and it adds greatly to the picture. Director Thomas Alfredson does very well with framing the movie, always keeping the audience pent up within the atmosphere, very much to the appreciation of Hoyte Van Hoytema's muted cinematography.

Lindqvist's script works most of the time, but detracts major points when the storyline detours into the subplot of a newly transformed vampire. Some of it is because a scene of the nouveau vampire getting attacked by a house full of angry kittens features laughable special effects. Most of it is because that is when some of the old cliches start to come out (death by sunlight), and when the film spends a lot of time veering away from those elements, it's a little saddening the way it comes out. One of the last violent scenes in the film is beautifully shot by Alfredson and Hoytema, but as written, it feels a bit too dramatic in a circumstance I feel should have been left more ambiguous and intimate.

A great saving point for the film comes from the wonderfully talented younger cast. Hedebrant, looking like Paul Williams from Phantom of the Paradise, gives Oskar real depth, never making him a stock character that has a forced bond with the vampire. His problems exist within the real world that just so happens to have a supernatural backdrop. The same is said for Leandersson, who plays Eli in a status of almost an older adolescent trying to deal with her younger exterior, and it is fascinating to watch her balance that tricky act. Even the school bully, played by Patrik Rydmark, never feels cartoonishly cruel. Like most of the time in films centered on children, the adult actors are window dressing for the rest of the plot, constantly being outshone by their younger costars.

As my friend fervently told me, this is not a crowning achievement of Swedish cinema. Since I have seen very little of those films, I have no choice but to agree with him, and he is more than likely right. However, I considered this film, as it stand alone, to be a very intriguing piece. A plot detour and some half witted plot elements do cause some harm, but with the atmospheric direction and cinematography, along with the marvelous acting from the young cast, I certainly say this is one of the year's few gems to discover. Unfortunately by this point, the chance to catch this movie in the theatre has probably gone, especially with Twilight being released and an eventual American remake of this film planned in the near future. However, if you do happen to catch the DVD copy out of the corner of your eye, I'd advise you to take the same chance as I did. ***1/2 / ****; GRADE: B+