Let the Right One In
2008
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
We have reached the conclusion of our scary movie month, which is just as well, because I was really running out of horror entries. I hope everyone has a great Halloween. I know I will be consuming candy corn by the pound in honor of this sacred day.
Oskar lives with his mother Yvonne in a suburb of Stockholm. Oskar is regularly bullied by the kids in his school and fantasizes often about getting revenge. He meets his new next door neighbor, Eli, a pale girl his age who resides with a mysterious older man. The two become close, although it is apparent that Eli is not quite what she seems. Things get pretty gross.
I am not sure anyone gets genuinely frightened by vampires. While there are some images in this film that are...unsettling, I am not sure I would even classify this is as a horror movie. It's more like a romance that is occasionally disgusting. The filmmakers make up for this by including many shots of pure beauty.
Despite the unusual juxtaposition, I still found my attention waning. I could see where the narrative was going to take us and I spent most of the film waiting for characters to figure out what the audience already knew.
I would recommend this if you are in the mood for something different, but if you are looking for something scary, please see my previous raves.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Almost every scene contains the color red. When are we all going to stop ripping off The Sixth Sense?
