Children have always made for great characters in horror movies because, let's face it, there's nothing scarier than a freaky-looking kid (apart from a clown, maybe). Who could forget the twins from 'The Shining', Damien from 'The Omen', or any kid in a Japanese horror film. Most of the time, these characters tend to be pretty one-dimensional and are simply there to scare the audience, with little insight into the character itself. In some cases, however, the filmmakers choose to investigate these characters a little more so that the distinctions between them being good or evil becomes somewhat blurred. Take 'Carrie', for example: in the film, we are invited to relate to the eponymous character despite all the people she kills because we see the world through her point-of-view. We find something similar in 'Let the Right One In'.
This Swedish offering, however, isn't simply a horror film but rather a love story with strong elements of horror. The film follows Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a young boy who's bullied at school. One day, a young girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves next to him and the two strike up a strong relationship. Only Eli is in fact a vampire (we find out pretty early on in the film), and we quickly learn that she has little control over her thirst for blood.
This is the essence of the film's plot but we see that the horror elements are secondary to the main focus of the film, which is Oskar and Eli's relationship. In this respect, the film is very slow-paced and gradually shows us their friendship developing. What's interesting, though, is the nature of their relationship; without giving too much away, we see that Oskar gradually falls in love with Eli the person as opposed to Eli the girl. It touches on the nature of love and the roles we may play in those relationships. This would make more sense having watched the film, but it's a theme that's important to be aware of in the film.
Hedebrant and Leandersson are very impressive as the main characters, carrying the film with ease. Director Tomas Alfredson maintains the right balance throughout the film so that their relationship never feels unbelievable but also doesn't fall into the trap of a becoming too simplistic. The cinematography is particularly haunting throughout the film, presenting Oskar's little hometown as a cold and deserted environment.
Yet despite all the accolades that one could bestow on this film, I have a feeling that it won't get the attention it deserves, mostly due to the 'Twilight' phenomenon. The film's imminent release will clearly overshadow this film because of marketing and publicity, and yet here is a much more complex and interesting film that would appeal to the same audience that will flock to see 'Twilight'. Furthermore, there is already an American remake of 'Let the Right One In' in the works, which will only further push this Swedish gem into obscurity I feel. That may sound like a contradiction since the remake will clearly give exposure to the original, but in many of these cases, audiences will normally watch the remake and so it'll be the remake that people associate with the title, not the original. An example of this is in the recent popularity of American remakes of Japanese horror films; any time you ask someone if they've seen 'The Ring' or 'The Grudge' or whatever other film, there reply is typically "You mean the one with Naomi Watts/Sarah Michelle Gellar/generic American actress?".
I feel I'm heading towards a rant of the lack of creativity in Hollywood and the reliance on remakes, which has been done to death so I won't bother. I'll just say that when you have a chance to see this film, make sure you watch this version. It's a wonderful film that will undoubtedly be ruined by the Hollywood touch.
