Let the Right One In - modern classic or over-hyped horror?
Vampires on film are always fashionable; it may seem that there is a glut of them at the moment, but that's just because they are high-profile hits like Twilight or well-publicised turkeys like Lesbian Vampire Killers. Next weekend sees the UK cinema release of an unusual addition to the horror cannon - a Swedish vampire film.
Let the Right One In (Lat den ratte komma in) has proved a phenomenon on the internet, recruiting an army of fans who championed it when it was released in the US last year and are now enraged by the sub-standard subtitles on DVD release. Icons of Fright's frame-by-frame comparison of some of the changes is a great example of how powerful the internet can be in exposing mistakes, although I would strongly advise you not to peek until you've seen the film.
My question was whether Let the Right One In would stand up to being watched by someone who isn't a huge genre fan and is rather wary of hype. I saw the film having avoided reading any reviews and I think the less you know about it the better, so I'll be vague in terms of plot, but I will say that I think it's remarkable. Focussing on lonely 12-year-old Oskar, and the mysterious Eli who moves into the flat next door, the film starts as an atmospheric story of pre-teen dislocation. What follows is both an exploration of the children's relationship and an investigation of some of the conventions of the vampire film. Let the Right One In is refreshingly free from the usual horror requirement to make the audience jump and instead unnerves us with subtly deployed CGI effects and wit. It's surprisingly funny, but for all the right reasons, and it's no surprise that the director Tomas Alfredson has made a number of other films - all comedies. A delicious (and bloody) treat then, both melancholy and touching - see it before the inevitable Hollywood remake.
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Comments
I think I can answer your question. I normally hate films about vampires because, well let's face it, they are such scumbags, aren't they?
For some reason I don't have such a problem with werewolfs because they are human part of the time and seem to be oblivious to what they get up to when they are transformed, which makes them more interesting. The only thing worse than vampires are zombies because they don't have a brain and so are even less interesting. But there has been attempt by female authors to make vampires sympathetic which has fallen completely flat with me. They are still scumbags as far as I'm concerned.
I will hardly ever attempt this genre unless it is highly reccomended. Recently, I was very disappointed with Twilight despite the plaudits it was given (probably by critics who were placating female daughters).
However, this film was AMAZING. highly recommended. I never thought I would feel sympathy/empathy for a vampire but this film does it. It's a also a study in themes like bullying and loneliness as well as being funny and scary. Bravo!
However, this film is amazing
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Looks like a good film
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I'D pay to watch it
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@ anti-mode I think that you're onto something about the different way in which vampires are treated in Let the Right One In, although I don't think it's to do with sympathy for them as creatures. The vampire is usually depicted as a sort of demon lover and books or films about them suffer from a sort of adolescent intoxication with the dark count and his insatiable appetites. I don't object to this on moral grounds, it's just that on film it usually comes across as rather camp and ridiculous.
Let the Right One In has a subtlety and intelligence that goes beyond the usual gothic trappings. I don't think that Eli is portrayed entirely sympathetically, although to go into detail would be to reveal key parts of the plot, but there's a freshness about this film that comes from its ability to rise above vampire cliches and create a mysterious world all its own.
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In short, I really really enjoyed it. I was the only one in our group of four who'd already read the book but we all enjoyed it equally. What was interesting was that the little bullied boy Oskar was completely different from the one I had imagined when reading - but I actually preferred the one in the film to the one I had in my head. Surely that's a rarity.
The film was really nicely paced, very very pretty (although sometimes a shot of spooky trees could have been a few seconds shorter - but that's just my MTV brain speaking) and the music was minimal in all the right places and swelled in all the right places. I definitely agree about the subtle use of special effects too - one character's slightly too graceful dismount from the top of a climbing frame was very nicely done.
As mentioned already, the treatment of vampires was really interesting. Almost binary. Eli is viewed as 'just a monster' when seen by other characters but is a fully-rounded character when seen from Oskar's point of view.
I think it's that sort of thing that breaks this film out from being 'just a vampire movie' in my opinion. For all its haunting, scary or monstrous moments, the film is simply about the relationship between Oskar and Eli.
I really like this film but, perhaps more tellingly, so did my less-vampire fanatical other half!
9/10
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Why is this film released tomorrow in only a handful of cimenas?? From what i can see i won't be able to view it in Aberdeen until the 1st May. Can anyone shed any light on this??
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I also noticed it is available to buy in the US, whats the difference between that one and the one being released over here
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To Kev1983 (and anyone else interested):
Regarding the US DVD release, I would recommend that you NOT touch that with a bargepole as the American distributors, 'Magnet', have made a serious error of judgement by applying a truly appaling set of subtitles in the Swedish to English translation as I found out, much to my chagrin, when I bought the thing.
Although Magnet have since admitted their part in this mistake, they are not refunding or offering exchanges for their intended future 'repress' release, with the correct subtitles, somewhere down the line.
There's a website at...
http://iconsoffright.com/news/2009/03/let_the_wrong_subtitles_in_to.html
.... who were among the first to break the story to begin with, amongst a few others, and they show many screengrabs between the theatrical and US DVD release so you can compare the two and see how badly they've treated the source material.
I own both the US and now the Swedish DVD as well as a result of Magnet's debacle, and despite them both being the exact same 'cut' film-wise, the difference in subtitles is alarming.
If you're particulary keen to obtain an accurate release before the UK DVD release in the future, I can happily vouch for the Swedish DVD release being the 'proper' one.
I, personally, thought it was a beautiful, truly grown-up and often quite desperately sad film; quite unlike any other Vampire movies that have ever preceded it and, on very much a personal level again, I thought the the very last shot of Eli just lit the screen up.....
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