31 Days of Halloween Films #26: Let The Right One In
The Lowdown: A young boy who is constantly bullied and disrespected by his schoolmates befriends his new neighbor, who is probably a vampire.
The Breakdown: Few films are as effectively subtle as Let The Right One In. Through the brilliant cinematography, director Tomas Alfredson uses unique visual tricks and almost voyeuristic setups to convey the terror and brutality of Eli, the little vampiress played by Lena Leandersson. Much of the films’ terror is hidden in plain sight, almost mimicking the idea of an outside force invading the audiences’ preconceived notions of normalcy. Quite simply, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a vampire climb up the side of a building to cook a fool.
Vampires get a bad rap with the recent forays into Twilight on the big screen especially diminishing the strength of the monsters. While my previous reviews for Dracula and Near Dark delve into two very different types of vampires, LTROI does it again by breaking the mold most storytellers have used for the last century. By making the vampire a little girl, the audience is forced to re-evaluate things like the true nature of evil versus a living persons’ desire to survive. While not the films’ focus, it certainly presents an intriguing moral conundrum worthy of a few words after the credits roll. But all that being said, my favorite aspect of the film is the idea that despite being bullied and treated like dirt, Oskar eventually gets his revenge, even though he seems to not understand its’ implications. It’s a childlike attitude to much of the story that lends it its’ fairy-tale cred while also giving us a simple, relatable plotline to follow through the chaos.
The Comedown: Even though it is a foreign film, Americans need to see this film. It’s a perfect reinterpretation of the vampire mythos, set in what is essentially a Swedish version of lower-middle class neighborhoods. With its’ ingenuity and ability to go where other films won’t, Let The Right One In is not only a great film for Halloween, but a great film all around.