The Creepy Stuff

 Bleak Swedish Vampire Tale Hits all the Right Veins
By Morgan P Salvo

  

This is one cool movie. It’s a very eclectic retelling of the vampire/ill-fated love story. The title refers to letting the right one in through the door— but also into the heart. While it stands on its own as an atmospheric art movie, it could be interpreted as the raging popular Twilight’s polar opposite – human boy meets vamp girl instead of the reverse, adolescent love grows between pre-pubescent 12 year olds instead of hormone frenzied 17 year olds, the plot and direction being realistic and bleak rather than fantastical and uplifting. All preconceived notions of Vampire legends are here just in a more demented sick/twisted way.
This movie sucks you in from the eerie opening scene: through a window an anemic-looking blonde boy Oskar (Kare Hederbrant) brandishes a knife in front of a mirror, pretending he is telling someone to “squeal like a pig”. Oskar’s morbid side stems from the bullying he confronts in school on a daily basis (in addition to his fantasies of revenge he clips murder stories from the paper).He’s a weird kid for sure, but not as weird as his neighbors. Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves in with her “dad” (Per Ragnar), revealing right away a relationship that is bizarre beyond belief. Set in a remote Swedish town, most of the action takes place between an apartment complex and elementary school.
The customary getting-to-know-you fare between Oskar and Eli is handled a in a way that is anything but standard. She’s sickly, he’s odd, and they start to get along against their better intuitions. Soon people begin disappearing but it seems the exhausted townsfolk of dysfunctional misfits (looking haggard and unhealthy) are too engrossed in their own personal dramas to be bothered. The entire town seems like isolation and alcoholism has gotten the best of them.
The beauty of this film is that there is never any doubt as to who is behind all the horrific killings but we are still enraptured by the evolving relationship between the dark dirty little vampire girl and the peculiar pasty-white boy. The intrigue between them is palpable, but in an almost nauseating kind of way. Even when the two are being cute it remains somewhat repulsive. Director Alfredson uses close-ups of both Oskar and Eli that are intimate revelations, detailing the frozen snot above his lips and her blood-caked fingernails. The film is shot in fuzzy tones and the dark, snow covered landscape resembles 30 Days of Night. Every shot has a distinct artistic composition and is often accompanied by very cool 60’s Euro-rock. The soundtrack comes in hypnotic waves— a scene opens with a quick snap, morphing into ambient drones that lead into slow fades.
Don’t worry, there is plenty of gross-out gore action too, including bloodlettings, bloodsucking, blood draining, acid burning, neck munching, throat slashing, cat attacks and some good death gurgling. When Alfredson decides to use CGI, which is very rarely, it detracts. The special effects are almost laughable, coming out of nowhere. Most of the story is told in such an eerie, low-tech way that it doesn’t need any beefing up.
The young actors are outstanding in portraying the desperate feelings and insightful power they come to acknowledge. There are a few standouts in the townsfolk as well. Lacke (Peter Carlberg) looks like a boozed up Dave Edmunds and has by far the best quote stating to his pal Jocke (before his inevitable demise), “thank you again for another evening steeped in merriment and friendship”. Virginia (Ika Nord) embodies a weary, beaten down, slutty, “been-there-done-that” approach to life and creepy “dad” is sensational, depicting personal and real life demons that cause him nothing but pain. On occasion the bullying scenes were too over done. Mimicking Mafioso tactics, the mini-thugs with cute boy-faces just didn’t seem menacing enough.
Almost all vampire movies from “Nosferatu” to “Underworld” involve an impossible love and the inner chaos that goes along with it. They all share the undead’s thirst for blood, the secret shame of succumbing to their need, and their desire to protect and yet be with the one they love without lapsing into a feeding frenzy. BUT, this captivating flick has so many original concepts floating around that it almost invents a whole new genre. Its intention is not to make you swoon but to make you think. Built on self destruction, it captures the ultimate metaphor for undying young love. So be careful and let the right one in…or else…you might be stuck with them for the rest of your life.

Let the Right One In
Starring Kare Hederbrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord
Director: Tomas Alfredson
 3 ½ stars