Let The Right One In (aka Låt den rätte komma in or Let Me In)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Foreign

If anyone out there were to ask me what movie to watch to get a feel for a perfect World of Darkness game, or if anyone wanted me to recommend a vampire film which truly explores new ground, this foreign film based on the 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist would definitely be the film I would cite.

Let The Right One In is a movie unlike any I have ever seen before. Brooding, dark, poetic, disturbing, touching, thought-provoking and yet fascinating, this film stands apart in the deluge of Underworld/Twilight (aka Too much Action, or Too much Drama) vampire tales that have been appearing in both film and on printed media. Centering on the awkward friendship forming between a 12-year old boy Oskar and a child named Eli who may or may not exactly be human, the story is a winding snow-covered path through a dark fairytale of poetic viciousness and ravenous human nature. Perfectly cast, beautifully shot, concisely scripted and then given just enough a dash of special effects to retain its modern nightmarish feel, this film had me holding my breath, staring in muted tension and sighing in uneasy happiness as the tale unfolded in its almost two-hour length. (I had opted to watch this over lunch, having the unfortunate scenario of having to stay up since yesterday... but I tell you, in no point did the film feel too slow, dragging, or overly focused on unnecessary plot threads.)

The title was taken from the Morrissey song "Let the Right One Slip In" (one can find this in their Viva Hate special edition album) as well as from the vampiric lore of vampires being incapable of entering another's abode without being invited first. The movie beautifully bares its own adaptation of vampire lore and carefully reveals it aspect by aspect in each passing scene. A gamer using the Vampire: The Requiem system can very easily design a Bloodline after watching this film. You will also find yourself fascinated by director Tomas Alfredson's attention to little cues on color, sound and detail. In fact, after seeing this film, you will realise how this small list of items suddenly invokes great images to recall:
1.) Rubik's cube
2.) Morse code
3.) Acid
4.) Window blinds
5.) Underwater swimming pool shots

Sadly, with this film already being so beautifully done, an American remake is supposedly in the works. Somehow, American distributors still find it difficult to believe that a Swedish language foreign film of this caliber would be hard for their audiences to understand. Then again, even the English release of the book was renamed to "Let Me In" because the publishers felt the original title was too long.

How sad.

Catch the original before the remake distracts you with its really shoddy version! (cases in point? Ringu vs The Ring, 엽기적인 그녀; literally, That Bizarre Girl versus the American remake, My Sassy Girl)

http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/