LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Starring Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson


Knowing full well that the vampire genre has has long lost its "bite",I was overwhelmingly relieved to hear that a little known Swedish film on the subject was making the rounds amongst a few credible critics top 10 lists.It took me two months of searching to just find a copy of this movie.I looked in half a dozen stores in London and a friend found a copy in Toronto for around 30 bucks.After finally getting my hands on this movie,I thought to myself,geez,this better not suck!
Our story begins with Oskar,a 12 year old boy rehearsing outside with a knife.He is rehearsing what he will say when he finally confronts his bullies.He like so many his age are the target of cowardly and misguided thugs that pick on him relentlessly.From flicking his nose and calling him a pig,to soaking his clothes in a toilet,then graduating to actual assault by beating him with a stick,Oskar takes all of this on the chin and never lets them have the satisfaction of seeing him give in,although its close,very close.
Enter Eli (pronounced Ellie),the new kid on the block and Oskars next door neighbour.She meets him outside in the dead of winter in their buildings courtyard on the jungle gym.She is wearing a shirt and pants and nothing else in the brutal cold.After a brief introduction,the two part ways and seemingly don't like each other.Eli later clarifies "I cant be your friend",Oskar replies "good".The friendship slowly builds and the two form a unique bond.While these two get to know and like each other,Eli's "father" who is more or less a partner of hers is having a hard time himself as the townsfolk are slowly beginning to put the pieces of a murderer on the loose type puzzle.You see,Eli's dad is the provider for the family,and by provider I mean,he is the one that goes out into the night and traps,kills and drains the blood of his prey to bring back to Eli so that she may be sustained.With trouble pending and people pointing fingers,Eli is forced to fend and feed for herself.She doesn't have the tact of her father and goes about hunting in a most savage manner.
As the bond between the two young leads grows stronger,Oskar opens up about his problems at school and Eli offers her advice in a rather insisting tone.Oskar takes head and finally fights back.With a renewed sense of pride,he grows even more fond of his female counterpart,and her,him.
The fact that these two actors are not by any means professionals is really quite astounding as their performances seem more genuine than my own memories of that age.I identified and believed every ounce of what was unfolding before me.Oskars handling of finally having the truth revealed about his new girlfriends situation was so completely believable that I imagined I would have been the exact same way had the circumstances involved myself at that age.A vampire must be invited into a room/house and simply cannot enter other wise.Oskar finds that ludicrous and refuses to invite his girlfriend in at one point,then mocks her tradition in disbelief.He asks "what happens if I don't?" Why don't you just walk in,he asks.This makes Eli mad and it looks like she will just turn around and walk away.But she doesn't.She defiantly decides to show her boyfriend exactly what will happen and slowly takes a few steps into the room without having been invited.What happens next is not for the faint of heart.Not in the slightest!
I wont get into too much else,but I will recommend that upon watching this,if given the choice on dvd or blu-ray,you should watch it with subtitles rather than the dubbed version.Their own voices just seem to make it that much more believable.And I cant really end the review without mentioning the whopper of an ending.The ending catapults this movie above and beyond the last few vampire movies Ive seen,and really,the last few regular blockbusters as well.

Rating 4 angry cats out of 5

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