Let the Right One In
Words by Kay Weston
As far as vampire films go, they tend to either fall into one of two categories; gory, badly acted B-movies or over-romanticised Hollywood blockbusters. Let the Right One In is thankfully neither of these.
The film tells the story of the unlikely friendship between Oskar, a lonely 12 year old boy bullied mercilessly by his classmates, and Eli, a vampire girl of the same age who he meets one day on the playground outside the apartment block where he lives. Eli moves in next door to Oskar with her guardian Håkan, a much older man who takes on the role of father towards Eli, doing all the things any normal father would do - taking her to school, cleaning her clothes, murdering young men and draining them of blood to feed her.
These strange happenings don’t pass Oskar by; his macabre interest in knives and death ensure that his interest is piqued by the unexplained murders. And despite Eli initially insisting the two can’t be friends, a strong bond is formed between them as their loneliness and craving for companionship brings them closer together. Oskar soon notices that something isn’t quite right with Eli; she has a strange smell, seems unaffected by the freezing conditions and only comes out after dark. Oskar soons works out Eli’s secret but is largely unperturbed by it, as he’s so glad to have finally found a kindred spirit. Eli convinces him to stand up to the bullies and Oskar provides her with an escape from her solitary life as a vampire. For the first time, she can behave like a normal 12 year old girl. A besotted Oskar asks Eli to be his girlfriend, despite Eli telling him she’s ‘not a girl.’ But Eli does agree, on the condition that it doesn’t change things between them.
But after Håkan gives his life to save Eli, she is forced to seek out blood herself. As the body count mounts, the net begins to close in on Eli after she bites a woman. Interrupted by the woman’s husband as she feeds, she is almost caught and is forced to flee. The woman is, to her horror, turned into a vampire. The victim is admitted to hospital and commits suicide by asking a doctor to open the blinds, at which point she bursts into flames. Her distraught husband vows to take vengeance on Eli and begins a witch hunt against her. Eli knows she is living on borrowed time and tells a heartbroken Oskar she has to leave. But not before she does one final thing for him…
Right from the very opening of this film, there is a strange eeriness, the kind that gives you goosebumps and gets under your skin. One of the most striking things about Let the Right One In is its powerfully atmospheric setting. Based in the fictional Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982, the urban surroundings in the dead of winter depict the still, lonely worlds of Oskar and Eli. The focal point of the film is the somewhat unconventional friendship between the pair, with the usual blood and gore typical of vampire movies taking secondary place to the characters. The chemistry between Kåre Hedebrant (Oskar) and Lina Leandersson (Eli) is powerful and instantly noticeable. At times as awkward as 12 year olds can be, other times powerfully intense, the two really do make this film into what it is: a touching tale that reinjects some life into a tired genre.
It is virtually impossible not to be moved by Eli’s plight. A mix of vulnerability and worldly-wisdom, Eli is a creature caught in timeless suspension, unable to free herself from her past and facing an unending and uncertain future. Oskar is the one constant in her life, and she in his, and it is this that forms the foundation of their unorthodox relationship.
The film is based on the 2004 thriller of the same name from author John Ajvide Lindqvist and is in Swedish. The only criticism that can be levelled at the film is that is misses out several sub-plots that help to explain other scenes in the movie. If you haven’t read the book, it can be a little unclear - particularly in clarifying Eli’s past. But this doesn’t detract too much from the film itself, which has been heaped with praise and laden down with awards. By the time it hits UK screens on 10th April, it will be subtitled or dubbed and long overdue. Catch this film, in its original Swedish form, whilst you can. An English-language Hollywood remake has just been confirmed and given that the big studios are still milking the cash cow of Twilight for all it’s worth, you can be sure LTROI will be looking very different in a few years time...and that’s a real shame for such a fantastic movie.
Posted Mon, March 09, 2009