Let the Right One In

2008; Swedish

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

In a word: Awesome!

Plot:  Oskar is a bullied 12-year old living in a suburb of Stockholm (and you thought you had it rough).  He spends most of his time imagining revenge on the bullies at school - but he never acts on these fantasies.  One night he meets Eli, a young girl who has moved in next door to him.  She lives with Hakan.  Though, at first, Eli insists that they can't be friends - their loneliness soon creates a bond between them.  Oskar soon learns, however, that Eli is not what she seems.  She may look 12 - but she's looked that way for a very long time.  Eli is a vampire and Hakan takes care of her by going out at night and killing people to drain their blood for her. 

Thoughts:  I really liked this film.   If you are looking for a gory, violent vampire flim, ala Blade, this isn't the film for you.  This is almost lyrical in it's flow.  Watching the film, you feel cold.  The snow, the treatment of Oskar, the coolness of Eli - everything is cold. 

It's more a coming of age story than a vampire story - though the vampirism plays a big role. The interaction between Oskar and Eli is incredibly real.  You feel for both of them. They are outcasts, for very different reasons, but this creates a definite bond between them. Their scenes together (even when it's just tapping Morse Code on the wall to each other) are the highlights of the film.   While your happy that Oskar has someone that he can confide in and trust - you know that eventually he will end up like Hakan.  While you are happy Eli has found someone new to take care of her, you know that she isn't human and is vicious by nature.  This won't end well, but that seems okay.  Plus, I like my vampires to be creatures of the night - and that is what Eli is.

I have one very major problem.  The subtitling on the official DVD release is HORRIBLE and the dubbing is not much better.  I was lucky enough to find a website with properly translated subtitles and this made the film so much better.  Hopefully this will be corrected in a future DVD release.

SPOILERS:  This film is being remade for American audiences, because we all know American audiences can't appreciate foreign films in their native language (Wait a minute, I'm American and I can appreciate this!).  They are making the children older (of course, we can't have a vampire that looks 12) and they will likely change the ending (we can't have kids killing other kids).  Enjoy this film in its native state - even if you have to read it.