Let The Right One In Impressions

I know that it is kind of late, but I just finished watching this film and I am obligated to praise it. Yes, I enjoyed it that much. This film is in Swedish with English subtitles... in case reading is a put off for you... anyways, read on!

Here is a short synopsis a la Flixster:

"Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other peoples blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive?"

I know what you are thinking: this film sounds a little bit too much like that vampire movie we all love to hate, Twilight. While the two films do share the fact that they are based off of bestselling novels, allow me to be the first to tell you that Let The Right One In is nothing like Twilight. It is dark, chilling, violent, amusing, romantic, and beautiful all at once. This film declines the cheap theatrics that have marred the medium in past years and pushes on with pure, and slowly building, storytelling. While the acting by both of the main characters was excellent, I believe that it is safe to say that Lina Leandersson was the shining gem of the film. She portrayed the dark, lonely, conflicted, and murderous Eli perfectly. She was able to show the two hundred year old cautious and violent vampire while maintaining sad and lonely "girl-ish" (I won't spoil the surprise) Eli underneath it all. Along with this, the cinematography was absolutely fantastic and the music did not detract from that, which can be a common issue nowadays.

I am awarding Let The Right One In a perfect five out of five, as well as a rightful place amongst my favorite films list, because it is the first vampire film, and horror film for that matter, that I have been able to wholly support in ages. I understand that the film shies away from some of the content of the novel, which I will definitely be reading now, but I really want to see what happens next. I can only hope that more of the story is told eventually.

Visit here to view the international trailer for the film and I can only hope that you "get your hands" on it somehow, though the film will be released sometime in March of 2009 I believe.