Tonight I watched a creepy little foreign film called Let The Right One In. It came out last year and got lots of great reviews. I can see why. It really adds to the vampire genre if you can believe that. And if that genre sounds overdone or uninteresting (which it usually does to me), you still might want to check out this movie.
The protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy who is very much a loner. He’s sympathetic because bullies beat up on him and his parents are split. The story involves him and a twelve-year-old girl who happens to be a vampire.
But if you’re thinking anything resembling Twilight, think again.
I read Twilight and thought going into it that it might be a little more along the lines of a movie like this (haven’t seen the movie yet). This film was dark and very real. It reminded me of when I lived in Munich, Germany going to an international school (though I didn’t meet any vampires there). It’s a Swedish film so you can watch it with subtitles or dubbed in English (I didn’t like how fake the voices sounded so I did subtitles). That didn’t take away from the power of the story.
I liked how real everything felt. I also liked how touching parts of this film were. The music helped as did the acting. Innocence and evil are mixed together in a way that I thought was different and intriguing. I wouldn’t call this movie scary, but certain scenes were disturbing. Yet they were balanced by a tenderness that most “horror” films can’t even begin to touch.
For something different–chilling and gripping and strangely poignant–check this movie out.
http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/let-the-right-subtitles-in
Interesting to see, S.A.M. A good reason to see it with the proper subtitles. Still loved the version I saw.
I haven’t had the chance to see it yet, but thought the subtitle thing was interesting… especially from a writing perspective.
Glad to see your review. I’ve been wondering if it was worth the time to see. I’ll be looking for it now. Thanks!