LSIFF Day Three: Let The Right One In
Originally appeared on WestAndClear.com on November 16, 2008.
Whatever expectations you might have going into a vampire movie, you at the very least expect it to be scary. In that regard, Let The Right One In doesn’t live up to expectations. However, that doesn’t mean that this Swedish film from director Tomas Alfredson isn’t without splatter, immolation, ritual killings, dismemberment and acid to the face. But other than those details, this Swedish import about a 12-year-old misfit named Oskar has a crush on the 12-year-old vampire-next-door, Eli, is the sweetest little vampire movie you’ll ever see.
Yeah, I know that ’sweet’ and ‘vampire’ don’t usually go together, but this oddly engaging moving really makes you care about the main characters and the end of the movie will leave you cheering … and you really need to see the movie to appreciate the irony of that.
Of course, as I enjoyed a post-movie conversation with James M. Johnston, he was able to confirm my dimestore deconstruction of the movie. Vampire movies are always at some level about sexuality, and the story about Oskar fixation on the androgynous Eli is — at least at some level — a young boy struggling with his sexual identity. “It was a lot more pronounced in the book,” James said.
If you missed the screening at the festival, check it out first chance you get. Or wait for the American version, which is said to already be in development.
