You might have seen previews for the movie Let Me In and thought, Yawn, another vampire movie for the teeny-boppers. Nothing to see here.
Well, what you might not know is that the film was based on a Swedish movie from 2008, Let the Right One In. And that film, my friends, is anything but derivative sparkly-neo-vamp fare. In fact, if you’re on the fence at all about paying theater prices to check out a vampire film, I suggest you try the original first (available on Netflix Instant). Even though it’s essentially the same plot, the original is so enjoyable that I intend to see the remake (I reversed my original position thanks to some very favorable reviews). But for now, let’s talk about the original.
Let the Right One In is based on a Swedish novel of the same name (the quote references a Morrissey song).
Oskar is a somewhat sad little boy: his parents are separated, and he’s constantly bullied in school. He spends his free time reading about murder and imagining revenge on his classmates. He’s in need of a friend – and then Eli moves in next door.
At first, Eli tells him bluntly they can’t be friends, but a connection persists just the same. Eli helps Oskar find the courage to stand up to some of the bullies, and the two learn to communicate through Morse code, tapping to each other at night. Meanwhile, the area is plagued with a string of murders and attacks…
To say that this is a horror film would be both accurate and doing it a disservice. Yes, it’s a vampire story – a very traditional one at that. But it’s also a coming-of-age story. I jokingly called it Stand By Me with vampires, and while I was just being silly, it really does have a similar dark, unflinching look at childhood. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was much more afraid of the bullies than the vampire.
Ah, the vampire. One of the things I love about Let the Right One In is that it doesn’t rely on boo! techniques, too much gore or special effects. Ever since the days of The Lost Boys, it seems a good deal of attention was spent on seeing vampires “vamp out.” Here, what movie magic techniques are used are subtle and used to great effect. And while you can’t really have a vampire movie without some blood, what is shown, again, packs twice the punch.
If I were to get really poetic, I’d say the setting is a character as well. It’s set in the winter of 1982, plenty of brown corduroy, dark nights and blinding white snow. There’s a stillness to everything, a feeling that the world is holding its breath, frozen. Meanwhile, Oskar holding his breath, too, though he doesn’t know it – captured in that extremely sticky stage just out of true childhood, but still an innocent.
Oh, and that age is captured perfectly by the two main actors. Age-appropriate – cast when they were only eleven years old – the two leads manage to appear old enough to convincingly capture pure love and friendship, while Oskar, especially, has such innocence in his giant eyes that your heart breaks for him over and over again. Perfect.
I saw this film weeks ago, and it has really stuck with me. Not just the ending (which is jaw-dropping) or the characters, but the atmosphere. It’s such a unique film that I do indeed want to see the remake – I’ve read the acting is top-notch, so I’m more interested in the differences, how the new film creates its own uniquely haunting world.
So if you’re interested in Let Me In – or even if you’re not – give Let the Right One In a try. It’s the only vampire film I’ve ever seen where, instead of adjectives like fun or thrilling, I can only think beautiful.
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I’d say the remake is the exact same way. From what I’ve heard of the original, there are a couple of elements missing, but the point is more or less the same, it seems.
You may call it “Stand By Me With Vampires” but I call it “Twilight For Boys”.
Maybe that’s not a fair comparison because I haven’t seen Twilight. I did, however, see Let the Right One In, and wasn’t impressed. I’m happy they didn’t re-write the modern vampire myths to make the vampire less dangerous (like Twilight did), but it’s the same elevator pitch for the plot:
Human: I am a sad, lonely person
Vampire: Oh hai! I will solve all your problems!
Human: Yay!
I know Mary Sue/Wish Fulfillment/Self-Insertion is a hot topic amongst geek media (see also: Anime), but I just can’t bring myself to throw it in the suspension-of-disbelief pile while watching this movie. I have a lot of geek friends who rage about what Twilight is doing to the vampire genre and act like this movie is the cure. It’s not, it’s just another instance of the same problem.
Ok, ok – but you could say that about almost any vampire movie! That version of Dracula with Frank Langella attempted to make him sexy, instead of a Nosferatu-type creature. Michael from The Lost Boys just wanted to impress a girl (and he was never a REAL vamp, just a half-one with super powers!). Let’s not get into poor, tortured Louis from the Anne Rice novels, feeding on rats. And Buffy? She kills vampires who look all gross – except for that one hot one who just happens to have a soul AND loves her. And when it comes to Mary Sues, I won’t even TALK about Anita Blake. Or Sookie.
Personally, I didn’t get a Mary Sue vibe from LTROI, but let’s face it, vampire myth in general has sort of evolved into fantasy fulfillment. Never grow old, never die! Beautiful, powerful and dangerous! And when we’re not presumptuous enough to have super powers ourselves, we know that one caring, loving exception with super powers!
But I’m getting off into a different tangent, one that I wrote about a little when it comes to girls going for “bad guys” and how vampire fiction perpetuates the myth of “But he’d never hurt ME.” But, but… I really liked this movie.
Maybe I see it differently since the human is a little boy, or because I was so sold on the acting, or because I was glad to watch a movie where I wasn’t covering my eyes for once. But when it comes to the conclusions you’ve drawn, I beg to differ, sir! 
Mybe it was the poor translation from Swedish to English, or the awful, wooden voice acting, but I didn’t see “transition from innocence to adulthood” in this movie.
Oskar is pretty fucked up right from the start. Friendless, torturing imaginary people, collecting a murder diary, Oskar is right in line to start torturing small animals then move on to Sweden’s next major serial killer.
And the Vampire might seem at first blush to be innocent, but on consideration it’s more likely that her first companion’s actions are actually pushed by her instead of offered willingly, and she simply sees the mentally unstable Oskar as a newer, younger companion less likely to make errors or question his role in things.
@bffoley
You know, you might be on to something with “Twilight for boys” Oskar openly displays the violent sociopath behavior that lurks just under the surface of every male ever jacked up out of his gourd on testosterone, and the vampire validates and gives him licence to act on those feelings. In effect, she says “Hey, I know you have these massive testosterone impulses that you want to act that society says you have to squash down. Go ahead! I’m giving you the justification you need to convince yourself to do it.”
Let the Right One In is probably one of my favorite films of the past decade. With the market flooded by sparkling vampires, this movie was a breath of fresh air and stopped me from giving up on the vampire subgenre of horror films.
Like you said, it is a horror film, but it’s more than that. To me, it’s a lot like Pan’s Labyrinth. Both films are dark fairy tales that are simply beautiful and have an innocence about them.Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth, said that Let the Right One In was “a chilling fairy tale. As delicate, haunting and poetic a film as you’re ever bound to see.” I completely agree with him.