Wow! I had high expectations for this 'Swedish vampire movie' after hearing great things last year out of various festivals, but those expectations were completely met and some.
Let The Right One In (Lat Den Ratte Komma In) is an experted judged tale that is more fairy-tale in a Grimm brothers way than it is a horror film; you never cringe or duck the violence or blood-sucking as you are too busy rooting on the lead vampire character.
The film has really set the benchmark high for movies this year, undoubtedly the best film I’ve seen so far this year.
Director Tomas Alfredson and write John Ajvide Lindqvist have really thought the film out intelligently, and address vampire lore in a refreshingly direct way. They constantly ask the questions (and answer them) you’ve asked of countless vampire movies in the past and never known. One particularly stunning, horrifying, emotional moment goes to the heart of the title in answering the question just what would happen if a vampire who had not been invited in tried to come in anyway.
And it is that emotional resonance that is the core of the success here. You care for both of the leads here and their relationship. They are well explored human (and not) characters that feel real and are well served by great performances from the two lead kids (I’m always amazed by how natural European kids can be on film compared to the over-trained Hollywood moppets).
It still allows Alfredson to stage some fantastic set-pieces though and boasts an absolutely knock-out handling of key final scenes.
Deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Guillermo Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone, if not quite Pan's Labyrinth. I shall watch for future projects from Alfredson with keen interest.
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